Massive Attack

Exchange

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Exchange Lyrics

Yeah yeah yeah ah
You see a man's face
But you don't see his heart
You see a man's face
But you will never know his thoughts

Everywhere you go
There's a man to say love
Never neither never neither
Take it to heart

For your heart is your heart
And your thoughts is your thoughts
Never mix love with hatred

You see a man's face
You will never see his heart
You see a man's face
But you will never know his thoughts
You see a man's face
You will never know his thoughts
You see a man's face

Submitted by

seven On Apr 24, 2002

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Keep it true to the song

Fix what’s wrong, but don’t rewrite what the artist wrote. Stick to the official released version — album booklet, label site, verified lyric video, etc. If you’re guessing, pause and double-check.

Respect the structure

Songs have rhythm. Pages do too. Leave line breaks where they belong. Don’t smash things together or add extra empty space just for looks.

Punctuation counts (but vibe-editing doesn’t)

Correct typos? Yes. Re-punctuating a whole verse because it ‘looks better’? Probably not. Keep capitalization and punctuation close to the official source.

Don’t mix versions

If you’re editing the explicit version, keep it explicit. If it’s the clean version, keep it clean. No mashups.

Let the lyrics be lyrics

This isn’t the place for interpretations, memories, stories, or trivia — that’s what comments are for. Keep metadata, translations, and bracketed stage directions out unless they’re officially part of the song.

Edit lightly

If two lines are wrong… fix the two lines. No need to bulldoze the whole page. Think ‘surgical,’ not ‘remix.’

When in doubt, ask the crowd

Not sure what they’re singing in that fuzzy bridge? Drop a question in the comments and let the music nerds swarm. Someone always knows.

Seven

Submitter

2002-04-24 12:45:26

4 Meanings

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by surfingwzl

18y ago

i agree with TREXOR that the song sums up the album, but also, the first instrumental version of exchange was after the song "Inertia Creeps" which is apparently a song about how someone stays in a relationship because of the sex, and the instrumental exchange I believe is about the climax from having sex with that relationship in mind. Perhaps it's showing the circular motion of problems, how if we relax, and just say that it's all ok, it can cause other problems and damage our own lives.

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by SanjuroSeaCow

17y ago

I've always thought the double placement was intended as an intermission from the darker, brooding, sinister songs it borders.

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by emtardsmash

15y ago

The instrumental version of this song is wonderful to make love to. Jus' sayin'.

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by owennnnnnnnnn

17y ago

Can anyone tell me why this song is on Mezzanine? Twice? It's not atrocious, just comically out of place. If the rest of the album is the sound of modern people collapsing in on themselves, maybe Exchange is the pretty dream that keeps them from totally losing their shit.

-1

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by SanjuroSeaCow 11y ago

I really think it's meant as an interlude to keep the album from being TOO heavy.

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