"Glycerine" is a song by English 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: *** ...

. It was released on 14 November 1995 as the fourth single from their 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 ...

''.

Composition

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 ...

wrote the song about his then-girlfriend,

Suze DeMarchi Suze DeMarchi (born 14 February 1964) is an Australian singer-songwriter, best known for fronting the band Baby Animals (1989–1996, 2007–present). Early life DeMarchi was born in Perth, Western Australia to Walter and Shirley DeMarchi and h ...

as stated in an interview with

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. He wrote it in his

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

flat, feeling that there was an ancient, mystical element to the song as it was coming together. He told ''

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'' in 2017 that "I was like a conduit. Something about it was bigger than anything we were doing." The song is in the key of

F major F major (or the key of F) is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative minor is D minor and its parallel minor is F minor F minor is a minor scale based on F, consis ...

. The

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...

is F maj – C maj – D min – B maj throughout the verse with various ornamental embellishments

diatonic Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are most often used to characterize Scale (music), scales, and are also applied to musical instruments, Interval (music), intervals, Chord (music), chords, Musical note, notes, musical sty ...

to the key of F major, including the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

which cycles between the I (F major), V (C major), IV (B major), and V chord in F Major. The refrain towards the end hangs on the vi (D minor) – IV (B major) before returning to the recurring progression for the last verse. The single includes a previously unreleased B-side, "Solomon's Bones", which was recorded on 7 November 1995 at River Studios, London and engineered by Joel Monger.

Music video

The music video for "Glycerine" was shot in a very short time period when the band was on tour in the United States. The video was shot so quickly because the band's visas had expired. Though simple and unadorned, the video was highly acclaimed and won several awards, including the

MTV Video Music Award - Viewer's Choice MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

as well nominated for

Best Alternative Video The MTV Video Music Award for Best Alternative Video (also known as Best Alternative Music Video) was first given out at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards. Prior to being called Best Alternative Video, it was known as Best Post-Modern Video in 1989 a ...

at the 1996

MTV Video Music Awards The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honour the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category) ...

. The music video was directed by

Kevin Kerslake Kevin Kerslake is an American filmmaker and photographer. He has directed documentaries on Joan Jett ('' Bad Reputation''), DJ AM (''As I AM: The Life and Times of DJ AM''), The Ramones (''We're Outta Here!''), Nirvana (''Live! Tonight! Sold Out! ...

and shot in Atlanta, Georgia on 2 October 1995.

Track listing

# "Glycerine" # "Solomon's Bones" # "Alien"

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Commercial performance

Following the album's third single, " Comedown", "Glycerine" shared equal success. Like "Comedown", it reached number one on the

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart for two weeks, in December 1995. It is also the band's biggest pop hit to date, peaking at number 28 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on 24 February 1996. The song won the Viewer's Choice Award at the 1996

MTV Music Video Awards The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honour the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category) ...

. The song was voted number 5 on the Australian annual music poll

Triple J Hottest 100 The Triple J Hottest 100 is an annual music listener poll hosted by the publicly-funded, national Australian youth radio station, Triple J. Members of the public are invited to vote for their favourite Australian and alternative music of the ...

in 1996.

Chart positions

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Live version

Bush performed a new version of "Glycerine" at

KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas Almost Acoustic Christmas is an annual concert run by the Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM. The first show was held in December 1989, though then it was simply called the KROQ Xmas Bash. In 1990 the show became bigger and attracted increasingl ...

on 8 December 2012, which featured a surprise appearance from American singer and songwriter, and Gavin Rossdale's then-wife

Gwen Stefani Gwen Renée Stefani (; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, fashion designer and actress. She is a co-founder, lead vocalist, and the primary songwriter of the band No Doubt, whose singles include "Just a Girl", "Spiderwebs ...

. The single was never released on an album, as both Stefani and Bush were not working on any new material.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1994 songs 1995 singles 2012 singles Bush (British band) songs British alternative rock songs Gwen Stefani songs Atlantic Records singles Interscope Records singles Trauma Records singles Music videos directed by Kevin Kerslake 1990s ballads Rock ballads Song recordings produced by Alan Winstanley Song recordings produced by Clive Langer Songs written by Gavin Rossdale