Did Brian Eno’s ‘The Big Ship’ inspire ‘Cherry’ by Ratatat?
The origin of this particular question begins with one of 2023’s most surprising collaborations, ‘Line In The Sand’ by British electronic pop group Hot Chip and fellow British musician Brian Eno. Eno is a co-founder of the 70’s glam rock group Roxy Music.
When someone says Hot Chip, you most likely think “electronic dance music.” And when someone says Brian Eno you probably think “ambient music” — that or the Windows 95 startup sound which Eno famously created. But ‘Line In The Sand’ sounds like neither. It sounds like Beatles-influenced art pop, something I had never heard from Hot Chip or Eno. So I went digging in Eno’s catalogue and discovered his 1975 album, Another Green World — and there was the art pop influence. I then noticed this lyric from ‘Line In The Sand’ sung by Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor, “another green world back into clay.”
I felt lucky to have discovered the song’s influence as well as an unfamiliar but intriguing Brian Eno album. But I was about to get luckier. Another Green World features some of Eno’s earliest instrumental compositions that he would later call Ambient. I was casually enjoying the album, especially collaborator Robert Fripp’s fierce guitar playing, and then I heard a track that made me pause — ‘The Big Ship.’
‘The Big Ship’ and other instrumental pieces like ‘Little Fishes’ have been described as "highly imagistic, like paintings done in sound that actually resemble their titles.”
Listening to ‘The Big Ship’ is like having someone wrap you in a warm blanket. It’s how joy feels beyond mere happiness, how unconditional love feels when all fear has vanished. As I listened to it for the first time, I remembered another instrumental song that made me feel the same way — ‘Cherry’ by Ratatat. You could say ‘Cherry’ is a modern-day version of ‘The Big Ship.’ They use synthesizers and droning guitars to build a feeling of ecstasy that gradually fades into the light. They both reveal eternity, just long enough to convince you it’s real.
Discovering ‘The Big Ship’ almost feels like finding a sample for one of your favorite hip-hop songs. I’ll never know if Ratatat had Eno in mind when they wrote ‘Cherry,’ but I love knowing both songs exist. Whether or not you feel these two masterpieces are connected, I hope they inspire your ambient music journey. Hit the links below for two more soothing gems.
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