Released: February 10, 1992

Songwriter: Robert “3D” del Naja Grantley “Daddy G” Marshall Andrew “Mushroom” Vowles Horace Andy Neneh Cherry

Producer: Andrew “Mushroom” Vowles Grantley “Daddy G” Marshall Jonny Dollar Robert “3D” del Naja

[Chorus]
The big wheel keeps on turning
On a simple line, day by day
The Earth spins on its axis
One man struggle while another relaxes

[Verse 1]
There's a hole in my soul like a cavity
Seems like the world is out to gather just by gravity
The wheel keeps turning, the sky's rearranging
Look, my son, the weather is changing
I'd like to feel that you could be free
Look up at the blue skies beneath a new tree
Sometime again you'll turn green and the sea turns red
My son, I said, the power of axis over my head

[Chorus]
The big wheel keeps on turning
On a simple line, day by day
The Earth spins on its axis
One man struggles while another relaxes

[Verse 2]
We sang about the Sun and danced among the trees
And we listened to the whisper of the city on the breeze
Will you cry in the most, in a lead-free zone
Down within the shadows where the factories drone?
On the surface of the wheel they build another town
And so the green come tumbling down
Yes, close your eyes and hold me tight
And I'll show you sunset sometime again

[Chorus]
The big wheel keeps on turning
On a simple line, day by day
The Earth spins on its axis
One man struggle while another relaxes

[Verse 3]
As a child's silent prayer, my hope hides in disguise
While satellites and cameras watch from the skies
An acid drop of rain recycled from the sea
It washed away my shadow, burnt a hole in me
And all the King's men cannot put it back again
But the ghetto Sun will nurture life
And mend my soul sometime again

[Chorus]
The big wheel keeps on turning
On a simple line, day by day
The Earth spins on its axis
One man struggle while another relaxes

[Chorus]
The big wheel keeps on turning
On a simple line, day by day
The Earth spins on its axis
One man struggle while another relaxes

[Chorus]
The big wheel keeps on turning
On a simple line, day by day
The Earth spins on its axis
One man struggle while another relaxes

Massive Attack

Massive Attack are an English trip hop group formed in 1988 in Bristol, consisting of Robert “3D” Del Naja, Grant “Daddy G” Marshall and formerly Andy “Mushroom” Vowles.

With their roots in the Bristol, England, club scene of the early 1980s, the members of Massive Attack originated trip-hop, one of the most influential sounds of the 1990s, combining the rhythmic urgency of hip-hop, the freewheeling samples of the DJ’s craft, soul-rich melodies, and dub-reggae’s hefty, intoxicating bottom end.