All Things To All Men is a song by

the Cinematic Orchestra The Cinematic Orchestra is a British nu jazz and downtempo music group created in 1999 by Jason Swinscoe. The group is signed to independent record label Ninja Tune. The Cinematic Orchestra have produced four studio albums, ''Motion'' (1999) ...

, featuring vocals from English rapper

Roots Manuva Rodney Hylton Smith, better known by his stage name Roots Manuva (born 9 September 1972), is a British rapper and producer. Since his debut in 1994, he has produced numerous albums and singles on the label Big Dada, achieving commercial succ ...

and an instrumental composition from Welsh musician Rhodri Davies. It is the sixth and longest track on the Cinematic Orchestra's second studio album, '' Every Day'' (2002).

Composition

Roots Manuva Anais photography Auckland concert-2

The track begins with a sampling from composer John Barry's soundtrack from the 1968 motion picture

Petulia ''Petulia'' is a 1968 British-American drama film directed by Richard Lester and starring Julie Christie, George C. Scott and Richard Chamberlain. The film has a screenplay by Lawrence B. Marcus from a story by Barbara Turner and is based on ...

. After different instrumental variations and the addition of a bass rhythm, the track introduces rapper

with a 4 minute long segment over the original sampling. In his lyrics, he references the

TARDIS The TARDIS (; acronym for "Time And Relative Dimension In Space") is a fictional hybrid of the time machine and spacecraft that appears in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and its various spin-offs. Its exterior a ...

, a fictional

spacecraft A spacecraft is a vehicle or machine designed to fly in outer space. A type of artificial satellite, spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, Earth observation, meteorology, navigation, space colonization, p ...

used in the popular

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

television series '' Doctor Who'', as well as American singer-songwriter

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

. The track then tones down in intensity to a piano riff, and eventually finishing with a Harp solo by Welsh musician Rhodri Davies. At just over 11 minutes long at extended length, it is the longest track on the album '' Every Day''.

Reception

John Bush of the online music guide service

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

describes the track as a "magisterial , spoken-word quasi-autobiography." Paul Cooper of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' said the song is "contemplative, doubting, restless. For the performance of his career, Roots Manuva drops his Stockwell rudie schtick for a philosophical self-examination that never descends into navel-gazing or therapy-babble." In a review for ''Every Day'' for

BBC Music BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio ...

, Peter Marsh describes the track as "a minimalist atmospheric funk workout complete with typically off beat rhymes from Roots Manuva and a lovely, kora-like Rhodri Davies harp solo." The song has been used in various different programmes and films, including the closing soundtrack to the 2006 drama film ''

Kidulthood ''Kidulthood'' (stylised as ''KiDULTHOOD'') is a 2006 British crime drama film directed by Menhaj Huda and written by Noel Clarke, who appeared in the film alongside Aml Ameen, Red Madrell, Adam Deacon, Jaime Winstone, Femi Oyeniran, Madelei ...

'', the television series '' Hustle'', soap opera ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera '' Brookside''. Since 2005, episodes have been aired on sister channel E4 a ...

'' and the documentary series ''

Wonders of the Solar System ''Wonders of the Solar System'' is a 2010 television series co-produced by the BBC and Science Channel, and hosted by physicist Brian Cox. ''Wonders of the Solar System'' was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 7 March 2010. The ...

''. The song was used as an outro in the third part of ''

When They See Us ''When They See Us'' is a 2019 American crime drama television miniseries created, co-written, and directed by Ava DuVernay for Netflix, that premiered in four parts on May 31, 2019. It is based on events of the 1989 Central Park jogger case ...

''.

Personnel

*Electric bass — Phil France *Harp — Rhodri Davies *Piano (acoustic) — John Ellis *Produced by — Phil France and Jacob Swinscoe *Recorded by — Jamie Finch *Soprano Saxophone — Tom Chant *Vocals — Rodney Smith (Roots Manuva) *Written by — Phil France, Jacob Swinscoe, Carolyn Leigh, John Barry, Roots Manuva

References

{{authority control 2002 songs The Cinematic Orchestra songs Roots Manuva songs British hip hop songs Songs with music by John Barry (composer) Songs with lyrics by Carolyn Leigh Nu jazz songs Jazz rap songs