Massive Attack have been playing a powerful cover of Seo Taiji and Boys’ ‘Regret of the Times’ on tour, describing it as an “act of continuity, revival and solidarity”.
The song was released in 1993 by the South Korean hip-hop group, and features lyrics that both express resentment towards the corruption and serve as a cry for revolution.
Taiji wrote the song in light of two tragedies in the country: the collapse of the Seongsu Bridge in 1994 and the collapse of the Sampoong Department Store the following year. The two incidents killed over 500 people, and were ultimately found to have been caused by corporations cutting corners to increase profits.
Over the years, the song has been used at various protests in South Korea, and the lyrics continue to stand out due to their call for broken systems to be questioned and overturned.
Kicking off a tour in Finland last week, Massive Attack covered the 1993 song during their set at the Veikkaus Arena in Helsinki, and have continued to play it at all of their live shows since then.
After breaking out the track for the first time at that opening night, Massive Attack posted footage of the cover online and shared their admiration for Seo Taiji.
“We see this cover as an act of continuity, revival and solidarity with Taiji – K-pop progenitor – whose work defied state censorship while creating a global genre,” the Bristol band wrote in the caption.
They also used the carousel post on Instagram to provide more context on the song – explaining how it “took on an authoritarian government and won”.
Robert Del Naja and co. wrote about how the South Korean Public Performance Ethics Committee demanded in 1995 that Taiji change the “anti-censorship lyrics” to the song, but the band refused. As a result, “fan outrage and public activism in support of the band forced the government to drop its infamous ‘pre-censorship’ system for music, forever”.
Reflecting on how the story behind the song remains relevant today, Massive attack continued: “In 2026, as corporate absorption and the censorship of artists for political expression looms large again, it resonates as a signal lesson”.
Other songs Massive Attack have been covering in their latest tour include ‘Rockwrok’ by Ultravox, ‘In My Mind’ by Gigi D’Agnostino, and Tim Buckley’s ‘Song To The Siren’. Find more footage from that Finland show below.
Massive Attack’s tour continues with shows in Berlin and Brussels on June 7 and 9 respectively, and they will also bring their new live show to Primavera Sound shortly after.
With the structure and stage design of their current tour, Massive Attack have been taking aim at American data analytics and software corporation Palantir, and described the company’s use of “facial recognition technology” as “terrifying”.
As for other Massive Attack news, earlier this year Del Naja shared a statement slamming the “draconian government” after being arrested during a protest against the ban on Palestine Action.
The artist was among hundreds of fellow demonstrators who took to Trafalgar Square on April 11 to protest the ban on Palestine Action, and held up a sign that read “I Oppose Genocide, I Support Palestine Action”.
He was carried away from the demonstration by police and arrested on suspicion of showing support for a proscribed organisation, and later addressed the situation in a lengthy statement shared to Instagram.
The trip-hop stars have not released any new music since the 2020 EP ‘Eutopia’, and their last full-length album was 2010’s ‘Heligoland’.
Speaking to NME in 2024, Del Naja confirmed that they had “some new music which we’ve been sitting on for four years”, and were looking into releasing it in the next couple of years.
