History (The Verve song)

"History" is a song by English rock band The Verve, and is featured on their second album, A Northern Soul. It was released 18 September 1995 as the third and final single from the album, charting at #24 in the UK Singles Chart (see 1995 in British music). The song is notable for being released after the band's sudden first break up (the sign on the CD1 cover reads 'all farewells should be sudden'). In 2014, NME ranked it at number 312 on their list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.^[1]

Composition and lyrics

The song begins with a string intro that is very similar to the intro of "Mind Games" by John Lennon.^[2] This was the first song by the band to feature strings (a formula that would later be used for several Urban Hymns singles). The opening lyrics of the song are based on the first two stanzas of William Blake's poem, London. The song is quite melancholic, with Melody Maker describing it as "an epic, windswept symphony of strings, flailing vocals and staggeringly bitter sentiments".^[3] It has been claimed the song was written about Ashcroft's split with his girlfriend, although Ashcroft denied this.^[3]

The clapping featured on History was performed by Liam Gallagher.

There was no original music video filmed for the single, probably because the band had already split when the single was released. Instead an official compilation of clips from The Verve's previous music videos was created by Ashcroft.

Track listings

• CD 1 HUTCD 59

1. History (Radio Edit)
2. Back On My Feet Again
3. On Your Own (Acoustic)
4. Monkey Magic (Brainstorm Mix)

• CD 2 HUTDX 59

1. History (Album Version)
2. Grey Skies
3. Life's Not A Rehearsal

• Cassette HUTC 59

1. History (Radio Edit)
2. Back On My Feet Again

• Promo CD HUTCDP 59

1. History (Radio Edit)

References

External links

• Official discography webpage
• Full lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics