All Things To All Men is a song by

the Cinematic Orchestra The Cinematic Orchestra is a British nu jazz and downtempo music group created in 1999 by Jason Swinscoe and later involving his music collaborator Dominic Smith. The group is signed to independent record label Ninja Tune. The Cinematic Orches ...

, featuring vocals from English rapper

Roots Manuva Rodney Hylton Smith, better known by his stage name Roots Manuva (born 9 September 1972), is a British rapper and producer. Since his debut in 1994, he has produced numerous albums and singles on the label Big Dada, achieving commercial succ ...

and an instrumental composition from Welsh musician Rhodri Davies. It is the sixth and longest track on the Cinematic Orchestra's second studio album, '' Every Day'' (2002).

Composition

Roots Manuva Anais photography Auckland concert-2

The track begins with a sampling from composer John Barry's soundtrack from the 1968 motion picture

Petulia ''Petulia'' is a 1968 drama film directed by Richard Lester and starring Julie Christie, George C. Scott and Richard Chamberlain. The screenplay was by Lawrence B. Marcus from a story by Barbara Turner and is based on the 1966 novel ''Me and ...

. After different instrumental variations and the addition of a bass rhythm, the track introduces rapper

with a 4 minute long segment over the original sampling. In his lyrics, he references the

TARDIS The TARDIS (; acronym for "Time And Relative Dimension(s) In Space") is a fictional hybrid of a time machine and spacecraft that appears in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and its various spin-offs. While a TARDI ...

, a fictional

spacecraft A spacecraft is a vehicle that is designed spaceflight, to fly and operate in outer space. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including Telecommunications, communications, Earth observation satellite, Earth observation, Weather s ...

used in the popular

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

television series ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'', as well as American singer-songwriter

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

. The track then tones down in intensity to a piano riff, and eventually finishing with a

Harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...

solo by Welsh musician Rhodri Davies. At just over 11 minutes long at extended length, it is the longest track on the album '' Every Day''.

Reception

John Bush of the online music guide service

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

describes the track as a "magisterial , spoken-word quasi-autobiography." Paul Cooper of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' said the song is "contemplative, doubting, restless. For the performance of his career, Roots Manuva drops his

Stockwell Stockwell is a district located in South London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. It is situated south of Charing Cross. History The name Stockwell is likely to have originated from a local well, with "stoc" being Old Englis ...

rudie schtick for a philosophical self-examination that never descends into navel-gazing or therapy-babble." In a review for ''Every Day'' for

BBC Music BBC Music is the arm of the BBC responsible for the music played across its services. The current director of music is Lorna Clarke. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio operational division; however, its remit also includes music used i ...

, Peter Marsh describes the track as "a minimalist atmospheric funk workout complete with typically off beat rhymes from Roots Manuva and a lovely, kora-like Rhodri Davies harp solo." The song has been used in various different programmes and films, including the closing soundtrack to the 2006 drama film ''

Kidulthood ''Kidulthood'' (stylised known as ''KiDULTHOOD'') is a 2006 British teen crime drama film directed by Menhaj Huda from a screenplay by Noel Clarke. It stars Aml Ameen, Red Madrell, Adam Deacon, Jaime Winstone, Femi Oyeniran, Madeleine Fairley, ...

'', the television series '' Hustle'', soap opera ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which originally began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside (TV series), Brookside''. From 2005 to 2023, episodes h ...

'' and the documentary series ''

Wonders of the Solar System ''Wonders of the Solar System'' is a 2010 television series co-produced by the BBC and Science Channel, and hosted by physicist Brian Cox (physicist), Brian Cox. ''Wonders of the Solar System'' was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Tw ...

''. The song was used as an outro in the third part of ''

When They See Us ''When They See Us'' is a 2019 American crime drama television miniseries created, co-written, and directed by Ava DuVernay for Netflix, that premiered in four parts on May 31, 2019. It is based on events of the 1989 Central Park jogger cas ...

''.

Personnel

*Electric bass – Phil France *Harp – Rhodri Davies *Piano (acoustic) – John Ellis *Produced by – Phil France and Jacob Swinscoe *Recorded by – Jamie Finch *Soprano Saxophone – Tom Chant *Vocals – Rodney Smith (Roots Manuva) *Written by – Phil France, Jacob Swinscoe, Carolyn Leigh, John Barry, Roots Manuva

References

{{authority control 2002 songs The Cinematic Orchestra songs Roots Manuva songs British hip-hop songs Songs with music by John Barry (composer) Songs with lyrics by Carolyn Leigh Nu jazz songs Jazz rap songs