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

War War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

. 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 record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

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's " Nice to Be with You". It was featured on their 1971 album '' All Day Music''. 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). *

Tony Sherman Tony Sherman is a Dutch singer who had a string of hits in the 1970s and 1980s. He began with the top ten hit "Tonight". Background Tony Saunders was originally from Curaçao. From the 1970s onwards, he was based in Holland. He was a member of th ...

released a version as the B side of the 45 single of "Tonight" (1974). *

Cargo Cult Cargo cults were diverse spiritual and political movements that arose among indigenous Melanesians following Western colonisation of the region in the late 19th century. Typically (but not universally) cargo cults included: charismatic prophet ...

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 pe ...

released a version of the song on their 1992 album '' Mystical Truth''. * Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers released a version of the song on their 1995 album ''Rip a Dip''. * Sandra St. Victor 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 (musician), John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Duane Trucks, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJ ...

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

Jackassolantern ''Jackassolantern'' is the sixth live album released by the Athens, GA based band Widespread Panic. The album was recorded during various Halloween shows on which the band has performed. It was released on September 28, 2004 and was the third ...

''. *

Lettuce Lettuce (''Lactuca sativa'') is an annual plant of the family Asteraceae mostly grown as a leaf vegetable. The leaves are most often used raw in Green salad, green salads, although lettuce is also seen in other kinds of food, such as sandwiche ...

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 has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandross, and saxophonists Wayne Shorter and David Sa ...

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

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

''.

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 t ...

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 group from Miami, Florida, formed in 1984. The group was originally composed of DJ Mr. Mixx (David Hobbs), Fresh Kid Ice (Christopher Wong Won), and Amazing Vee (Yuri Vielot), though its most well-known lineup ...

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 inspire ...

on their album '' Holy Intellect''. *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 California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coas ...

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, ...

''. *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. Eazy-E is often re ...

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 rapper Eazy-E. It was released posthumously by Ruthless Records and Relativity Records on January 30, 1996, ten months after Eazy-E's death in March ...

''. *War's version was sampled in the 1997 song "Capítulo 4, Versículo 3" by

Racionais MC's Racionais MC's are a Brazilian hip hop group based in São Paulo. The original lineup formed in 1988 consisted of Mano Brown, Ice Blue, Edi Rock, and DJ KL Jay. Each member hails from the ring of ''favelas'' around São Paulo. Their lyrics c ...

on their album ''

Sobrevivendo no Inferno ''Sobrevivendo no Inferno'' (, in English "Surviving in Hell") is the second studio album of the Brazilian hip-hop group Racionais MC's, released on 20 December 1997. The album was produced during a period of socio-political change in Brazil, a ...

''. *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) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, he fused elements of reggae, ska and rocksteady and was renowned for his distinctive voca ...

*War's version was sampled in the 2025 song " The Largest" by

BigXthaPlug Xavier Landum (born May 12, 1998), better known by his stage name BigXthaPlug, is an American rapper, songwriter and record producer. He is currently signed to UnitedMasters and is best known for his songs "Texas", "Mmhmm", "Climate", "Levels" ...

for his album ''Take Care'' (BigXthaPlug album)

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 one season. Produced by Sony Pictures Television, the s ...

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

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

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''. *War's version was featured on the last season of the TV show ''

Snowfall Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...

''.

Certifications

References

{{Nancy Wilson 1971 songs 1971 singles Songs written by Lonnie Jordan War (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 Song recordings produced by Jerry Goldstein (producer)