Slippin' into Darkness

Last updated
"Slippin' into Darkness"
Single by War
from the album All Day Music
B-side Nappy Head (Theme From "Ghetto Man")
ReleasedNovember 1971 (1971-11)
Genre
Length3:59 (single version)
6:59 (album version)
Label United Artists
Songwriter(s) War
Producer(s) Jerry Goldstein
War singles chronology
"All Day Music"
(1971)		"Slippin' into Darkness"
(1971)		"The World Is a Ghetto"
(1972)

"Slippin' into Darkness" is a song written and performed in 1971 by War. The song was produced by Jerry Goldstein. [3] A live version of the song was featured as the B-side to their 1974 single "Ballero".

Contents

Background

This song is an unusual blues form with the first lines being repeated in an African and Latin rhythm. The song is from the perspective of someone whose friend's life was taken away, who withdraws from reality, having to pay the consequences. Because of the song's length in the album version, at 6:59, the single radio edit version of 3:59 omits the slower introduction plus the second verse of the song.

Chart performance

It reached #12 on the U.S. R&B chart and #16 on the U.S. pop chart in 1972, [4] logging 22 weeks on that chart, [5] tied for most total weeks inside that year with Gallery's "Nice to Be with You". [6] It was featured on their 1971 album All Day Music . [7] The song ranked #23 on Billboard magazine's Top 100 singles of 1972. [8] In Canada, it reached #13. [9]

Other versions

Sampling

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA) [19] Platinum2,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

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References

  1. ↑ Marsh, Dave (1989). The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. Plume. p. 186. ISBN   0-452-26305-0.
  2. ↑ Echols, Alice (March 29, 2010). "I Hear a Symphony: Black Masculinity and the Disco Turn". Hot Stuff: Disco and the Remaking of American Culture. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 28. ISBN   978-0-393-06675-3.
  3. ↑ "War, "Slippin' into Darkness" Single Release" . Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  4. ↑ "War, "Slippin' into Darkness" Chart Positions" . Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  5. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2003). Top Pop Singles 1955-2002. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research, Inc. p. 751. ISBN   0-89820-155-1.
  6. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2003). Top Pop Singles 1955-2002. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research, Inc. p. 270. ISBN   0-89820-155-1.
  7. ↑ "War, All Day Music". Discogs . October 1971. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  8. ↑ "Billboard Top 100 - 1972". Archived from the original on 2016-02-16. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  9. ↑ "RPM Top 100 Singles - June 3, 1972" (PDF).
  10. ↑ "Tony Sherman – Tonight / Slippin' Into Darkness". Discogs . 1974. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  11. ↑ "Cargo Cult, Strange Men Bearing Gifts". Discogs . 1986. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  12. ↑ "Black Uhuru, Mystical Truth". Discogs . 1992. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  13. ↑ "Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers, Rip a Dip". Discogs . 1995. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  14. ↑ "Sandra St. Victor, Gemini: Both Sides". Discogs . Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  15. ↑ "Ramsey Lewis and Nancy Wilson, Simple Pleasures". Discogs . Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  16. ↑ "Widespread Panic, Jackassolantern". Discogs . 28 September 2004. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  17. ↑ "Lettuce, Fly". Discogs . Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  18. ↑ "Marcus Miller, Renaissance". Discogs . Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  19. ↑ "American single certifications – War – Slippin' Into Darkness". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved August 21, 2019.
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