Missing Piece

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06. Control Freak
07. Missing Piece
List of Unsound Methods songs
08. Last Breath
Missing Piece
AlbumUnsoundMethods.jpg
Song Missing Piece
By Recoil
Songwriter Alan Wilder
Siobhan Lynch
Produced by Alan Wilder
Recorded at The Thin Line (Sussex)
Mixed by Alan Wilder
Mixing assistance Paul Stevens
Simon Shazell
Mastered by Ian Cooper
Studio assistance Hepzibah Sessa
Published by Mute Song
Not Normal Music
Zoetrope Music Company
Carlin Music Corp.
Chappell, Inc.
Warner/Chappell Music Ltd.
Recorded September 1996 - June 1997
Originally released 27 October 1997
Live performances as Recoil 0 times *
Total live performances 0 times *

"Missing Piece" is a song from the 1997 album Unsound Methods by Recoil. It was released alongside "Stalker" as a double A-side single on 9 March 1998.

Lyrics


Missing Piece

I wanna write myself

On the walls of your heart

Because the knot that holds us

Altogether throws us all apart

I'm gonna stop myself

Before I say something true

Because the answers

That roll from my tongue

Are nothing to do with you


And I hold a piece up to the light

Hold a piece up to my eye

Found a missing piece from my set

Found a person I'd not met

Hold a piece up to the light

Hold a piece up to my eye

Found a missing piece from my set

Found a person I'd not met


Sometimes is a lonely place

So tow me over to the light

The sound, the sound it is in sight

Found my heart was contained within a cell

Found my heart in this tuck-a-way-me world


I hold a piece up to the light

Hold a piece up to my eye

Found a missing piece from my set

Found a person I'd not met


Sometimes is a lonely place

Sometimes I held the missing piece


Songwriter: Alan Wilder/Siobhan Lynch
Publishing Information: ℗ 1997 Reprise Records

Composition

Sample sources

"Missing Piece" - Recoil
1997
Self-made samples
Sample Notes Audio
Slide guitar A slide guitar part used prominently in the final moments of "Clean" is re-purposed as a rhythmic element throughout the choruses of "Missing Piece". Notably, this sample is also used to atmospheric effect in "Death's Door".
Guitar ambience A textured pad effect originally recorded for embellishment from the second chorus onwards of "Clean" is re-purposed for atmospherics in "Missing Piece".
E-bow guitar A series of melodic e-bow guitar parts originally recorded for use during the middle eight and outro sections of "Walking In My Shoes" are re-used to ominous effect in chorus with orchestral strings at the three minute seven second mark.
Tremolo guitar "Missing Piece" re-purposes a guitar chord processed through a tremolo effect originally recorded for "Blue Dress". This guitar part is also notably used during the chorus sections of "Death's Door".

Sample sources
Sample Source Status Notes Audio
Reversed electric piano, guitar atmospherics, drum elements Björk - "Headphones (0 Remix)" - 1996
Confirmed
A manipulated section of audio featuring electric piano, guitar, and drum elements derived from mid-way through Bjork's 1996 "Headphones (0 Remix)" is utilised throughout "Missing Piece".

Click to display/hide audio example

Drums, guitar, bass guitar, electric piano elements Whale - We Care - "Eurodog" - 3 July 1995
Confirmed
A series of manipulated sections of audio derived from "Eurodog" by Whale are utilised throughout "Missing Piece".
Organ elements Kool & the Gang - Light of Worlds - "Summer Madness" - September 1974
Confirmed
A manipulated section of audio derived from Kool & the Gang's 1974 instrumental "Summer Madness" is utilised sporadically throughout "Missing Piece".
Bass guitar, brass, drum elements Angelo Badalamenti, David Lynch, Koko Taylor, G. Marq Roswell - David Lynch's Wild At Heart (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) - "Up In Flames" - 1990
Confirmed
A manipulated section of audio derived from the intro of "Up In Flames" as performed by Koko Taylor for the soundtrack to David Lynch's 1990 film Wild at Heart is utilised sporadically throughout "Missing Piece".

Click to display/hide audio example

Orchestral elements John Williams - Schindler's List: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - "Auschwitz-Birkenau" - 1994
Confirmed
A series of orchestral strings derived from "Auschwitz-Birkenau", composed by John Williams for the 1993 film Schindler's List are utilized throughout "Missing Piece". Credit to Thomas of Forced To Mode for this discovery.
Drum elements Primal Scream - Screamadelica - "Loaded" - 1990
Confirmed
A drum loop derived from the opening moments of "Loaded" by Primal Scream is utilised throughout "Missing Piece".

Click to display/hide audio example

Guitar elements Miranda Sex Garden - Fairytales of Slavery - "A Fairytale About Slavery" - 18 June 1994
Confirmed
A looping section of audio derived from "A Fairytale About Slavery" by Miranda Sex Garden is utilised sporadically throughout "Missing Piece".
Orchestral elements Ralph Vaughan Williams, London Chamber Orchestra, Christopher Warren-Green, Nigel Warren-Green - The Lark Ascending • Tallis Fantasia • Introduction And Allegro • Serenade For Strings - Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis - June 1988[footnotes 1]
Confirmed
A reversed, manipulated section of audio derived from a June 1988 performance of Ralph Vaughan Williams's Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis as performed by the London Chamber Orchestra with Christopher Warren-Green is utilised in the outro section of "Missing Piece".
Drum elements The Dangerous CD Company - Danger 1 - Track 55 - "Percussion Loop 106bpm" - 1991
Confirmed
A drum loop derived from The Dangerous CD Company's 1991 sample CD Danger 1 is utilised sporadically throughout "Missing Piece". The loop as featured on Danger 1 is itself a sample derived from "1990 A New Decade" by Soul II Soul.[1][footnotes 2]

Dates where Missing Piece was played

Missing Piece has never been played live.


1981-1985: Dreaming Of MeNew LifeJust Can't Get EnoughSee YouThe Meaning Of Love
Leave In SilenceGet The Balance RightEverything CountsLove In ItselfPeople Are PeopleMaster And ServantBlasphemous RumoursSomebodyShake The DiseaseIt's Called A Heart
1986-1989: StrippedBut Not TonightA Question Of LustA Question Of TimeStrangelove
Never Let Me Down AgainBehind The WheelLittle 15Personal Jesus
1990-1998: Enjoy The SilencePolicy Of TruthWorld In My EyesI Feel YouWalking In My ShoesCondemnationIn Your RoomBarrel Of A GunIt's No GoodHomeUseless
Only When I Lose Myself
2001-2009: Dream OnI Feel LovedFreeloveGoodnight LoversPreciousA Pain That I'm Used To
Suffer WellJohn The RevelatorLilianMartyrWrongPeaceFragile TensionHole To Feed
2013-2017: HeavenSoothe My SoulShould Be HigherWhere's The RevolutionGoing Backwards
Cover Me
2023: Ghosts Again
1992-1998: Faith HealerDriftingStalkerMissing Piece
2000-2008: Strange HoursJezebelPreyAllelujah
2003-2008: Dirty Sticky FloorsI Need YouBottle LivingHold OnA Little PieceKingdomSaw SomethingDeeper And Deeper
2012-2015: Longest DayTake Me Back HomeAll Of This And NothingShine
1989-2003: CompulsionStardustLoverman
2012: SpockSingle BlipAftermaths
Official releases

Notes

  1. Recorded at All Saints' Church, Petersham; June 1988.
  2. In June 2020, elektronauts.com user "Leo-iSL" described participating in the production of Danger 1:

    The samples for [Danger 1] were recorded/compiled at a studio in Arnos Grove. The studio was called either Sound Garden or Music Garden Studios (I can't quite remember). A lot of the samples were taken from my own record collection. The guy behind [The Dangerous CD Company] is called Brian Teasdale [...] I first went to his studio around [1991\1992] to record some Hardcore demos. [I] was about 19 years old. When Brian heard the records [I] was sampling from he asked if he could borrow my collection. That's how this sample CD came about. Together with Brian's sister and girlfriend we went to the Frankfurt Musikmesse and launched the CD there.

References

  1. elektronauts.com - What was your first studio recording experience - User "Leo-iSL", June 15, 2020