How MTV transformed Faithless’ rave classic ‘Insomnia’
For a television channel that dealt almost exclusively in low-rate reality shows as it slipped into a slow decline, MTV once boasted an unparalleled grasp over the musical landscape, capable of making or breaking any budding young outfit and, in some cases, helping some songs become timeless classics.
It was during the neon hues and hairspray clouds of 1981 that MTV first launched onto television screens, and it wasted no time in establishing itself as a new music industry superpower, single-handedly popularising the art of the music video. All of a sudden, record company executives were demanding that their artists created mini-films to go along with any new releases, in the hopes of receiving enough airplay on MTV to make those songs into hits.
By the time the 1990s rolled around, MTV had a dangerous amount of sway within the music industry, and its demands were typically bowed down to by artists and executives alike – after all, if a song wasn’t played on the channel, the chances of it reaching the masses were dramatically reduced. In fact, the network’s power was so great that even the young rave rebels known as Faithless were forced to appease its demands.
Blending hip-hop, house, and electronica, with their undying obsession with collecting vinyl records of all varieties, Faithless were a beautiful encapsulation of all the revolutionary new sounds emerging from the underground nightclubs and illegal raves of the 1990s.
Back in 1995, when the musical mainstream was preoccupied with Britpop, the dance-centric collective struck upon their ultimate masterpiece, and it changed British dance and rave music forevermore.
Even if you are not a dedicated raver, ‘Insomnia’ has been a pretty unavoidable dance anthem over the past 30 years, and with good reason, too. Not only does it boast one of the catchiest hooks ever recorded, but it acts as a perfect reflection of the rave scene of the 1990s and all the different sounds and influences that made up those sweaty, ecstasy-fueled parties.
Without the intervention of MTV, though, ‘Insomnia’ might never have taken off. According to the late, great Faithless vocalist Maxi Jazz, speaking to The Guardian back in 2020, revealed that MTV requested the group change some of the song’s original lyrics. “That first line – ‘Deep in the bosom of the gentle night’ – is not me channelling Dylan Thomas,” he shared. ”That was forced on us by MTV because they felt the original first line – ‘I only smoke weed when I need to’ – was too graphic.”
Although it can’t have been an easy decision to alter a core element of their masterpiece to appease a TV channel, Faithless managed to refute some of MTV’s demands. “There were eyebrows raised about the lines ‘Making mad love to my girl on the heath / Tearing off tights with my teeth’ but they managed to stay in,” Maxi Jazz also shared.
It is fair to say that, in the end, the group’s decision to change that opening line paid off. Not only is it objectively a better, more recognisable lyric, which fits in with the song’s overarching narrative much more smoothly, but the song’s dominance on MTV helped it to reach number three in the UK singles chart, where it has since amassed over 50 collective weeks in the top 75 – not bad to say it was only the group’s second single – and it now globally renowned as a defining anthem for rave culture and dance music everywhere.
