South Side (song)
| "South Side" | |||||||||
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| Single by Moby featuring Gwen Stefani | |||||||||
| from the album Play | |||||||||
| B-side | "Ain't Never Learned" "The Sun Never Stops Setting" |
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| Released | December 12, 2000 | ||||||||
| Format | CD | ||||||||
| Length | 3:25 (edit featuring Gwen Stefani) 3:48 (album version) 3:49 (single version featuring Gwen Stefani) |
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| Label | Mute, V2 | ||||||||
| Writer(s) | Moby | ||||||||
| Producer(s) | Moby | ||||||||
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| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
"South Side" (also sometimes spelled as "Southside") is a song written and recorded by American electronica musician Moby. It was released in December 2000 as the eighth single from his 1999 studio album Play. It is one of his most successful singles, and only single to appear on the United States Billboard Hot 100 chart peaking at 14.
The song is a duet between Moby and Gwen Stefani, with most lines sung by both vocalists. Production problems forced Moby to leave Stefani's vocals off the initial mix of the song, and so her vocals are missing from the album version of the song, which is otherwise essentially identical to the single version. The song was featured in the film Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010).
In April 2005, Moby stated that the song was inspired by his visits to Chicago, and his love for its house music scene, but that its lyrics are intended to be unsettling and imply a connection between getting used to loud music as part of clubbing, and desensitization to violence.
Speaking to Rolling Stone magazine on the tenth anniversary of its release, he explained, "it's a happy sing-along pop song about kids that become so inured to violence and become so desensitized that nothing gets through to them. It's about people who have become so over-exposed to stimuli that nothing matters to them anymore."
The music video was directed by Joseph Kahn and parodies hip hop and dance music videos. Scenes include Moby in garish fur coats and sunglasses, Moby and Gwen Stefani dancing in front of large neon signs of their names, and Moby "traveling" in a convertible with women and bottles of champagne, but the vehicle is not even actually being driven outside of the studio.
The video also parodies artful videos with scenes of Moby and Gwen Stefani in a bare room, wearing drab clothing and holding a potted sunflower, visually parodying the New York "brick and plant" type of set commonly overused in videos and film.
Other elements observed in the video include Moby expressing discomfort for the fake gold "grill" insert used over his teeth to make him look more "gangsta". Eventually, he grudgingly adjusts it and walks off the set. Gwen Stefani is shown in one scene in front of the neon sign with her name wielding three-inch fingernails. Later, she interrupts the filming (to Moby's feigned disgust) to answer and talk on her cell phone.
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