Inertia Creeps – English Lyrics

• By: Massive Attack
• Album: Mezzanine

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

Recollect me, darling, raise me to your lips

Two undernourished egos, four rotating hips

Hold on to me tightly, I'm a sliding scale

Can't endure, then you can't inhale clearly

Out of body experience interferes

And dreams of flying, I fit nearly

Surrounds me, though I get lonely, slowly

Moving up slowly

Inertia keeps

She's moving up slowly, slowly

Moving up slowly

Inertia creeps

Moving up slowly

She comes

Moving up slowly

She comes

Moving up slowly

Inertia creeps

Moving up slowly

She comes

Moving up slowly

She comes

Moving up slowly

...

In my home, no chrome as clear as

See me now with my nearest dearest

Been there when I'm over careering

Room shifting is endearing

Between us is our kitchen

But you've found my irritant's itching

Been here before

Been here forever

Moving up slowly

Inertia keeps

Moving up slowly

Inertia creeps

Moving up slowly

Inertia keeps

Moving up slowly

She comes

Moving up slowly

Moving up slowly

She comes

Moving up slowly

Inertia creeps

Moving up slowly

She comes

...

I make no sound in my eider-down

Awake, I lie in a morning's blue

Room is still, my antenna in you

Nylon burns the bedspread with two

Gravity's zero, see me stall

I bounce off walls, lose my footing, and fall

Can be sweet though, incomplete though

And the frames will freeze

See me on all four's

It's been a long time

...

She comes

She comes

...

I want to x you

She comes

I want to x you

She comes

X you

...

I caught your radio waves

I caught your radio waves

With a tin can and string

Say you string me along

Say you string me along

Say inertia creeps

Inertia creeps and she comes

Say she comes

Say she comes

Say she comes

Say she comes

...

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
inertia /ɪnˈɜːrʃə/ C1	noun - a property of matter by which it remains at rest or in uniform motion in the same straight line unless acted upon by some external force
creep /kriːp/ B2	verb - to move slowly and quietly, especially in a way that is intended to avoid being noticed
endure /ɪnˈdʊr/ B2	verb - to suffer something difficult or painful for a long time
interfere /ˌɪntərˈfɪr/ B2	verb - to involve oneself in a situation where one is not wanted or invited
lonely /ˈloʊnli/ A2	adjective - sad because one has no friends or company
sliding /ˈslaɪdɪŋ/ A2	verb - to move smoothly over a surface
scale /skeɪl/ B1	noun - a device used to measure weight verb - to climb up something, especially a steep surface
undernourished /ˌʌndərˈnʌrɪʃt/ B2	adjective - not receiving enough food or nutrients
experience /ɪkˈspɪriəns/ B1	noun - practical knowledge or skill gained from doing or living through something
antenna /ænˈtɛnə/ B1	noun - a rod or wire used to receive radio or television signals
gravity /ˈɡrævɪti/ B1	noun - the force that attracts a body toward the center of the earth
stall /stɔːl/ B1	verb - to stop or cause to stop making progress
irritant /ˈɪrɪtnt/ B2	noun - a substance or thing that causes irritation
endearing /ɪnˈdɪrɪŋ/ C1	adjective - causing someone to be liked or loved
recollect /ˌriːkəˈlɛkt/ B2	verb - to remember something from the past

Key Grammar Structures

• Recollect me, darling, raise me to your lips

  ➔ Imperative Mood

  ➔ Direct commands using base verbs "Recollect" and "raise" without a subject

• Can't endure, then you can't inhale clearly

  ➔ Zero Conditional

  ➔ General truth structure: "If you "can't endure", "then" you "can't inhale"" (cause and effect)

• Inertia creeps

  ➔ Personification

  ➔ Abstract concept "Inertia" given human action "creeps"

• Moving up slowly

  ➔ Present Continuous

  ➔ Ongoing action with "-ing" form "Moving" + adverb "slowly"

• Been here before

  ➔ Ellipsis (Present Perfect)

  ➔ Omission of subject/auxiliary "I have" before "Been" (common in informal speech)

• I make no sound

  ➔ Negative Construction

  ➔ Absolute negation using "no" instead of "not any" before "sound"

• I caught your radio waves

  ➔ Simple Past Tense

  ➔ Completed action signaled by irregular past form "caught" (catch → caught)

• Say you string me along

  ➔ Imperative + Phrasal Verb

  ➔ Command "Say" introducing phrasal verb "string along" (deceive/manipulate)