Glory Box

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"Glory Box"
Glory box.jpg
Single by Portishead
from the album Dummy
B-side"Toy Box"
Released2 January 1995 (1995-01-02)[1]
GenreTrip hop[2]
Length5:06
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Portishead singles chronology
"Sour Times"
(1994) 		"Glory Box"
(1995) 		"All Mine"
(1997)

"Glory Box" is a song by English electronic band Portishead. It was released on 2 January 1995 as the third and final single from their 1994 debut album, Dummy. The song samples "Ike's Rap II" by Isaac Hayes.

Critical reception[]

Music & Media commented, "Put the violin of the late Papa John Creach on top of it, and you get the Jefferson Airplane for the '90s. Based on a sample from Isaac Hayes's Isaac Moods it's "suspense dance"."[4] Maria Jimenez from the magazine's Short Grooves wrote, "This bluesy, emotional and hypnotic number is set to a very mellow, minimalistic and spacious hip hop musical backdrop. Potent vocals reminiscent of Cowboy Junkies and intense guitar energy and dub bass amplify the power of Glory Box."[5] Andy Beevers from Music Week gave it four out of five, describing it as "another highly original and atmospheric song that is probably too downbeat and leftfield for daytime radioplay, but will still sell well."[6]

Music video[]

The music video for the song was directed by Alexander Hemming and released on November 14.[7] It is set in the 1950s, featuring lead singer Beth Gibbons as a jazz singer at a club while various office workers watch her perform. Sexual tension begins to rise between certain characters, as eventually, all of the workers, as separate couples, attend the club where Beth is performing. Apart from the band members, the entire cast of the video appears in drag.

In popular culture[]

The song can be heard in several films, such as Stealing Beauty, When the Cat's Away, The Craft, B. Monkey, Tout pour plaire, Lord of War, Claudine's Return and Wild.

The song has also been used in a variety of TV shows, such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ("Chaos Theory"), Daria ("Pinch Sitter"), Rescue Me ("Thaw"), Numb3rs ("And The Winner Is..." ), Ringer ("If You Ever Want a French Lesson"), American Horror Story ("Could it be....Satan?), Trigger Happy TV, Lucifer ("O, Ye of Little Faith, Father"), Snowpiercer ("A Single Trade"), The Vice ("Into The Night") and The Handmaid’s Tale ("Testimony"), where it is counterpointed with Tricky's "Hell Is Round the Corner",which is based on the same sample. The song also features in one of the episodes of the third season of the Italian TV series 1992.

The music to this song can also be heard in the background to MTV Europe TV series Superock with Julia Valet presenting the show.[citation needed]

It is featured in the cold open of CSI (Las Vegas) season 2, episode 2.[citation needed]

The song featured in a Levi's jeans advertisement, and a French TV advertisement for Candia milk in the early 2000s.[citation needed]

In 1998, British folk and blues musician John Martyn adapted the song for his covers album The Church with One Bell. The instrumental backbone of the original song has since been sampled in Alessia Cara's 2015 song "Here".[citation needed]

It was covered by Oscar-winning actress Olivia Colman for a 2019 Children in Need charity album titled Got It Covered.[citation needed]

In 2020, musician Leo Moracchioli created a metal version of the song.[8]

Impact and legacy[]

Slant Magazine listed the song at number 21 in their ranking of "The 100 Best Singles of the 1990s" in 2011, writing, "Second only to its flawless production, which includes a sample of Issac Hayes’s “Ike’s Rap II”, is Beth Gibbons’s impeccable lyrics and vocal performance on “Glory Box”. Her voice sounding like it’s coming out of an antique radio, she’s at once coquettish and despondent, like a lounge singer delivering her final torch song before slinking off to her dressing room to drown her sorrow in booze and heroin. Her voice blossoms with momentary optimism during the second verse (“A thousand flowers could bloom!”) and, of course, during the song’s rousing chorus: “Give me a reason to love you/Give me a reason to be a woman.” A post-feminist anthem from the hungry, seedy depths of lust."[9]

Track listings[]

CD single

  1. "Glory Box" (edit)
  2. "Toy Box"

CD maxi

  1. "Glory Box" (edit)
  2. "Toy Box"
  3. "Scorn"
  4. "Sheared Box"

12" Side one

  1. "Glory Box"
  2. "Scorn"
  3. "Sheared Box"

Side two

  1. "Strangers"
  2. "Wandering Star"

Charts[]

References[]

  1. ^ "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 24 December 1994. p. 31. Retrieved 26 January 2021. Misprinted as 1 January.
  2. ^ Nyre, Lars (2009). Sound Media: From Live Journalism to Music Recording. Routledge. p. 57. ISBN 978-1135253776.
  3. ^ ASCAP entry for song
  4. ^ "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. 21 January 1995. p. 11. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  5. ^ Jimenez, Maria (8 October 1994). "Short Grooves" (PDF). Music & Media. p. 11. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  6. ^ Beevers, Andy (24 September 1994). "Market Preview: Dance" (PDF). Music Week. p. 16. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  7. ^ "Promos In Production" (PDF). Music Week. 5 November 1994. p. 10. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  8. ^ https://youtube.com/watch?v=CTlDz-deTJo
  9. ^ "The 100 Best Singles of the 1990s". Slant Magazine. 9 January 2011. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  10. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988-2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  11. ^ "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 04 Jun 1995". ARIA. Retrieved 2 June 2016 – via Imgur.
  12. ^ "Ultratop.be – Portishead – Glory Box" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  13. ^ "Top RPM Rock/Alternative Tracks: Issue 9238." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  14. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 11 no. 5. 4 February 1995. p. 36. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  15. ^ "Lescharts.com – Portishead – Glory Box" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  16. ^ "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (18.2 '95 – 25.2 '95)". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 18 February 1995. p. 24. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  17. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Glory Box". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  18. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 11, 1995" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  19. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Portishead – Glory Box" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  20. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  21. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  22. ^ "Árslistinn 1995". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 2 January 1996. p. 25. Retrieved 30 May 2020.

External links[]

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