Bush - Swallowed

 

Swallowed (song)

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"Swallowed"
Single by Bush
from the album Razorblade Suitcase
B-side	"Broken TV"
Released	15 October 1996
Recorded	1996
Genre	Alternative rock[1] post-grunge[2]
Length	4:51 (album version) 4:08 (UK radio edit) 4:22 (Australian radio edit) 4:25 (music video)
Label	Trauma Interscope
Songwriter(s)	Gavin Rossdale
Producer(s)	Steve Albini
Bush singles chronology
"Machinehead" (1996) "Swallowed" (1996) "Greedy Fly" (1997)
Alternative covers
UK CD2 cover

'Swallowed' is a song by British alternative rock band Bush. It was released on 15 October 1996 as the lead single from the band's 1996 album, Razorblade Suitcase, which topped the US Billboard 200 chart.^[3] It was later included on the remix album Deconstructed, the live album Zen X Four, and the Bush greatest hits compilation. The release of 'Swallowed' followed the fifth and final single off of the band's 1994 debut album Sixteen Stone, "Machinehead", by only six months.

Contents

Commercial performance[edit]

"Swallowed" was released as the lead single from the follow-up to their massively successful debut album, Sixteen Stone, which was released two years prior. Upon release, the song topped the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart for seven consecutive weeks and peaked at number 27 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart. This is the longest Bush ever stayed at number one on any chart. It was also Bush's biggest hit in their native Britain, where it peaked at number 7 in the UK Singles Chart. It was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 1998 Grammy Awards, but lost to the Smashing Pumpkins' "The End Is the Beginning Is the End". This was the band's third crossover hit to Top 40 radio after "Comedown" and "Glycerine".

Song Information[edit]

A power ballad,^[4] the song is in A-flat major.

Gavin Rossdale opined in 1999 that, despite a musical dissimilarity, the song was "[his] version" of the Beatles' song "Help!".^[5]

Music video[edit]

The music video, directed by Jamie Morgan, was filmed in October 1996 and released later that month, is set in a retro apartment with myriad alternative youths.^[6] A neon crucifix (which would later become the album cover for Deconstructed) is frequently interspersed amongst the antics of houseguests. The video was shot at Twickenham Studios England and in Florida.^[7]

The video was nominated for several MTV Video Music Awards.

Track listing[edit]

• UK CD 1 Single IND95528
  1. "Swallowed [Radio Edit]" - 4:08
  2. "Broken TV" - 4:28
  3. "Glycerine" - 4:26
  4. "In a Lonely Place" - 5:58 (Written by Ian Curtis/Peter Hook/Stephen Morris/Bernard Sumner) Produced by Tricky
• UK CD 2 Single INDX95528
  1. "Swallowed" [LP Version] - 4:53
  2. "Swallowed [Toasted Both Sides Please Goldie Remix]" - 5:50
  3. "Insect Kin [Live on Saturday Night Live]" - 4:09
  4. "Cold Contagious [16"oz Demo Version]" - 5:57
• AUS CD Single IND95519 (Cardsleeve)
  1. "Swallowed [Radio Edit]" - 4:22
  2. "Broken TV" - 4:28
  3. "Communicator" - 4:24
  4. "Glycerine [Live At Pinkpop, Holland]" - 4:42

Chart positions[edit]

Weekly charts[edit] Chart (1996–97) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[8] 25 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[9] 5 Canada Rock/Alternative (RPM)[10] 1 Ireland (IRMA)[11] 22 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[12] 100 Scotland (OCC)[13] 7 UK Singles (OCC)[14] 16 UK Rock and Metal (OCC)[15] 1 US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[16] 1 US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[17] 2 US Radio Songs (Billboard)[18] 27

Year-end charts[edit] Chart (1997) Position Canada Top Singles (RPM)[19] 52