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Bitter Sweet Symphony

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"Bitter Sweet Symphony"
Song

"Bitter Sweet Symphony" is a song by the rock band The Verve, and is the lead track on their third album Urban Hymns. It was released on June 16, 1997 as the first single from the album, charting at #2 on the UK Singles Chart, having been beaten to the #1 spot by "I'll Be Missing You" by Puff Daddy, Faith Evans and 112. The single was released in the U.S. in early 1998. The song also became infamous for the legal controversy surrounding its use of an orchestral sample as its hook.

Later in 1998 a remixed version of Bitter Sweet Symphony appeared in the UK music charts called "Treat Infamy" by "Rest Assured". CDs were pressed and do exist, however due to copyright restrictions this version is no longer available commercially. This version is credited as having been written by Mick Jagger & Keith Richards with additional material by Laurence Nelson, Alastair Johnson & Nick Carter.

Rolling Stone ranked "Bitter Sweet Symphony" as the 382nd best song of all time.[1] In May 2007, NME magazine placed "Bitter Sweet Symphony" at number 18 in its list of the "50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever."[2] In September 2007, Q published a list of "Top 10 Tracks" as selected via a poll of 50 songwriters; "Bitter Sweet Symphony" is included (the list is presented alphabetically instead of being ranked).[3]

Track listings

In the UK

CD1 HUTDG82
  1. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (album version) (5:58)
  2. "Lord I Guess I'll Never Know" (4:52)
  3. "Country Song" (7:50)
  4. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (radio edit)
CD2 HUTDX82
  1. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (extended version) (7:52)
  2. "So Sister" (4:11)
  3. "Echo Bass" (6:39)

In the U.S.

CD (released March 10, 1998 by Virgin Records)
  1. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (album version) (5:58)
  2. "Lord I Guess I'll Never Know" (4:52)
  3. "So Sister" (4:11)
  4. "Echo Bass" (6:39)

Song credits

Although the song's lyrics were written by Verve vocalist Richard Ashcroft, it has been credited to Keith Richards and Mick Jagger because the song uses the Andrew Oldham Orchestra recording of The Rolling Stones' 1965 song "The Last Time" as its foundation.

Originally, The Verve had negotiated a license to use a sample from the Oldham recording, but it was successfully argued that the Verve had used 'too much' of the sample.[4] Despite having original lyrics, the music of "Bitter Sweet Symphony" is largely based on the Oldham track (the song uses the sample as its foundation and then builds upon, though the continuous riff is Ashcroft's creation), 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 per cent or take it out of the shops', you don't have much choice."[5]

After losing the composer credits to the song, Richard Ashcroft commented, "This is the best song [Mick] Jagger and [Keith] Richards have written in 20 years."[6]

The song was later used, against the will 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 commercial, prompting Ashcroft to declare onstage, "Don't buy Vauxhall cars, they're shit", and the film Cruel Intentions. However the band was able to stop further use of the song by employing the European legal concept of moral rights.

Ashcroft and the band's reaction to the loss of control and financial rewards from what was their most popular song was not positive; and it has been argued long after that the issue contributed to Ashcroft's depression.[weasel words] The band split not long afterwards.

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 realize there is such a good song there."

He also dedicated the song to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards at a gig at the Sage Gateshead in Gateshead. After an audience member 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."

In a Cash For Questions interview with Q magazine in 1998, Keith Richards was asked if he thought it was harsh taking all The Verve's royalties from Bitter Sweet Symphony to which he replied, "I'm out of wack here, this is serious lawyer shit. If The Verve can write a better song, they can keep the money".

The video

The majority of the video features Richard Ashcroft walking due north, on the east side of Hoxton Street, Hoxton, North London. The starting point, 94 Hoxton Street, is the South East corner of the intersection between Hoxton Street and Falkirk Street and the walk continues along Hoxton Street with few continuity errors. See this Google Maps link for an approximation of the start point. This video was shot during the course of two days due to a man, not knowing it was a video, attacking Ashcroft after he bumped into him on the first day;[citation needed] extras were therefore used during the second day of filming. The end of the video leads into the beginning of the video for "The Drugs Don't Work". The video is a tribute to "Unfinished Sympathy" by Massive Attack.

The video was parodied in the 1998 World Cup song "Vindaloo" by British Comedy band Fat Les. The video takes the same theme of the singer walking down a road towards the camera, with comedian Paul Kaye playing the role of Richard Ashcroft.

Appearances in culture

  • The song appears in the final scene of 1999 film Cruel Intentions. At Sebastian's Funeral, Kathryn is speaking, when she notices many people going outside. She follows, and finds Cecile handing out copies of Sebastian's journal, detailing many reputation-destroying facts about Kathryn.
  • This song provides the backing for Tom Penny's part in the Flip Skateboards film Really Sorry.
  • The song appears in the Bollywood film Bluffmaster.
  • The song was performed by Lukas Rossi on the show Rock Star: Supernova.
  • The song was used during the climax of the comedy group Stella's short film "Raking Leaves".
  • In a first-season episode of Charmed entitled "Wicca Envy" Phoebe Halliwell claims this is the greatest song ever made.
  • It is currently used as the introduction music for the Seattle Seahawks.
  • The version is used as the player introduction music for the University of Kentucky men's basketball team.
  • An instrumental version of the song is played when passengers board Air New Zealand aircraft.
  • Ironically, given the lyrics ("You're a slave to money then you die"), an instrumental version of the song was used for a Bank of New Zealand TV advertisement, and is currently used for a Nedbank South Africa TV advertisement and a Bradesco Bank advertisement in Brazil.
  • Richard Ashcroft performed this song, along with Coldplay, at Live 8.
  • Akira the Don remixed the song with Sage Francis' "Slow Down Gandhi" for the intro to his mixtape "ATD7"
  • Nu metal band Limp Bizkit has a version of this song entitled "Bittersweet Home", mixing the music of "Bitter Sweet Symphony" with the lyrics to the Mötley Crüe song "Home Sweet Home" and adding the opening lyrics to "Bitter Sweet Symphony" at the end.
  • Moby has done a remix of this song.
  • The symphonic line from this song was used in Gregg Gillis' "Once Again" from the mash-up album Night Ripper, under the Ying Yang Twins' "Whisper Song".
  • During her 2004 Reinvention Tour, Madonna used a sample of "Bitter Sweet Symphony" when performing "Don't Tell Me".
  • After his 2007 FutureSex/LoveShow, Justin Timberlake plays the song after his encore performance.
  • In 2007, this song is currently being used in a commercial for Gordon's Jewelers.
  • The song featured on the TV advert for the Vauxhall Astra in 1998.
  • The song was used in a love scene in the 2002 film Unfaithful.

References

  1. ^ 500 Greatest Songs
  2. ^ The Greatest Indie Anthems Ever - Numbers 30-11, NME.com. Accessed on 2007-06-23.
  3. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6972837.stm
  4. ^ Superswell.com: "Horror Stories of Sampling"
  5. ^ Powell, Betsy. MusicSaves.org: "Bitter, Sweet Success"
  6. ^ SongFacts: "Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve"
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