Cigarettes Will Kill You
Encyclopedia
"Cigarettes Will Kill You" is a single by Australia
n pop rock
musician Ben Lee
. It is from the album Breathing Tornados
. It was voted number 2 in the Triple J Hottest 100, 1998
and reached number 46 on the Australian singles chart.
During the 24 April 2006 concert at Irving Plaza
in New York City
, Ben described how he came up with the title for the track.
He recalled that he had been listening to The Verve
who have a song called "The Drugs Don't Work
". He was so impressed with the title of the song, that he decided to name his song with a similarly catchy title. The name is also a metaphor for continuing to go back to a bad relationship even though you know it'll end up badly and you'll end up getting hurt. Just like everyone knows cigarettes can cause health problems but they continue to smoke them anyway.
The song was featured in the 2002 Australian comedy Crackerjack.
US CD single
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n pop rock
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...
musician Ben Lee
Ben Lee
Benjamin Michael "Ben" Lee is an ARIA Award winning musician and actor. Lee began his career as a musician at the age of 14 with the Sydney band Noise Addict, but focused on his solo career when the band broke up in 1995. He appeared as the protagonist in the Australian film The Rage in Placid Lake...
. It is from the album Breathing Tornados
Breathing Tornados
Breathing Tornados is the third album by Australian musician Ben Lee, released in 1998.-Track listing:#"Cigarettes Will Kill You" – 3:50#"Nothing Much Happens" – 3:37#"I Am a Sunflower" – 3:56#"Tornados" – 3:21#"The Finger and the Moon" – 3:42...
. It was voted number 2 in the Triple J Hottest 100, 1998
Triple J Hottest 100, 1998
The 1998 Triple J Hottest 100, announced in January, 1999, was the sixth such countdown of the most popular songs of the year, according to listeners of the Australian radio station Triple J. As in previous years, a CD featuring 36 of the songs was released...
and reached number 46 on the Australian singles chart.
During the 24 April 2006 concert at Irving Plaza
Irving Plaza
Irving Plaza is a 1,200-person ballroom-style music venue at 17 Irving Place and East 15th Street in the Union Square neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Ben described how he came up with the title for the track.
He recalled that he had been listening to 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...
who have a song called "The Drugs Don't Work
The Drugs Don't Work
"The Drugs Don't Work" is a song by the British rock band, The Verve and is featured on their third album, Urban Hymns. It was released on September 1, 1997 as the second single from the album, charting at number 1 in the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's most successful single in the UK...
". He was so impressed with the title of the song, that he decided to name his song with a similarly catchy title. The name is also a metaphor for continuing to go back to a bad relationship even though you know it'll end up badly and you'll end up getting hurt. Just like everyone knows cigarettes can cause health problems but they continue to smoke them anyway.
The song was featured in the 2002 Australian comedy Crackerjack.
Track listings
Australian CD single- "Cigarettes Will Kill You"
- "Girls Talk" (Elvis CostelloElvis CostelloElvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
) - "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go" (Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
)
US CD single
- "Cigarettes Will Kill You"
- "Girls Talk" (Elvis CostelloElvis CostelloElvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
) - "How to Survive a Broken Heart"