Толық Емеспес Ынтық ("Tolyq Emes Yntyq")

1991 single by Massive Attack

"Unfinished Sympathy" is a song by the English trip hop group Massive Attack. It was released on 11 February 1991 under the temporary group name Massive. The name "Massive" was used to avoid a radio ban, as the track's release coincided with the Gulf War. Produced by Massive Attack and Dollar, the song incorporates various musical elements into its arrangement, including vocal and percussion samples, drum programming and string orchestration by the arranger Wil Malone. "Unfinished Sympathy" topped the Dutch Top 40 and was a top 20 hit on the singles charts of several countries, including Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The accompanying music video, directed by Baillie Walsh, was a single continuous shot of Nelson walking through a Los Angeles neighbourhood, oblivious to her surroundings. Regarded as a pioneering song in the development of British dance music, "Unfinished Sympathy" was acclaimed by music critics for its production and Nelson's vocals. It ranked highly on several publications' year end lists of the best singles of 1991, and has since appeared in many polls of the best songs of all time by both music critics and the public worldwide. The song was later used on the soundtrack of the 1993 film Sliver. It was covered by American singer Tina Turner in her 1996's album Wildest Dreams.

The singer Shara Nelson met the members of Massive Attack when they were part of the Bristol sound system collective the Wild Bunch, and sang on their 1986 single "The Look of Love". "Unfinished Sympathy" developed from a song Nelson had been writing, which she had provisionally titled "Kiss and Tell". While Massive Attack were working on their debut album, Blue Lines, in Bristol's Coach House studio, they overheard Nelson singing the melody to herself. They and the producer, Johnny Dollar, saw potential in the song and encouraged her to develop it. Massive Attack, Nelson and Dollar worked on the song during a jam session, using a drum machine, keyboards and Nelson's vocals. It acquired the name "Unfinished Sympathy" – a pun on Franz Schubert's 1822 "Unfinished Symphony" – during this session. The Massive Attack member Robert Del Naja said: "I hate putting a title to anything without a theme, but with 'Unfinished Sympathy', we'd started with a jam The title came up as a joke at first, but it fitted the song and the arrangements so perfectly, we just had to use it." The orchestral section was originally played on synthesiser, but, according to the Massive Attack member Andrew Vowles, "The synth sounded too tacky, so we thought we may as well use real strings. The orchestra definitely changed the feeling of the song, making it heavier and deeper with more feeling." Dollar contacted the music producer Wil Malone to arrange and conduct the strings, which were recorded in Abbey Road Studios, London. According to Vowles, the orchestra "were really good [but] it took them about five takes to do it because they were slightly behind the beat". The song's initial tone is set by "chilled hip hop beats" and samples of a percussion break from "Parade Strut (Instrumental)" by J. J. Johnson. Notably, the original album version of "Unfinished Sympathy" does not have a traditional bass line.

"Unfinished Sympathy" was released as the second single from Blue Lines on 11 February 1991. As the single was released in the midst of the Gulf War, the word "attack" was temporarily dropped from the group's name at the advice of their record company and management. Barbara Ellen from NME named it Single of the Week and called it "an intense, warmblooded dance track that boasts more fire in its balls than the Pixies ever dug for", a reference to the Pixies' recently released single "Dig for Fire". Another editor, Mandi James, expanded, "Lush and extravagant, plied with rich strings and roving keyboards, this is music with depth and grace. Massive aren't afraid to indulge their imaginations and let themselves go. Plaintive vocals that smack of Randy Crawford, smart samples liberated from the Mahavishnu Orchestra and all the romanticism of the Pet Shop Boys without the clipped, camp edge. Those not completely smitten by this record have no soul." Record Mirror also named it single of the week and wrote, "The wisely understated production allows both the beauty of the swelling strings and the emotional pull of the vocals to shine through. Fiendishly expert with rhythms, too cerebral to be termed just a dance act, Massive can't put a foot wrong." Melody Maker named "Unfinished Sympathy" its Single of the Year, writing that it would "unquestionably stand as one of the greatest soul records of all time". NME named it the year's eighth best single. The BBC journalist Stuart Bailie later wrote that "Unfinished Sympathy" had "an emotional power that was hard to figure. It sounded anxious and lost. But there was a grandeur in the music also. People who came across the record became obsessed, spinning it endlessly." In 2010, Pitchfork ranked it the 44th best track of the 1990s.