“Bitter Sweet Symphony”
Single by The Verve from the album Urban Hymns
Released	16 June 1997
Format	CD, 12"
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	5:58
Label	Hut
Writer(s)	Jagger/Richards/Ashcroft
Producer	Youth, The Verve
The Verve singles chronology
"History" (1995) "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (1997) "The Drugs Don't Work" (1997)

"Bitter Sweet Symphony" (sometimes used interchangeably with Bittersweet Symphony) is a song by British alternative rock band The Verve, and is the lead track on their third album Urban Hymns (1997). The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Alternative rock (also called alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative; known primarily in the UK as indie) is a genre of The Verve (originally Verve) are an English rock band formed in Wigan, Greater Manchester in 1989 at Winstanley Sixth Urban Hymns is the third album album by English Rock band The Verve released on September 29 1997. It was released on 16 June 1997 as the first single from the album, reaching number two on the UK Singles Chart. Events 1487 - Battle of Stoke Field, the last dying breath of the Wars of the Roses. Year 1997 ( MCMXCVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official UK Charts Company (OCC on behalf of the British record industry The single was released in the United States in early 1998, peaking at number twelve on the Billboard Hot 100. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The song also became infamous for the legal controversy surrounding its use of an orchestral sample as its hook. In Music, sampling is the act of taking a portion or sample, of one Sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or element of a new recording A hook is a Musical idea, often a short Riff, passage or phrase, that is used in popular music to make a Song appealing and to "catch the

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. Rolling Stone is a United States -based Magazine devoted to Music, Politics, and Popular culture that is published ^[1] In May 2007, NME magazine placed "Bitter Sweet Symphony" at number 18 in its list of the "50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever". The New Musical Express (better known as the NME) is a Popular music Magazine in the United Kingdom which has been ^[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. A songwriter is someone who writes the Lyrics to songs the Musical composition (chords or Melody to songs or both ^[3]

The song is used as entrance music for the Seattle Seahawks. The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle Washington, USA

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. Richard Paul Ashcroft (born September 11 1971 in Billinge Higher End Lancashire) is an English Singer-songwriter. Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943 is an English Guitarist, Songwriter, Singer, producer and a founding member of The Rolling Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger, Kt (born 26 July 1943 is a Golden Globe -winning and two-time Grammy -winning English rock The Andrew Oldham Orchestra are a side project fronted by Andrew Loog Oldham, the original manager of The Rolling Stones. " The Last Time " is a song by the British rock 'n roll band The Rolling Stones.

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. In Music, sampling is the act of taking a portion or sample, of one Sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or element of a new recording ^[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. ABKCO Music & Records Inc is the successor company to a business that was founded in 1961 as Allen Klein & Co Allen Klein (born December 18, 1931) is a controversial American businessman and record label executive The matter was eventually settled, with copyright of the song reverting to ABKCO and songwriting credits to Jagger and Richards. For other uses of settlement including legal uses see Settlement. The songwriting partnership of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, known as Jagger/Richards (and occasionally Richards/Jagger) is a musical

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. "

The song was later used, against the will of the band, by Nike in a shoe commercial. Nike Inc ('naɪki ( is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. As a result, it was on the Illegal Art CD from the magazine Stay Free!. Illegal Art is a sampling label that was started by a person calling him/herself Philo T Stay Free! is a non-profit magazine about the politics of culture based in Brooklyn New York. The song was also used in a Vauxhall Motors commercial, prompting Ashcroft to declare onstage, "Don't buy Vauxhall cars, they're shit". Vauxhall Motors is a British automobile company It is a subsidiary of General Motors Corporation (GM and is part of GM Europe. However the band was able to stop further use of the song by employing the European legal concept of moral rights. Moral rights are Rights of creators of Copyrighted works generally recognized in civil law jurisdictions and first recognized in France and

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 that the issue contributed to Ashcroft's depression and the band's later split. In the fields of Psychology and Psychiatry, the terms depression or depressed refer to both expected and pathologically chronic or severe

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. VH1 (known as VH-1 Video Hits One from 1985 to 1994 and VH1 Music First until 2003) is an American Cable television 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. Gateshead is a town in Tyne and Wear, England. It lies on the southern bank of the River Tyne, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne. 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. Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943 is an English Guitarist, Songwriter, Singer, producer and a founding member of The Rolling If The Verve can write a better song, they can keep the money".

Music video

The majority of the video features Richard Ashcroft walking due north, on the east side of Hoxton Street, Hoxton, North London. Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, immediately north of the financial district of the City of London. North London is the northern part of London, England. The area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes Ashcroft walks in a straight line towards the camera whilst lip-syncing the song and doesn't break his stride or change direction, repeatedly bumping into passers-by, narrowly avoiding being hit by one car, and jumping on top of another, seemingly oblivious to the world around him. 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. extras were therefore used during the second day of filming. An extra is a Performer in a Film, Television show, stage musical opera or ballet production who appears in a nonspeaking nonsinging or nondancing capacity The end of the video leads into the beginning of the video for "The Drugs Don't Work". " The Drugs Don't Work " is a song by the British band The Verve and is featured on their third Album, Urban Hymns The video is either, depending on one's point of view, a tribute to or parody of "Unfinished Sympathy" by Massive Attack. " Unfinished Sympathy " is a song by Massive Attack that originally appeared on the group's 1991 debut album Blue Lines. Massive Attack are an English Trip hop group founded in 1988 by Robert Del Naja, Grantley Marshall, and Andrew Vowles in Bristol

The video was parodied in the 1998 FIFA World Cup song "Vindaloo" by British Comedy band Fat Les. The FIFA World Cup, occasionally called the Football World Cup, but usually referred to simply as the World Cup, is an international Association football " Vindaloo " is a song by Fat Les, released as a single in 1998 and recorded for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Fat Les are a British band consisting of Alex James from Blur; actor Keith Allen; and artist Damien Hirst. 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. For the Continuity Announcer of the same name see Paul Kaye (broadcaster Paul Kaye (born 1965 is an English Comedian

Live 8

On the 2 July 2005, at the Live 8 concert in Hyde Park, Coldplay invited Ashcroft to perform the song with them in their set. Events 310 - Pope Miltiades is elected 626 - In fear of assassination Li Shimin ambushes and kills his rival Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Live 8 was a string of Benefit concerts that took place on 2 July, 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. Hyde Park is one of the largest Parks in central London, England and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner Coldplay TalkColdplay#Is_or_Are_dispute_again 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'. Christopher Anthony John Martin (born 2 March 1977 is the English lead Singer-songwriter, Pianist, and occasional rhythm Guitarist of the

On Christmas 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.

Track listings

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)

UK CD2 (HUTDX82)

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

US 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)

References