Dark & Long


"Dark & Long" is a song by British electronic music group Underworld and the opening track on their third studio album, dubnobasswithmyheadman. The band released a number of versions of the track, including the "Dark Train" mix, which was later made popular through its inclusion in the 1996 film ''Trainspotting.''

Writing

Karl Hyde wrote the lyrics over a long period of time, with some dating to when he was staying in Minneapolis, Minnesota following the breakup of "Underworld Mk 1" in 1990. Portions were also written on a train to Underworld's studio in Romford, Greater London. Hyde stated that his apparent obsession with waitresses, addressed in the lyrics of "Dark & Long", "Confusion the Waitress" and "The Big Meat Show", among others, was because he felt they were "very very important" as they "put you right when you need a place to rest". He also said the section where he comments "what a laugh" was inspired by his fascination with the accent in East London, where the band were based, as he had been based elsewhere prior to the founding of Underworld.

Release and legacy

The original UK release was on two 12" vinyl records and one CD single. A CD EP, featuring an additional track not released in the UK, was released on Scandinavian label April Records. The single entered the UK Singles Chart at number 57 on 25 June 1994 for one week. Excluding the album version and edit of it, seven band-made versions of the song were included on the original release. A remix of the "Thing in a Book" version, titled "Second Hand", would appear on the Café Del Mar (Ibiza) album, also released in 1994.
The "Dark Train" mix of "Dark & Long" became best known due to its use in the 1996 film Trainspotting, which also featured the Underworld song "Born Slippy Nuxx". "Dark Train" appears in a scene where the main character Mark Renton is going through heroin withdrawal. This created renewed interest in the song – alongside a much greater interest in "Born Slippy Nuxx" – which led to "Dark Train" being included in the film's second soundtrack album, as well as many other compilations such as Northern Exposure.
"Dark Train" and the Darren Price and High Contrast Remix of "Dark & Long" both appeared during the athletes' march at the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics and on its soundtrack album Isles of Wonder.
In 2021, Underworld released a new version of "Dark Train", titled "Drift 2 Dark Train", as part of their Drift series.
British artist PinkPantheress sampled the "Dark Train" version in the song "Illegal", the third single from her 2025 mixtape Fancy That.

Track listings

All tracks were written, mixed and produced by Rick Smith, Karl Hyde, and Darren Emerson unless otherwise noted.12-inch vinyl 1
  1. "Dark & Long" – 10:21
  2. "Dark & Long" – 8:4712-inch vinyl 2
  3. "Dark & Long" – 17:58
  4. "Dark & Long" – 20:12CD single
  5. "Dark & Long" – 4:08
  6. "Dark & Long" – 9:51
  7. "Dark & Long" – 5:52
  8. "Dark & Long" – 20:02April Records EP
  9. "Dark & Long" – 4:07
  10. "Dark & Long" – 20:12
  11. "Dark & Long" – 17:58
  12. "Dark & Long" – 11:30
  13. "Dark & Long" – 10:28
  14. "Dark & Long" – 8:4712-inch vinyl 3
  15. "Dark & Long" – 10:11
  16. "Dark & Long" – 5:57
  17. "Dark & Long" – 9:53
The length of "Dark Train" varies from release to release, however the full length version, as featured on the compilation 1992–2002, is 10:51.