Bitter Sweet Symphony

For the album by Jade Valerie, see Bittersweet Symphony (album).

"Bitter Sweet Symphony"
Single by The Verve
from the album Urban Hymns
Released	16 June 1997 3 March 1998 (US)
Format	CD, 12"
Genre	Alternative rock, Britpop
Length	5:58 (album version) 4:33 (radio edit)
Label	Hut
Writer(s)	Richard Ashcroft (Credited to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards)
Producer	Martin "Youth" Glover, The Verve
Certification	Gold (RIAA)
The Verve singles chronology
"History" (1995) "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (1997) "The Drugs Don't Work" (1997)
Music sample "Bitter Sweet Symphony" A sample from "Bitter Sweet Symphony" by The Verve Music video "Bitter Sweet Symphony" on YouTube

"Bitter Sweet Symphony" is a song by English alternative rock band The Verve, the lead track on their third album, Urban Hymns. It is based on music from an Andrew Loog Oldham adaptation of a Rolling Stones song, "The Last Time". It was released on 16 June 1997 by Hut Recordings as the first single from the album, reaching number two on the UK Singles Chart. The song's momentum built slowly in the United States throughout the latter months of 1997, ultimately leading to a CD single release on 3 March 1998 by Virgin Records America, helping the song to reach number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song also became famous for the legal controversy surrounding plagiarism charges. It was the 79th best selling single in the United States in 1998. In the Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time, 2009 (an online music poll conducted by the Australian radio station Triple J) the track was voted the 14th best song of all time. Rolling Stone ranked "Bitter Sweet Symphony" number 392 on their list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

In May 2007, NME magazine placed "Bitter Sweet Symphony" at number 18 in its list of the "50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever". In September 2007, a poll of 50 songwriters published in Q magazine placed "Bitter Sweet Symphony" in a list of the "Top 10 Greatest Tracks". Pitchfork Media included the song at number 29 on their "Top 200 Tracks of the 90s" list. In 2011, NME placed it at number 9 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".

Song credits

Although the song's lyrics were written by Verve vocalist Richard Ashcroft, it has been credited to Keith Richards and Mick Jagger after charges by the original copyright owners that the song was plagiarized from the Andrew Oldham Orchestra recording of The Rolling Stones' 1965 song "The Last Time".

Originally, The Verve had negotiated a licence to use a sample from the Oldham recording, but it was successfully argued that the Verve had used "too much" of the sample. Despite having original lyrics, the music of "Bitter Sweet Symphony" is partially based on the Oldham track, which led to a lawsuit with ABKCO Records, Allen Klein's company that owns the rights to the Rolling Stones material of the 1960s. The matter was eventually settled, with copyright of the song reverting to Abkco and songwriting credits to Jagger and Richards.

"We were told it was going to be a 50/50 split, and then they saw how well the record was doing," says band member Simon Jones. "They rung up and said, 'We want 100 percent or take it out of the shops, you don't have much choice.'" [sic]

After losing the composer credits to the song, Richard Ashcroft commented, "This is the best song Jagger and Richards have written in 20 years", noting it was their biggest UK hit since "Brown Sugar".

The song was later used without the permission of the band by Nike in a shoe commercial. As a result, it was on the Illegal Art CD from the magazine Stay Free!. The song was also used in a Vauxhall Motors advertisement and several of Opel, prompting Ashcroft to declare onstage at their homecoming performance at Haigh Hall, Wigan, in May 1998, "Don't buy Vauxhall cars, they're shit."^{[citation needed]} However, the band were able to stop further use of the song by employing the legal concept of moral rights.^{[citation needed]}

On Ashcroft's return to touring, the song traditionally ended the set list. Ashcroft also reworked the single for VH2 Live for the music channel VH1, stripping the song of its strings. Ashcroft is quoted as saying during the show: "Despite all the legal angles and the bullshit, strip down to the chords and the lyrics and the melody and you realise there is such a good song there."^{[citation needed]}

He also dedicated the song to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards during a gig at the Sage Gateshead in Gateshead. After several audience members booed, Ashcroft exclaimed, "Don't boo, man. As long as I can play this song I'm happy to pay a few of those guys' bills."^{[citation needed]}

In a Cash for Questions interview with Q magazine published in January 1999, Keith Richards was asked (by John Johnson of Enfield) if he thought it was harsh taking all The Verve's royalties from "Bitter Sweet Symphony", to which he replied, "I'm out of whack here, this is serious lawyer shit. If The Verve can write a better song, they can keep the money."

Music video

The music video (directed by Walter A. Stern) focuses on Ashcroft lip-synching the song while walking down a busy London pavement, refusing to change his stride or direction throughout (oblivious to what is going on around him). He repeatedly bumps into passers-by (causing one young woman to lose balance and fall), narrowly avoids being hit by a car, and jumps on top of the bonnet of another vehicle stopped in his path (the driver gets out of her car and proceeds to pursue and shout at him, while he continues unflinchingly). At the end of the video, the rest of The Verve join Ashcroft, and the final shot sees them walking down the street into the distance. This then leads into the beginning of the video for "The Drugs Don't Work". The video is often regarded as one of the best music videos of all time.

Ashcroft starts walking from the southeast corner of the intersection of Hoxton and Falkirk Streets in Hoxton, North London, subsequently proceeding north along the east side of Hoxton Street. The "pavement journey" format was inspired by the music video for the Massive Attack song "Unfinished Sympathy", in which Shara Nelson sings while walking through a Los Angeles neighbourhood. The British comedy band Fat Les would later release a direct parody for their 1998 song "Vindaloo"; Paul Kaye takes the role of an Ashcroft look-alike who is mocked by a growing group of passers-by as the video progresses.

Live 8

On 2 July 2005, at the Live 8 concert in Hyde Park, Coldplay invited Ashcroft to perform the song with them in their set. They played it after only one rehearsal in Crystal Palace. Ashcroft was introduced by Chris Martin as "the best singer in the world" and he described the song as "probably the greatest song ever written". On 25 December 2005, a documentary entitled Live 8: A Bitter Sweet Symphony was aired reliving moments of the day featuring a portion of Ashcroft's performance as the music for the show's opening soundtrack.

Other appearances

The Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft also created an acoustic version of "Bitter Sweet Symphony".

In February 1998, "Treat Infamy" by Alastair Johnson, Laurence Nelson, Harry Sutcliffe and Nick Carter under the pseudonym Rest Assured peaked at 14 in the UK singles chart; the track featured replayed orchestral samples of the strings from "The Last Time" as performed in "Bitter Sweet Symphony". The single was released on London Records; however, due to copyright restrictions this version is no longer available commercially. This version is credited as having been written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, with additional material by Rest Assured.

In 1998, Three Six Mafia's Lord Infamous made a recording titled "Triple-Six Club House" which sampled both the Halloween movie theme and "Bitter Sweet Symphony"'s instrumental off the Prophet Posse album Body Parts. Due to copyright laws, they re-released it with a bastardised version of the original in 1999 as the smaller tiered group, Tear Da Club Up Thugs on the album CrazyNDaLazDayz.

In 1999, it was featured at the end of the movie Cruel Intentions, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe.

In 2006 it was featured in an international hit song by Trinidadian soca group Sugar Daddy titled "Sweet Soca Music".

Noel Gallagher, a good friend of Ashcroft, performed a live cover of the song in an Oasis concert.

Madonna performed "Don't Tell Me" on her 2004 Re-Invention World tour and included the tune of Bittersweet Symphony in the song. There were two versions of "Don't Tell me" used on the tour. Certain dates had the version with bittersweet symphony while other dates had a different version with a French feel and vibe.

In late 2008, American musician Ace Enders, former front man of successful New Jersey emo act The Early November, covered the song to kick off his solo project "Ace Enders and a Million Different People". The song's proceeds went to benefit the VH1 Save the Music Foundation. This rendition was exclusively sold via Apple's iTunes Store, also one of the partners involved in the benefit. The single went on to sell tens of thousands of downloads. Enders invited other successful front men in the genre to join him in singing on the track. Guest performers included Mark Hoppus of Blink-182, Matt Thiessen of Relient K, Alex Gaskarth of All Time Low, Craig Owens of Chiodos, Kenny Vasoli of The Starting Line. All proceeds from the project went to the VH1 Save the Music Foundation.

The song has also been used by ITV, as the background music to the opening sequence for England's international football matches, such as the qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup. The music can be heard as the camera moves through a digital video of England's football history and eventually ends up at the new Wembley Stadium.

At the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest, it can be heard during the postcard of the Irish entry.

Mexican Institute of Sound's album Soy Sauce includes a cover of the song in Spanish titled "Sinfonia Agridulce".

The NFL's Seattle Seahawks entered the field to this song at Super Bowl XL and continue to use this song before their home games.

A mash-up has been made that puts together "Bitter Sweet Symphony" and "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" by Jay-Z.

The NBA franchise Denver Nuggets uses the song during pre-game introductions.

The song also features in a 2009 commercial by Turkish Integrated Food Group Ulker [1]

The song was featured in a 2009 commercial for The Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation, promoting donations for cancer research.

The 2009 video game DJ Hero uses the Andrew Oldham Orchestra sample loop exactly as heard in "Bitter Sweet Symphony".

The song appears in an episode of the television series The Simpsons ("That '90s Show", episode 11/Season 19).

The song was sampled in the demo version of "Ridin' Solo" by Jason DeRülo, but was removed in the official album version as the sample was not cleared.

"Bitter Sweet Symphony" was performed by Thomas Dolby and the string quartet ETHEL, accompanied by bagpipe, to open the TED2010 conference in Long Beach, California on February 10, 2010.

It is featured throughout the 2005 film Fierce People.

WWE superstars Trent Barreta and Caylen Croft briefly used an instrumental variation of "Bitter Sweet Symphony", referred to as "Semi Sweet Symphony", as their entrance theme during the first few weeks of their ECW run.

The Brian Jonestown Massacre recorded a cover of the song entitled "Bittersweet Irony".

The song was featured at the end of an episode of Center Stage.

In 2010, McFly guitarist and vocalist Danny Jones covered this song in a Live Biz Session for The Sun newspaper.

On January 28, 2011, Umphrey's McGee mashed up "Bitter Sweet Symphony" with their own original song "Hajimemashite", at their performance at Best Buy Theater in Times Square, New York City. They called the mashup "Bitter Sweet Haj".

Track listings

• CD 1 HUTDG 82

1. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (original) – 6:00
2. "Lord I Guess I'll Never Know" – 4:51
3. "Country Song" – 7:50
4. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (radio edit) – 4:35

• CD 2 HUTDX 82

1. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (extended version) – 7:52
2. "So Sister" – 4:11
3. "Echo Bass" – 6:39

• Cassette HUTC 82

1. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (radio edit) – 4:35
2. "Lord I Guess I'll Never Know" – 4:51

• 7" HUTLH 82

1. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (radio edit) – 4:35
2. "Lord I Guess I'll Never Know" – 4:51

• 12" HUTT 82

1. "Bitter Sweet Symphony (original) – 6:00
2. "Lord I Guess I'll Never Know" – 4:51
3. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (James Lavelle Remix)
4. "Country Song" – 7:50

• Promo CD HUTCDP 82

1. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (radio edit) – 4:35

• Promo 12" HUTTP 82

1. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (alt version)
2. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (MSG)

• Remix 12" HUTTR 82

1. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (James Lavelle Remix)
2. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (James Lavelle Instrumental Remix)

US version

On 10 March 1998 Bitter Sweet Symphony was released in America. The single was distributed by Virgin Records

• CD V25D-38634

1. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (original) – 5:58
2. "Lord I Guess I'll Never Know" – 4:52
3. "So Sister" – 4:11
4. "Echo Bass" – 6:39

• Cassette 4KM-38634

1. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (original) – 5:58
2. "Lord I Guess I'll Never Know" – 4:52

• Promo CD DPRO-12727

1. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (radio edit) – 4:16
2. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (original) – 5:57
3. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (Call Out Research Hook 1 Vocal) – 0:12
4. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (Call Out Research Hook 2 Instrumental) – 0:11

• Promo 12" SPRO-12775

1. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (James Lavelle Remix) - 5:50
2. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (album version) – 5:57
3. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (James Lavelle Instrumental Remix) - 5:50

Japanese version

• CD VJCP-12077

1. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (original) – 6:00
2. "Lord I Guess I'll Never Know" – 4:51
3. "Country Song" – 7:50
4. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (radio edit) – 4:35

Dutch version

• CD 8943752

1. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (original) – 6:00
2. "Lord I Guess I'll Never Know" – 4:51
3. "Country Song" – 7:50
4. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (radio edit) – 4:35

Chart performances

Peak positions

Chart (1997-98)	Position
Australian Singles Chart	11
Austrian Singles Chart	15
Belgium Singles Chart (Vl)	21
Belgium Singles Chart (Wa)	18
Canadian RPM Singles Chart	5
Canadian RPM Alternative 30	1
Dutch Singles Chart	14
Finnish Singles Chart	6
French Singles Chart	16
Irish Singles Chart	3
New Zealand Singles Chart	15
Norwegian Singles Chart	9
Swedish Singles Chart	10
Swiss Singles Chart	15
UK Singles Chart	2
US Billboard Hot 100	12
US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks	4

Year-end charts

Chart (1998)	Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	79
Canadian RPM Alternative 30	27

Preceded by "3 a.m." by Matchbox 20

Canadian RPM Rock/Alternative 30 number-one single January 26 – February 2, 1998

Succeeded by "3 a.m." by Matchbox 20