"Slippin' into Darkness" is a song written and performed in 1971 by

War War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

. The song was produced by Jerry Goldstein. A live version of the song was featured as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

to their 1974 single "Ballero".

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, logging 22 weeks on that chart, tied for most total weeks inside that year with

Gallery Gallery or The Gallery may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Art gallery ** Contemporary art gallery Music * Gallery (band), an American soft rock band of the 1970s Albums * ''Gallery'' (Elaiza album), 2014 album * ''Gallery'' (Gr ...

's "

Nice to Be with You "Nice to Be with You" is a 1972 song, from the album of the same name, by Gallery. Background On Dick Clark Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American radio and television personality, television producer a ...

". It was featured on their 1971 album ''

All Day Music ''All Day Music'' is the fourth album by American band War, released November 1971 on United Artists Records. Release The title single, issued in July 1971, was backed with "Get Down".Neely, Tim, ''Goldmine Price Guide to 45 RPM Records'', Secon ...

''. The song ranked #23 on ''Billboard'' magazine's Top 100 singles of 1972. In Canada, it reached #13.

Other versions

*The Nigerian funk combo The Funkees recorded a version in 1973. *Mr G. And The Dayton Sidewinders released a version on Carlco Records (1974). *

Cargo Cult A cargo cult is an indigenist millenarian belief system, in which adherents perform rituals which they believe will cause a more technologically advanced society to deliver goods. Causes, beliefs, and practices Cargo cults are marked by a ...

released a version of the song on their 1986 album ''Strange Men Bearing Gifts''. *

Black Uhuru Black Uhuru is a Jamaican reggae group formed in 1972, initially as Uhuru ( Swahili for 'freedom'). The group has undergone several line-up changes over the years, with Derrick "Duckie" Simpson as the mainstay. They had their most successful per ...

released a version of the song on their 1992 album ''

Mystical Truth ''Mystical Truth'' is a studio album by the Jamaican reggae band Black Uhuru. It was released in 1993 through Mesa Recordings. The album peaked at number 6 on the US '' Billboard'' World Albums chart and was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Re ...

''. *

Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers was a Latin jazz, soul jazz and R&B group formed in 1959 by timbales player Henry "Pucho" Brown. Of the many musicians that worked in his group, Chick Corea is among them, Corea leaving prior to Pucho's recording ...

released a version of the song on their 1995 album ''Rip a Dip''. *

Sandra St. Victor Sandra Kay Matthews, known professionally as Sandra St. Victor, is a Dallas-born singer-songwriter most known for her work as lead singer of The Family Stand and their international hit single "Ghetto Heaven". She attended the now famous Booke ...

released a version of the song on her 2001 album ''Gemini: Both Sides''. *

Ramsey Lewis Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis Jr. (May 27, 1935 – September 12, 2022) was an American jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and radio personality. Lewis recorded over 80 albums and received five RIAA certification, gold records and three Grammy Awards ...

and Nancy Wilson released a version of the song on their 2003 album ''Simple Pleasures''. *

Widespread Panic Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Duane Trucks, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and guit ...

released a version of the song on their 2004 live album '' Jackassolantern''. *

Lettuce Lettuce (''Lactuca sativa'') is an annual plant of the family Asteraceae. It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable, but sometimes for its stem and seeds. Lettuce is most often used for salads, although it is also seen in other kinds of food, ...

released a version of the song on their 2012 album ''Fly''. *

Marcus Miller William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. (born June 14, 1959) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work as a bassist. He has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandros ...

released a version of the song on his 2012 album ''

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

''.

Sampling

*War's version was sampled in the 1988 songs "Guitar Playin'" and "Payback's a Mutha" by

King T Roger McBride (born December 14, 1968), better known by his stage name King T (formerly known as King Tee), is an American West Coast Hip hop rapper from Compton, California. Emerging as one of Compton's earliest hip hop artists, he was signed ...

on his album '' Act a Fool''. *War's version was sampled in the 1989 song "You Got Larceny" by

2 Live Crew 2 Live Crew is an American hip hop music, hip hop group from Miami, Florida, which had its greatest commercial success from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. The group's most well-known line up was composed of Luther Campbell, Luke Campbell, Fr ...

on their album '' As Clean As They Wanna Be''. *War's version was sampled in the 1990 song "Rock Dis Funky Joint" by

Poor Righteous Teachers Poor Righteous Teachers was a hip hop group from Trenton, New Jersey, founded in 1989. Often referred to as PRT by its fans, Poor Righteous Teachers was known as a socially and politically conscious hip hop group, with musical content inspired ...

on their album ''

Holy Intellect ''Holy Intellect'' is the debut album by hip-hop group Poor Righteous Teachers, famous for its pro- Five-Percenter messages. The album includes the hip-hop classic "Rock Dis Funky Joint", which sampled "Slippin' into Darkness" by War, a 1970s f ...

''. *War's version was sampled in the 1994 song "Lil Knucklehead" by

South Central Cartel South Central Cartel is an American West Coast hip hop/ gangsta rap group based in Los Angeles, California. Discography Studio albums Collaboration albums Compilation albums *''Greatest Hits'' (2003) *''The Greatest Hits Vol. 2'' (2006) *' ...

on their album ''

'N Gatz We Truss ''N Gatz We Truss'' is the second studio album by American rap group South Central Cartel. It was released on May 10, 1994 via South G.W.K. Records and Rush Associated Labels. Recording sessions took place at Kitchen Sync Studio in Hollywood, Cali ...

''. *War's version was sampled in the 1996 song "Sippin' On A 40" by

Eazy-E Eric Lynn Wright (September 7, 1964 – March 26, 1995), known professionally as Eazy-E, was an American rapper who propelled West Coast rap and gangsta rap by leading the group N.W.A and its label, Ruthless Records. He is often referred t ...

on his album ''

Str8 off tha Streetz of Muthaphukkin Compton ''Str8 off tha Streetz of Muthaphukkin Compton'' is the second and final studio album by American hip hop recording artist Eazy-E. It was released posthumously by Ruthless Records and Relativity Records on January 30, 1996, ten months after Eazy- ...

''. *War's version was sampled in the 1997 song "Capítulo 4, Versículo 3" by Racionais MC's on their album ''

Sobrevivendo no Inferno ''Sobrevivendo no Inferno'' ("Surviving in Hell") is the fourth studio album of the Brazilian rap group Racionais MC's, released in December 1997. The album reached the mark of 1,500,000 copies sold, despite having been released by an independent ...

''. *War's version was sampled in the 1999 song "

I'm Good at Being Bad "I'm Good at Being Bad" is a song recorded by American girl group TLC for their third album ''FanMail''. It was released as a promotional single when " No Scrubs" was distributed to radio. Despite not being commercially released, the track peak ...

" by

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

on their album ''

FanMail ''FanMail'' is the third studio album by American girl group TLC, released on February 23, 1999, by LaFace and Arista Records. The album title is a tribute to TLC's fans who sent them fan mail during their hiatus. ''FanMail'' debuted at number ...

''. *War's musical hook was used as the basis for the 1974 song "

Get Up, Stand Up "Get Up, Stand Up" is a song written by Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. It originally appeared on The Wailers' 1973 album '' Burnin. It was recorded and played live in numerous versions by Bob Marley and the Wailers, along with solo versions by P ...

" by

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...

In popular culture

*War's version was featured in the fifth episode of 2016 season of ''

The Get Down ''The Get Down'' is an American musical drama television series created by Baz Luhrmann and Stephen Adly Guirgis. The series debuted on Netflix on August 12, 2016, and was cancelled after the first season. Produced by Sony Pictures Television ...

''. *War's version was featured on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

of the 2016 film ''

Suicide Squad The Suicide Squad is an antihero/supervillain team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first version of the Suicide Squad debuted in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #25 (September 1959) and the second and modern version, cre ...

''. *War's version was featured on the soundtrack of the 1992 film ''

American Me ''American Me'' is a 1992 American crime drama film produced and directed by Edward James Olmos, his first film as a director, and written by Floyd Mutrux and Desmond Nakano. Olmos also stars as the film's protagonist, Montoya Santana, loose ...

''.

Certifications

References

1971 songs 1971 singles Songs written by Lonnie Jordan War (American band) songs Ramsey Lewis songs Nancy Wilson (jazz singer) songs Song recordings produced by Mark Batson Song recordings produced by Marcus Miller United Artists Records singles {{1970s-song-stub