The Meaning Behind a Richard Ashcroft Classic and How Joy Division Inspired His First Solo Single

The bittersweet part of The Verve’s “Bitter Sweet Symphony” remains how the Wigan band imploded following its blockbuster third album, Urban Hymns. Singer Richard Ashcroft and his group had recorded one of the decade’s defining songs, yet couldn’t weather the internal storm that caused them to break up for the second time.

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So Ashcroft emerged from the breakup with his first solo album, Alone With Everybody (2000). It opens with “A Song For The Lovers”, and while he navigated a new relationship, he also became anxious about the future. Then he discovered his path in a song by another legendary English band.

About “A Song For The Lovers”

Ashcroft said he was in a London hotel room when he heard “Love Will Tear Us Apart” by Joy Division. It played on the radio and spoke to the anxiety and excitement he felt about a relationship that was becoming serious.

It’s the idea of two people now intertwined in either an enduring future or one that might fall apart at any moment.

Musically, he was inspired by the baroque pop of Scott Walker. Ashcroft was already famous for his orchestral anthem “Bitter Sweet Symphony”. So it didn’t take much to leap to something as emotive as, say, Walker’s “It’s Raining Today”.

DJ, play a song for the lovers tonight
Please, play a song for the lovers tonight.

Life After The Verve

“A Song For The Lovers” dates back to 1997, and Ashcroft had intended the song to be part of Urban Hymns. (There’s a huge part of me that’s curious about what it would have sounded like with The Verve, who helped amplify Ashcroft’s ballads like “Sonnet” and “The Drugs Don’t Work”.)

The Verve’s drummer, Peter Salisbury, does appear on the track alongside legendary musicians, bassist Pino Palladino and pianist Chuck Leavell. Wil Malone, who had worked with Ashcroft on Urban Hymns, arranged the strings.

Thanks to “Bitter Sweet Symphony”, a large string section became a defining feature of Ashcroft’s music. And he used an array of instrumentation to fill the void left by his former band.

‘Alone With Everybody’

Moving on from The Verve, Ashcroft chose an album title that portrays his sense of isolation. He shares the title with a Charles Bukowski poem, and, in it, Bukowski talks about people “crawling in and out of beds,” searching for “the one.”

It takes me back to Joy Division. On “Love Will Tear Us Apart”, Ian Curtis sings about the boredom of routines and the ensuing bitterness between a couple who are both familiar and distant at the same time. Too acquainted to continue.

Ashcroft wanted to hear a more positive love song on the radio. His tune aims for a lasting connection. Curtis’s own relationship was falling apart, as was he. But Ashcroft wanted to build something sustainable. He must have felt desperate for it following the tumultuous ending of The Verve.

Photo by Andre Csillag