Songs I Forgot I Loved: Moby's Porcelain

Songs I Forgot I Loved is a series created by writer Rema Rahman, who has grown dreadfully restless with what is currently passing for good, new music. This has inspired a revitalizing revisit to years-old CDs, extensive music video YouTube’ing and a flood of musical associations.

Eminem might have thought “nobody listens to techno” but denying the rich, hypnotic ambience in Moby’s “Porcelain” is nearly impossible. In 1999, Play produced a melting pot of gospel, house and electronica tracks that kept it on the charts for several years. Because Moby allowed the licensing of every track on the album, hoping it would help get the album heard, each song on Play has been featured on either a commercial or movie soundtrack as well as Best Album lists galore.

“Porcelain” the album’s sixth single, is moved by airy string chords and Moby’s deep, romanticized vocals layered with a looping of Pilar Basso’s muffled “Hey/ Woman/ It’s all right.” Dreamy and captivating, the song allowed for not one but two music videos. One is a Nick Brandt version that has Moby riding in a car with no driver and the more jarring Jonas Åkerlund-directed one below.