"Bitter Sweet Symphony" is a song by the English rock band the Verve, released on 16 June 1997 by Hut Recordings and Virgin Records as the lead single from their third album, Urban Hymns. It was produced by Youth at Olympic Studios, London.

The Verve developed "Bitter Sweet Symphony" from a sample from a 1965 version of the Rolling Stones song "The Last Time" by the Andrew Oldham Orchestra, adding vocals, strings, guitar and percussion. After a lawsuit by the Rolling Stones' former manager, Allen Klein, the Verve relinquished all royalties to the Rolling Stones members Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, who were also added to the songwriting credits. In 2019, ten years after Klein's death, Jagger, Richards, and Klein's son ceded the rights to the Verve songwriter, Richard Ashcroft.

The music video features Ashcroft walking down a busy pavement in Hoxton, London, bumping into passersby. It was played frequently on music channels and was nominated for Video of the Year, Best Group Video and Best Alternative Video at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards. It has been parodied in television advertisements and other music videos.

"Bitter Sweet Symphony" reached number two on the UK singles chart, and stayed on the chart for three months. In the US, it reached number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was named the Rolling Stone and NME Single of the Year and was nominated for Best British Single at the 1998 Brit Awards. In 1999, it was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" has been named one of the greatest songs of the decade by several publications. It was included in two editions of Rolling Stone<nowiki/>'s "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

Recording

thumb|The Verve songwriter, [[Richard Ashcroft, in 2012]]

"Bitter Sweet Symphony" is based on a sample of a 1966 orchestral version of the Rolling Stones song "The Last Time" by the Andrew Oldham Orchestra. Andrew Loog Oldham was an early producer and manager of the Rolling Stones and enlisted musicians to create symphonic versions of Rolling Stones songs. The strings in the sample were written and arranged by David Whitaker.

The Verve songwriter, Richard Ashcroft, heard the Andrew Oldham Orchestra version of "The Last Time" and thought it could be "turned into something outrageous". Malone expanded on the melody to add "bounce" and "jump". The strings were recorded in Olympic Studios, London, and performed by a group of 24 players. Malone instructed the players to make the strings "tough" and "determined" rather than pretty or poetic.

"Bitter Sweet Symphony" was produced by Youth at Olympic Studios.

Music

For MTV, Gil Kaufman wrote that "Bitter Sweet Symphony" was "built on a slow-rolling fat beat, a pomp and circumstance violin loop and ... elliptical, snake-swallowing-its-tail lyrics". Jon Wiederhorn of Rolling Stone wrote that it "intertwines baroque strings worthy of Pachelbel with sedated vocals and shimmering guitar lines". Malone observed that the song is built on a single chord, and likened it to Arabic music. In the video, Ashcroft walks down a busy pavement in Hoxton, London, oblivious to passersby and bumping into them.

The British comedy band Fat Les released a parody of the video for their 1998 song "Vindaloo", an alternative anthem for England at the 1998 FIFA World Cup. In the video, the comedian Paul Kaye, dressed as Ashcroft, walks down the same Hoxton pavement and is mocked by passersby. In 2015, the video was parodied in a television advertisement for Radio X that featured the DJ Chris Moyles walking down a street colliding with people. It triggered 106 complaints from viewers who felt the video was offensive and encouraged antisocial and violent behaviour.

In 2016, The Telegraph named Hoxton Street one of the locations that defined the Britpop era, and the Guardian journalist Francesca Perry included the video in a list of the best music videos about city life. Perry wrote that the video was a "historic snapshot" of Hoxton Street shortly before it was gentrified. When "Bitter Sweet Symphony" was about to be released as a single, Klein refused clearance for the sample, saying the Verve had used a larger portion than agreed. According to the Verve's guitarist, Nick McCabe, the dispute depended not on the sample but Ashcroft's vocal melody, which a musicologist determined was a half-time version of the Rolling Stones' "Last Time" melody.

Virgin played "Bitter Sweet Symphony" for the Rolling Stones members Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, who liked it but declined to become involved in the dispute. His co-manager, John Kennedy, described it as "one of the toughest deals in music history". According to the Verve's bassist, Simon Jones, the Verve were told they would be given half the royalties, but when the single began selling well, they were instructed to relinquish 100% or remove it from sale.

Rolling Stone wrote that the outcome was "patently absurd", noting that Jagger and Richards were not involved with the sample or Ashcroft's melody and lyrics. Ashcroft said sarcastically that "Bitter Sweet Symphony" was "the best song Jagger and Richards have written in 20 years", David Whitaker, who wrote the string line in the "Last Time" sample, said in 2001: "The whole thing just makes one a bit sick, really." According to a statement released by the Verve's management, the Verve had a policy against licensing their music to advertising and would not have consented had they retained the rights to the song. As Virgin retained the synchronisation rights, the Verve received a percentage of the money earned from the advertisement.

Return of credits to Ashcroft

In 2019, Billboard estimated that "Bitter Sweet Symphony" had generated almost $5 million in publishing revenue. In a statement, the Rolling Stones said they acknowledged the financial and emotional cost of "having to surrender the composition of one of your own songs". In the US, it reached number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1998. and it was named the third-best single of 1997 by The Village Voices Pazz & Jop annual critics' poll. In 1999, it was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song. In a 2005 poll for the Channel 4 series 100 Greatest, the music video was voted the eighth best. The song received further exposure when it was used in adverts for Vauxhall and Nike. The Guardian called it "one of the definitive British singles of the 1990s". In September 2007, a poll of 50 songwriters in Q named it one of the ten greatest tracks. In the Australian Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time, 2009, it was voted the 14th-best song of all time. Pitchfork named it the 29th-best track of the 90s, and included it in the 2008 book The Pitchfork 500. In 2011, NME named it the ninth-best track of the previous 15 years. Paste named "Bitter Sweet Symphony" the best one-hit wonder of the 1990s, writing that it was the only Verve song to make a "tremendous splash" internationally. Rolling Stone included it at number 382 in its 2004 list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" and at number 392 in its 2010 list. In 2015, Rolling Stone readers voted it the third-greatest Britpop song, after "Common People" by Pulp and "Don't Look Back in Anger" by Oasis.

Track listings

  • UK CD1 and cassette single; Japanese CD single
  1. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (original)
  2. "Lord I Guess I'll Never Know"
  3. "Country Song"
  4. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (radio edit)
  • UK CD2
  1. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (extended version)
  2. "So Sister"
  3. "Echo Bass"
  • UK 12-inch single

:A1. "Bitter Sweet Symphony (original)

:A2. "Lord I Guess I'll Never Know"

:B1. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (James Lavelle mix)

:B2. "Country Song"

  • European CD single
  1. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (radio edit)
  2. "So Sister"
  • US CD and cassette single
  1. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (original) – 5:58
  2. "Lord I Guess I'll Never Know" – 4:50
  3. "So Sister" – 4:10
  4. "Echo Bass" – 6:38

Charts

Weekly charts

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!Chart (1997–1998)

!Peak<br/>position

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)

|10

|-

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)

|2

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Italy (Musica e dischi)

|7

|-

!scope="row"|Italy Airplay (Music & Media)

| 1

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Spain (AFYVE)

|2

|-

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|US Billboard Hot 100

|12

|-

!scope="row"|US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)

|8

|-

!scope="row"|US Mainstream Rock Tracks (Billboard)

|22

|-

!scope="row"|US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)

|23

|-

!scope="row"|US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard)

|4

|-

!scope="row"|US Triple-A (Billboard)

|3

|}

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!Chart (2019)

!Peak<br/>position

|-

!scope="row"|US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)

|13

|}

Year-end charts

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!Chart (1997)

!Position

|-

!scope="row"|Australia (ARIA)

|62

|-

!scope="row"|Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)

|88

|-

!scope="row"|Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)

|60

|-

!scope="row"|Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)

|50

|-

!scope="row"|France (SNEP)

|98

|-

!scope="row"|Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)

|8

|-

!scope="row"|Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)

|92

|-

!scope="row"|Netherlands (Single Top 100)

|56

|-

!scope="row"|Sweden (Topplistan)

|60

|-

!scope="row"|Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)

|44

|-

!scope="row"|UK Singles (OCC)

|43

|-

!scope="row"|US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard)

|84

|}

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!Chart (1998)

!Position

|-

!scope="row"|Canada Top Singles (RPM)

|34

|-

!scope="row"|Canada Rock/Alternative (RPM)

|27

|-

!scope="row"|US Billboard Hot 100

|79

|-

!scope="row"|US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)

|29

|-

!scope="row"|US Mainstream Rock Tracks (Billboard)

|92

|-

!scope="row"|US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)

|91

|-

!scope="row"|US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard)

|11

|-

!scope="row"|US Triple-A (Billboard)

|5

|}

Certifications

Release history

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

!scope="col"|Region

!scope="col"|Date

!scope="col"|Format(s)

!scope="col"|Label(s)

!scope="col"|

|-

!scope="row"|United Kingdom

|16 June 1997

|

|rowspan="2"|

|

|-

!scope="row"|United States

|8 September 1997

|Alternative radio

|

|-

!scope="row"|Japan

|8 October 1997

|CD

|Virgin

|

|-

!scope="row"|United States

|11 November 1997

|Contemporary hit radio

|rowspan="3"|

|

|-

!scope="row"|United Kingdom

|2 March 1998

|12-inch vinyl

|

|-

!scope="row"|United States

|10 March 1998

|

|

|}

References