"Protection" is a collaboration between Massive Attack

Massive Attack

Massive Attack are an English DJ and trip hop duo from Bristol, England consisting of Robert "3D" Del Naja and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. Working with co-producers, as well as various session musicians and guest vocalists, they make records and tour live. The duo are considered to be of the trip...

 and Everything But the Girl

Everything but the Girl

Everything but the Girl was a two-person English band, formed in Hull during 1981, consisting of lead singer and occasional guitarist Tracey Thorn and guitarist, keyboardist, and singer Ben Watt . They are currently inactive although vocalist Tracey Thorn hinted that they may reform someday...

 singer Tracey Thorn

Tracey Thorn

Tracey Anne Thorn is an English pop singer and songwriter. She is best known as being one half of the duo Everything but the Girl, which is currently on extended hiatus.-Personal life:...

, that appeared on Massive Attack's album Protection

Protection (album)

-Sound:Protection was featured in the top ten of Rolling Stone magazine's 'Coolest Albums of All Time List,' calling it "great music for when you're driving around a city at 4 am," due to the 'chill out' nature of the album...

on CD and 12" in 1994. It reached #14 in the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

, staying there for four weeks. The song was also included on Everything But the Girl's compilations The Best of

The Best of Everything but the Girl

The Best of Everything but the Girl is a compilation album by Everything but the Girl, released in 1996.-Track listing:#Missing #Driving #Old Friends#One Place#I Don't Want to Talk About It#Love Is Strange...

and Like the Deserts Miss the Rain

Like the Deserts Miss the Rain

Like the Deserts Miss the Rain is a compilation album by the British band Everything but the Girl, released in 2003. an accompanying DVD by the same title was also released the same year...

.

The song contains samples taken from The Payback

The Payback

The Payback is a 1973 double album by James Brown. It was originally scheduled to become the soundtrack for the blaxploitation film Hell Up in Harlem, but was rejected by director Larry Cohen for "not being funky enough." It went to #1 on the Soul Albums chart for two weeks and cracked the Pop...

 by James Brown, namely the hi-hat/bass figure that drives the beat and the recurrent wah-wah

Wah-wah pedal

A wah-wah pedal is a type of guitar effects pedal that alters the tone of the signal to create a distinctive effect, mimicking the human voice...

 guitar chord. The aggressive, upbeat revenge scenario in James Brown's track has been inverted to be a song about safety and healing.

Michel Gondry

Michel Gondry

Michel Gondry is an Academy Award winning filmmaker, whose works include being a commercial director, music video director, and a screenwriter. He is noted for his inventive visual style and manipulation of mise en scène. - Life and career :...

 directed the music video for the track.

Track listings

UK CD single #1

1. "Protection" (7" edit)
2. "Protection" (The Eno
   Brian Eno
   Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
   
   Mix)
3. "Protection" (Radiation for the Nation Mix)
4. "Protection" (J Sw!ft Mix)

UK CD single #2

1. "Protection"
2. "Protection" (Underdog's Angel Dust Mix)
3. "Three" (Dom T's House of Fortune Mix)

UK 12" single

1. "Protection" (Underdog's Angel Dust Mix)
2. "Protection" (Radiation for the Nation Mix)
3. "Protection" (The Eno Mix)
4. "Protection" (J Sw!ft Mix)
5. "Protection" (album version)

UK 2×12" single

1. "Protection" (The Eno Mix)
2. "Protection" (The Eno Instrumental)
3. "Protection" (Underdog's Angel Dust Mix)
4. "Protection" (Angel Dust Instrumental)
5. "Three" (Dom T's House of Fortune Mix)
6. "Protection" (Radiation for the Nation Mix)
7. "Protection" (album version)
8. "Protection" (J Sw!ft Mix)

US CD single

1. "Protection" (album version) – 7:51
2. "Protection" (single edit) – 4:53
3. "Protection" (The Eno Mix) – 9:10
4. "Protection" (J Sw!ft Mix) – 7:12
5. "Three" (Dom T's House of Fortune Mix) – 7:16

External links

• Protection at Discogs