Massive’s Robert Del Naja describes "I wanna be clean but I gotta get high" line, and the song’s other references to substance addiction, as more metaphorical than literal, saying,
“"I want to be clean, but I gotta get high” is a general observation really. For myself and other people I know … It’s not a battle with addiction so much as it’s just about trying to moderate everything.“
Massive’s Robert Del Naja describes "I wanna be clean but I gotta get high" line, and the song’s other references to substance addiction, as more metaphorical than literal, saying,
“"I want to be clean, but I gotta get high” is a general observation really. For myself and other people I know … It’s not a battle with addiction so much as it’s just about trying to moderate everything.“
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/massive-attack-weve-always-been-into-telling-a-story-1896929.html