A Song for the Lovers
Encyclopedia
"A Song for the Lovers" is a song by English
singer-songwriter
Richard Ashcroft
and is the opening track on his 2000 album
, Alone with Everybody
. The song was also released on April 3, 2000 as the first single
from that album in the United Kingdom
(see 2000 in British music
). The single peaked at #3 in the UK Singles Chart
, a position that would be matched by Ashcroft's 2006 single "Break the Night with Colour
".
A Song for the Lovers was originally written by Richard Ashcroft as a demo track for The Verve
's studio album Urban Hymns
. 3 different versions were recorded but the song did not make the final album.
for "A Song for the Lovers" premiered in May 2000 and was directed by Jonathan Glazer
.
The video is of narrative
style. It is shot in real-time
with an element of diegetic sound unusual in most music videos. Diegetic sound was used previously by Glazer for "Rabbit in Your Headlights".
The video appears to take its cue from the first lines of the song:
I spend the night, yeah,
Looking for my insides in a hotel room,
Waiting for you.
It shows Richard Ashcroft shirtless in a hotel room, having apparently just showered. The hotel room is decorated with a large amount of Native American
imagery, featuring framed photos of tribal chiefs and a large mural in the bedroom. Ashcroft turns on a stereo and "A Song for the Lovers" starts playing. He makes an enigmatic, mumbled phone call, ending with the complaint, "It's been half an hour."
He hangs up, and walks out into the hotel corridor (still shirtless) as if expecting to find someone there. He looks around, finding nothing, then returns to his hotel room.
He goes into the bathroom, where he washes his hands and distractedly dabs at his appearance. While he is in the bathroom, the song plays loudly as to hide the sound of someone knocking on the hotel room door. The sound of the knocking is loud and insistent, almost threatening, but Ashcroft, in the bathroom, hears nothing other than the song.
He sings along with it, in a Postmodern manner in which two Ashcrofts are heard: pre-recorded audio of Ashcroft singing the song, occasionally being paused by the "real life" Ashcroft holding a remote control
; and the "live" voice of Ashcroft as seen in the video, less articulate, mostly mumbling or humming in a rough counterpoint
to the song.
He leaves the bathroom, and stops short, staring... at a room-service tray left in the centre of the room, holding a covered dish.
Ashcroft sits down and starts to eat in a largely dissatisfied way. He picks apart a single sandwich before becoming distracted by an ominously flickering light in the nearby bathroom. He pauses the song and listens for further indication that anything is wrong. Dead silence. Ashcroft resumes the song (in mid-word) and resumes eating. He then pauses the song again, disturbed further by something never explained within the video.
He walks towards the bathroom, past the flickering fluorescent tube, and stops. In a close up
, Ashcroft stares slightly downward into a corner of the room for a long, silent moment. The silence is broken by the sound of Ashcroft urinating into an off-camera toilet. Immediately, ironically, as if to dismiss the prior foreboding, the song resumes of its own accord, loudly and triumphantly as Ashcroft continues to pass water.
The final shot shows Ashcroft standing in the bathroom, urinating obliviously, as every light in the hotel room turns itself off except for the bathroom light... which is no longer flickering on and off. Ashcroft is left alone in a single square of light surrounded by darkness.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
Richard Ashcroft
Richard Ashcroft
Richard Paul Ashcroft is an English singer-songwriter. He was the lead singer and occasional guitarist of alternative rock band The Verve from their formation in 1990 until their split in 1999, and continues as a lead vocalist working with guitars and keyboards...
and is the opening track on his 2000 album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, Alone with Everybody
Alone with Everybody
Alone with Everybody is the first solo album by English singer-songwriter Richard Ashcroft, released via Hut Records in June 2000 ....
. The song was also released on April 3, 2000 as the first single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
from that album in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
(see 2000 in British music
2000 in British music
This is a summary of 2000 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.2000 saw many British acts dominate the charts. The year saw how competitive the industry had become over the 1990s with numerous new releases out each week...
). The single peaked at #3 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, a position that would be matched by Ashcroft's 2006 single "Break the Night with Colour
Break the Night with Colour
"Break the Night with Colour" is a song by English singer-songwriter Richard Ashcroft and is the third track on his 2006 album Keys to the World...
".
A Song for the Lovers was originally written by Richard Ashcroft as a demo track for The Verve
The Verve
The Verve were an English rock band formed in 1989 in Wigan by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bassist Simon Jones, and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboardist Simon Tong later became a member. Beginning with a psychedelic sound indebted to shoegazing and space...
's studio album Urban Hymns
Urban Hymns
Urban Hymns is the third album by English rock band The Verve, released on 29 September 1997 on Hut Recordings. It earned nearly unanimous critical praise upon its release, and went on to become the band's best-selling release and one of the biggest selling albums of the year...
. 3 different versions were recorded but the song did not make the final album.
Track listings
- CD HUTCD128, 12" HUTT128, Cassette HUTC128
- "A Song for the Lovers" – 5:39
- "(Could Be) A Country Thing, City Thing, Blues Thing" – 6:33
- "Precious Stone" – 5:23
Music video
The music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for "A Song for the Lovers" premiered in May 2000 and was directed by Jonathan Glazer
Jonathan Glazer
Jonathan Glazer is an English director of films, commercials and music videos.-Biography:After studying theatre design at Nottingham Trent University, Glazer started out directing theatre and making film and television trailers, including award-winning work for the BBC...
.
The video is of narrative
Narrative
A narrative is a constructive format that describes a sequence of non-fictional or fictional events. The word derives from the Latin verb narrare, "to recount", and is related to the adjective gnarus, "knowing" or "skilled"...
style. It is shot in real-time
Real-time (media)
Real time within the media is a method of narratology wherein events are portrayed at the same rate that the audience experiences them. For example, if a movie told in real-time is two hours long, then the plot of that movie covers two hours of fictional time...
with an element of diegetic sound unusual in most music videos. Diegetic sound was used previously by Glazer for "Rabbit in Your Headlights".
The video appears to take its cue from the first lines of the song:
I spend the night, yeah,
Looking for my insides in a hotel room,
Waiting for you.
It shows Richard Ashcroft shirtless in a hotel room, having apparently just showered. The hotel room is decorated with a large amount of Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
imagery, featuring framed photos of tribal chiefs and a large mural in the bedroom. Ashcroft turns on a stereo and "A Song for the Lovers" starts playing. He makes an enigmatic, mumbled phone call, ending with the complaint, "It's been half an hour."
He hangs up, and walks out into the hotel corridor (still shirtless) as if expecting to find someone there. He looks around, finding nothing, then returns to his hotel room.
He goes into the bathroom, where he washes his hands and distractedly dabs at his appearance. While he is in the bathroom, the song plays loudly as to hide the sound of someone knocking on the hotel room door. The sound of the knocking is loud and insistent, almost threatening, but Ashcroft, in the bathroom, hears nothing other than the song.
He sings along with it, in a Postmodern manner in which two Ashcrofts are heard: pre-recorded audio of Ashcroft singing the song, occasionally being paused by the "real life" Ashcroft holding a remote control
Remote control
A remote control is a component of an electronics device, most commonly a television set, used for operating the television device wirelessly from a short line-of-sight distance.The remote control is usually contracted to remote...
; and the "live" voice of Ashcroft as seen in the video, less articulate, mostly mumbling or humming in a rough counterpoint
Counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...
to the song.
He leaves the bathroom, and stops short, staring... at a room-service tray left in the centre of the room, holding a covered dish.
Ashcroft sits down and starts to eat in a largely dissatisfied way. He picks apart a single sandwich before becoming distracted by an ominously flickering light in the nearby bathroom. He pauses the song and listens for further indication that anything is wrong. Dead silence. Ashcroft resumes the song (in mid-word) and resumes eating. He then pauses the song again, disturbed further by something never explained within the video.
He walks towards the bathroom, past the flickering fluorescent tube, and stops. In a close up
Close up
A close-up is tightly framed image of a person or an object.Close-Up or Close Up may refer to:- Film and television :*Close Up, two different New Zealand current affairs programmes...
, Ashcroft stares slightly downward into a corner of the room for a long, silent moment. The silence is broken by the sound of Ashcroft urinating into an off-camera toilet. Immediately, ironically, as if to dismiss the prior foreboding, the song resumes of its own accord, loudly and triumphantly as Ashcroft continues to pass water.
The final shot shows Ashcroft standing in the bathroom, urinating obliviously, as every light in the hotel room turns itself off except for the bathroom light... which is no longer flickering on and off. Ashcroft is left alone in a single square of light surrounded by darkness.