"Everything Zen" is a single by British

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...

band

Bush Bush commonly refers to: * Shrub, a small or medium woody plant Bush, Bushes, or the bush may also refer to: People * Bush (surname), including any of several people with that name **Bush family, a prominent American family that includes: *** ...

. Released on 28 January 1995, it was the band's first single released under the name "Bush", and their second overall. The single comes from their 1994 debut album, ''

Sixteen Stone ''Sixteen Stone'' is the debut studio album by English rock band Bush, released on 6 December 1994 by Trauma and Interscope Records. It became the band's most popular album, peaking at number four on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and boasting numero ...

''.

Lyrics

The title of the song may reference the poem

Howl Howl most often refers to: *Howling, an animal vocalization in many canine species *Howl (poem), a 1956 poem by Allen Ginsberg Howl may also refer to: Film * ''The Howl'', a 1970 Italian film * ''Howl'' (2010 film), a 2010 American arthouse b ...

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...

which includes the phrase "who vanished into nowhere Zen New Jersey." The lyrics "Mickey Mouse has grown up a cow" are taken from

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

's 1971 song "

Life on Mars? "Life on Mars?" is a song by English singer-songwriter David Bowie, first released on his 1971 album ''Hunky Dory''. In 1968, Bowie was commissioned to write English lyrics for the Claude François French song " Comme d'habitude". After his l ...

". Other references in the song include

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

("''

Rain Dogs ''Rain Dogs'' is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Tom Waits, released in September 1985 on Island Records. A loose concept album about "the urban dispossessed" of New York City, ''Rain Dogs'' is generally considered the middle ...

'' howl for the century"),

Jane's Addiction Jane's Addiction is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1985. The band consists of vocalist Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Eric Avery. Jane's Addiction was one of the first bands from t ...

's "Ted, Just Admit It..." ("there's no sex in your violence"),

Alice in Chains Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...

' "Would?" ("try to see it once my way"), and the

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

sighting Discovery is the act of detecting something new, or something previously unrecognized as meaningful. With reference to sciences and academic disciplines, discovery is the observation of new phenomena, new actions, or new events and providing ne ...

conspiracy theory ("I don't believe that Elvis is dead").

Music video

The video was the first video Bush had ever made. The video was directed by

Matt Mahurin Matthew S. Mahurin (born January 31, 1959) is an American illustrator, photographer and film director. Mahurin's illustrations appear in ''Time'', ''Newsweek'', ''Mother Jones'', ''Rolling Stone'', ''Esquire'', ''Forbes'', and ''The New York Time ...

, who also makes an appearance in the video wearing a mask, and was shot on 12 and 13 November 1994. Scenes from the video were recreated in the opening credits of the TV series ''

Millennium A millennium (plural millennia or millenniums) is a period of one thousand years, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting point (ini ...

''.

Gavin Rossdale Gavin McGregor Rossdale (born 30 October 1965) is an English guitarist and actor, best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Bush. He helped form Bush in 1992; on the band's separation in 2002, he became the lead singer ...

said of the video: "I hadn't even seen that many videos before making this because I never had MTV. I just remember that it felt weird miming with all those people standing around, but you soon get over that. Obviously, this video was hugely important in breaking us in America."

Commercial performance

Although it did not achieve immediate success, it eventually reached number two on the ''Billboard'' Modern Rock Chart, number 5 on the

Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...

and

Canadian Rock/Alternative chart Canadian rock music charts (established June 11, 1995) publishes a weekly alternative rock music chart under the name ''Alternative 30.'' RPM charts On June 11, 1995, Canadian music magazine ''RPM'' began publishing a weekly alternative rock music ...

, and number 40 on the

Hot 100 Airplay The Radio Songs chart (previously named Hot 100 Airplay until 2014 and Top 40 Radio Monitor until 1991) is released weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine and measures the airplay of songs being played on radio stations throughout ...

. It failed to hit the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

that year.

Track listing

European CD single (6544-95794-2) and 12-inch vinyl (A8196T) # "Everything Zen" (radio edit) # "Bud" # "Monkey" # "Everything Zen"

Charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1994 songs 1995 debut singles Atlantic Records singles Bush (British band) songs Songs written by Gavin Rossdale Song recordings produced by Alan Winstanley Song recordings produced by Clive Langer Trauma Records singles