"Play" 10 Years Later: Moby's Track by Track Guide to 1999's Global Smash

"Machete"
It was the only song on the record that was really fun to play live. "Machete" was the only techno song. It's such a weird song. To me it reminds of that late-'80s EBM. When I was recording it, I was trying to be like Meat Beat Manifesto, Frontline Assembly, Skinny Puppy. That song was my direct influence from listening to too much Front 242.

"7"
Again, this is why I should never be allowed to run a record label. Because it's also one of favorite tracks on the record, even though it's about a minute long.

"Run On"
"Run On was one of the first songs written and it was really hard to put together, because it has so many samples in it. I didn't use computers at this point, it was all done with stand-alone samplers. When it was finished, I collapsed in exhaustion. I didn't know this when I recorded it, but it's a standard. Everybody's done it. Elvis Presley did a version of it, Johnny Cash did it. If you were a gospel or country star, everyone covered that song. And I had no idea.

"Down Slow"
The only songs I really like off Play are the quiet instrumentals. All the songs from here on in, I really like. The first five songs on the record don't interest me very much, but the last five songs I'm quite proud of.

"If Things Were Perfect"
Remember that band James? Before James became successful they put out some singles on Factory Records. One was called "Hymn From The Village" and "If Things Were Perfect" was the B side. For some reason I liked that title. So when I wrote and recorded this song, even though there's no relationship between the title and the song, I just gave it that name. I don't know why. Sort of an homage to James even though the song sounds nothing like James. I did meet [James vocalist] Tim Booth in a nightclub once and he was telling me he quit music to teach yoga. That's one of the spoken-word songs. That's the one that was directly inspired by walking around Chinatown, the two bridges area, at like 5 o'clock in the morning. That's the most New Yorky song on the record.

"Everloving"
This still makes me laugh. I recorded a rushed demo to cassette. I could never mix it in a way I was happy with, so I just ended up using the cassette demo on the album. If you listen to it, there's hiss, there's tape warble. It's probably one of the only songs on a 10-million-selling record recorded to cassette. And what's funny is that it's been licensed. Oliver Stone used it in a movie, it's been in a couple really big movies. And every time I hear it in a huge movie, I think to myself, "This is just a crummy demo on cassette."