So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth is a single by Grimes. It is the opening track on her fifth studio album, Miss Anthropocene, and was released as the second single of it.
So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth is the Goddess of Gender Roles.[1]
Background[]
The song's title was revealed in an Instagram post about the possible tracklist of the then untitled fifth album.[2] Grimes first previewed the song by playing it in a Twitter (now X) post dated January 10, 2019.[3] A piece of concept art for So Heavy I Fell Through The Earth was teased by Grimes on February 13, 2019 in an Instagram Story.[4]
An early version of the song was leaked alongside other unfinished tracks of the album on October 25, 2019. This version lacks some sounds and some effects that are present in the final mix.[5] On November 24, 2019 the final version leaked as part of the full album leak.[6]
Composition[]
Meaning[]
Grimes told Apple Music:[7]
❝ I think I wanted to make a sort of hard Enya song. I had a vision, a weird dream where I was just sort of falling to the earth, like fighting a Balrog. I woke up and said, ‘I need to make a video for this, or I need to make a song for this.’ It’s sort of embarrassing, but lyrically, the song is kind of about when you decide to get pregnant or agree to get pregnant. It’s this weird loss of self, or loss of power or something. Because it’s sort of like a future life in subservience to this new life. It’s about the intense experience deciding to do that, and it’s a bit of an ego death associated with making that decision. ❞
She repeated a similar thing to Rolling Stone:[8]
❝ “It’s about getting pregnant. The sort of tragedy of agreeing to it, even though it’s this great thing. For a girl, it’s sacrificing your body and your freedom. It’s a pretty crazy sacrifice and only half of the population has to do it. It was really profound to me when I decided I was going to do it, to actually go through the act of like, y’know, unprotected sex. I’m just like, I have sacrificed my power in this moment. I have, like, capitulated, And I have spent my whole life avoiding that situation. I have never capitulated to anything, so it was just a profound commitment. ❞
Grimes first described the song as "(..) super dark heavy ballad about fighting balrog in the center of earth that is a sex metaphor (..)"[9]
Production[]
Grimes compared the song to the sound of Halfaxa:[10]
❝ my song so heavy i fell thru the earth is in that post burial post aphex meets ethereal digital celtic vibe , used roli seaboard and top secret ai synth of which there is only 1 in the world to make it, it’s big heavy dark ballad, if u dig halfaxs u will like ❞
Grimes made this song mostly in her bedroom with the ROLI Seaboard keyboard, one of her favorite instruments.[11][dead link]
The song was meant to sound like "(..) movie trailer-ish, (..) like a large battle or something (..) wanted to make something sound like movie, sound sick, I don't know, with like a really high budget action shot (..)".[12]
Media[]
Artwork[]
![Alternate cover art[13]](/wiki/File:EJIHnMZUwAAzuex.jpg "EJIHnMZUwAAzuex.jpg (43 KB)")
![Alternate cover art[14]](/wiki/File:EUVMTldWsAAweKy.jpg "EUVMTldWsAAweKy.jpg (97 KB)")
![Alternate cover art[15]](/wiki/File:EJYE0R5U0AAMXDp.jpg "EJYE0R5U0AAMXDp.jpg (83 KB)")
![Alternate cover art[16]](/wiki/File:3f681c6c17ada52a0e27e02acf65ef22.jpg "3f681c6c17ada52a0e27e02acf65ef22.jpg (53 KB)")
![Unused cover art[17]](/wiki/File:Photo_2019-11-12_22-13-45.jpg "Photo 2019-11-12 22-13-45.jpg (105 KB)")
_001.jpg "Instagram Story (2019) 001.jpg (45 KB)")
Video[]
| Video | Credits | |
|---|---|---|
| Title | bass is peaking sry | |
| Premiere | 10 Jan 2019 | |
| Length | 1:07 | |
| Filmed by | Grimes | |
| Notes | Posted to Twitter (now X)[3] | |
| Video | Credits | |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Grimes - So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth (Visualizer) | |
| Premiere | 15 Nov 2019 | |
| Length | 6:08 | |
| Featuring | Ethereal Lobby Force (E.L.F.) | |
| Director | Grimes | |
| Editor | Mac Boucher, Neil Hansen, Grimes | |
| Video | Credits | |
|---|---|---|
| Title | So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth | |
| Premiere | 2 Nov 2023 | |
| Length | 4:13 | |
| Notes | The video can be viewed here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TVkTSg_XCJIT0e_oBA8QdcbuEhfWjnPC/view?usp=sharing | |
Additional Credits
- Production: Brandon Robinson & Ways & Means
- Executive Production: Lana Kim & Jett Steiger
- Head of Production: Lauren Skillen
- Head of Post Production: Grant Keiner
- Production Management: Nick Andrus
- Direction of Photography: Neil Hansen
- VFX Supervising: Stephen Pagano
- Hair: Chanel Croker
- Makeup: Natasha Severino
- Nails: Victoria Hendrix
- Styling: Natasha Advani
- Talent: Alyson Van
- Post Production: Steph Max
- Editing: Grimes
- Coloring: Company 3 / Bryan Smaller
- VFX: Stephen Pagano @Ways & Means
Behind the Scenes
_001.jpg "Instagram Story (16 Sept 2019) 001.jpg (213 KB)")
Background
On February 21, 2020 (the release date of Miss Anthropocene), Grimes posted a snippet to her social media of the So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth video being edited.[18] A year later she elaborated on her Instagram why the full video never saw a release: (The original comment, and thus the whole comment thread, seems to have been deleted. But the first comment by Grimes was talking about the We Appreciate Power music video as the Instagram post was a picture taken on the set of that video, and the second comment was about the So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth video, as Grimes was not pregnant while filming the We Appreciate Power video as it was shot in 2018 and based on all the footage that we have, she was never seen laying down, while in the So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth video Grimes can be seen laying down with bright orange hair, which she spotted in late 2019 while pregnant.)[19][20]
❝ it just... isn't amazing I was like a month pregnant ans so sick and having weird mental problems lol. So I could only lie down. The performance just isn't great and my execution is generally weak I just was in a weakened state. ❞
- Grimes at the time had internal bleeding and she was not supposed to move or dance, so could only shoot while lying down, which she thought was "fucked up". In addition to that, she was "falling apart" psychologically.[21]
The video was uploaded on Vimeo on November 2, 2023 as part of an accidental leakage.[22] The video was brought to mass attention 22 days later, when it was promptly deleted.
When Grimes learned about the leak, she tweeted:[23]
❝ Did this leak? I'm not mad if it did, honestly. I will just post the whole thing. I hated it at the time cuz I was 3 wks pregnant or smthn and so insanely sick I could barely get thru a shot. It gets wild in the second half - does anyone have the whole thing?? ❞
She added that she was fixing shots and adding effects to the video, and also saying that the video is only half done, and is not the complete version.[24][23]
She added as to why the video was not released with Miss Anthropocene:[25]
❝ I was like 3 weeks pregnant when we filmed this and insanely sick so we didn't get a lot of the shots we wanted so I thought it was too boring to put out but but it's a vibe enough - was supposed to be a pas de deux with an assault rifle ❞
| Video | Credits | |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Grimes - So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth (Official Video) | |
| Premiere | 25 Feb 2024 | |
| Length | 4:14 | |
| Director | Grimes | |
| Producer | Grimes | |
| Editor | Grimes | |
| Notes | Celebrating the anniversary of 'Miss Anthropocene': https://grimes.ffm.to/missanthropocene
| |
Additional Credits
- Production: Brandon Robinson & Ways & Means
- Executive Production: Lana Kim & Jett Steiger
- Head of Production: Lauren Skillen
- Head of Post Production: Grant Keiner
- Production Management: Nick Andrus
- Direction of Photography: Neil Hansen
- VFX Supervising: Stephen Pagano
- Hair: Chanel Croker
- Makeup: Natasha Severino
- Nails: Victoria Hendrix
- Styling: Natasha Advani
- Talent: Alyson Van
- Post Production: Steph Max
- Editing: Grimes
- Coloring: Company 3 / Bryan Smaller
- VFX: Stephen Pagano @Ways & Means
Background
Lyrics[]
[Refrain]
O silly love
Coming here
When I said, "Go"
[Pre-Chorus]
Weigh me down
O love
Me now
O love
[Chorus]
Yeah, oh
So heavy, I fell through the earth
Yeah, oh
'Cause I fucking love
Yeah, oh
So heavy, I fell through the earth
Yeah, oh
'Cause I'm full of love from you
[Refrain]
O silly love
Coming here
When I said, "Go"
[Pre-Chorus]
Weigh me down
O love
Me now
O love
[Chorus]
Yeah, oh
So heavy, I fell through the earth
Yeah, oh
'Cause I fucking love
Yeah, oh
So heavy, I fell through the earth
Yeah, oh
'Cause I'm full of love from you
[Outro]
So heavy I fell
Through the earth, baby
So heavy I fell
Through the earth, baby
So heavy I fell
Through the earth, baby
So heavy I fell
So heavy I fell
So heavy I fell
[Refrain]
Oh, silly love
Coming here
When I said go
[Pre-Chorus]
Weigh me down, oh, love
Weigh me down, oh, love
[Chorus]
Yeah, oh
So heavy I fell through the earth
Yeah, oh
'Cause I fucking love
Yeah, oh
So heavy I fell through the earth
Yeah, oh
'Cause I'm full of love from you
[Refrain]
Oh, silly love
Coming here
When I said go
[Pre-Chorus]
Weigh me down, oh, love
Weigh me down, oh, love
[Chorus]
Yeah, oh
So heavy I fell through the earth
Yeah, oh
'Cause I fucking love
Yeah, oh
So heavy I fell through the earth
Yeah, oh
'Cause I'm full of love from you
[Outro]
So heavy I fell
Through the earth, baby
So heavy I fell
Through the earth, baby
So heavy I fell
Through the earth, baby
So heavy I fell
Through the earth (Babe)
Trivia[]
References[]
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20200228203815/https://www.grimesmusic.com/
- ↑ https://crackmagazine.net/2018/05/grimes-reveals-new-album-tracklist/
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 https://twitter.com/Grimezsz/status/1083340742486044672
- ↑
- ↑ https://youtu.be/IdWSTpcVV8I?t=74
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/indieheads/comments/e173zn/leak_grimes_miss_anthropocene/
- ↑ https://music.apple.com/us/album/miss-anthropocene/1496782284
- ↑ https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rollingstone.com%2Fmusic%2Fmusic-features%2Fgrimes-rolling-stone-digital-cover-960843%2F
- ↑ https://twitter.com/Grimezsz/status/995412306635837440
- ↑ https://x.com/Grimezsz/status/1003905609559728129
- ↑ https://youtu.be/U-fVStBoKf0?si=i4DYqvC1kNWt5gOw&t=192
- ↑ https://youtu.be/rt8GL6rfs_g?si=rJ_-eG4fRmBmp1eA&t=348
- ↑ https://twitter.com/Grimezsz/status/1194025226436136961
- ↑ https://twitter.com/Grimezsz/status/1194025226436136961
- ↑ https://twitter.com/grimezsz/status/1195148050689404929
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/B4vd_gQlP5U/
- ↑ http://popovy-dolls.com/blog/grimes-doll/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/B80kYb7l7Mr/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CLnDynCFny8/
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/Grimes/comments/lq4nsr/we_appreciate_power_lives_on/
- ↑ https://youtu.be/7VqMFyQCDEQ?si=RuqPY8lxHvKTbTG2&t=1974
- ↑ https://vimeo.com/880635434
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 https://twitter.com/Grimezsz/status/1728651882443501977
- ↑ https://twitter.com/Grimezsz/status/1729632456121208915
- ↑ https://twitter.com/Grimezsz/status/1761456662173663378
- ↑ https://twitter.com/Grimezsz/status/1761454557677408597
- ↑ Note: GEMA capitalises all songs, so it's not known what the capitalising was meant to be.
GEMA Code: 21365186-001
- ↑ https://youtu.be/IdWSTpcVV8I?si=X1Vv3DUSVDtuZWqk&t=91
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