"Can't See Me" is a song by

Ian Brown Ian George Brown (born 20 February 1963) is an English musician. He was the lead singer and the only continuous member of the alternative rock band the Stone Roses from their formation in 1983. Following the band's initial split in 1996, he be ...

. It was written by Brown and

Mani Mani may refer to: People * Mani (name), (), a given name and surname (including a list of people with the name) ** Mani (prophet) (c. 216–274), a 3rd century Iranian prophet who founded Manichaeism ** Mani (musician) (born 1962), an English ...

and produced by Brown. The song was remixed by Bacon & Quarmby and released as the third single from Brown's debut solo album ''

Unfinished Monkey Business ''Unfinished Monkey Business'' is the debut solo album by Ian Brown released in February 1998 via Polydor Records. The album was self-financed and produced by Brown, and was his first album release since the break-up of The Stone Roses in Octo ...

''. It was released in June 1998, and rose to number 21 on the UK Singles Chart. The song's lyrics refer to an incident when Brown saw His former

Stone Roses The Stone Roses were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band's classic and most prominent lineup consisted of vocalist Ian ...

band-mate

John Squire Jonathan Thomas Squire (born 24 November 1962)Larkin, Colin (ed.) (1998) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Indie & New Wave'', Virgin Books, is an English musician, songwriter and painter. He was the guitarist for the Stone Roses, a rock band in w ...

in a village in

Hale, Greater Manchester Hale is a village and electoral ward within the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies within the historic county boundaries of Cheshire, and became part of Greater Manchester in 1974. It lies about southwest ...

, not long after the split of the band. According to this story, Brown waved to Squire, but Squire hid behind a newspaper and would not acknowledge him.

Recording

In an interview with ''Making Music'' in 1998, Brown spoke about the song: :''It came from

sitting down with his portastudio and coming up with a bassline, but we only found out last week that Reni doesn't actually play on it - it's a breakbeat Mani sampled. I thought it was a sample Reni took from the studio that Mani played to, but it was actually a breakbeat.'' :''I've got a big pillowcase of tapes at home of Roses live shows and rehearsals and stuff, and I was just going through them one day and I found this bassline and remembered it. So I phoned him up, said, 'Can I put some Iyrics over this for my record ?' and he said, 'Course you can'.''

Track listing

;Enhanced Maxi-Single CD 1 #"Can't See Me" (Bacon & Quarmby Remix) - 3:56 #"Can't See Me" (Harvey's Invisible Mix) - 4:40 #"Come Again (Part 2)" - 3:51 #"My Star" (CD-Rom Video) ;Enhanced Maxi Single CD 2 Enhanced #"Can't See Me" (Bacon & Quarmby Remix) - 3:56 #"Can't See Me" (Bacon & Quarmby Vocal Dub) - 5:02 #"Under The Paving Stones: The Beach" (Gabriel's 13th Dream Remix) - 4:39 #"Corpses" (CD-Rom Video) ;7" Vinyl Single #"Can't See Me" (Bacon & Quarmby Remix) - 3:56 #"Can't See Me" (Bacon & Quarmby Vocal Dub) - 5:02 ;12" Vinyl Single #"Can't See Me" (Bacon & Quarmby Remix) - 3:56 #"Can't See Me" (Bacon & Quarmby Vocal Dub) - 5:02 #"Can't See Me" (Harvey's Invisible Mix) - 4:37 #"Can't See Me" (Harvey's Instrumental Mix) - 4:37 #"Under The Paving Stones: The Beach" (Gabriel's 13th Dream Remix) - 4:27

Personnel

*Ian Brown - Rhythm Bass Guitar, Lead Guitar, Producer, Mixing *Mani - Original Bass, Lead Bass Guitar *Reni - Drums *Dave Hyatt - Mixing

References

{{authority control 1998 singles 1998 songs Ian Brown songs Songs written by Ian Brown Songs written by Mani (musician) Polydor Records singles