"Road Rage" is a song recorded by Welsh band
Catatonia
Catatonia is a complex neuropsychiatric behavioral syndrome that is characterized by abnormal movements, immobility, abnormal behaviors, and withdrawal. The onset of catatonia can be acute or subtle and symptoms can wax, wane, or change during ...
, taken from their second studio album, ''
International Velvet'' (1998). It was written by band member
Mark Roberts, with the production credit given generally to the band. "Road Rage" was released as the third single from the album on 20 April 1998, following their breakthrough success with the song "
Mulder and Scully". The title "Road Rage" was based on the murder of Lee Harvey by his girlfriend
Tracie Andrews
Jenna Stephens, also known as Jenna Stephens Goldsworthy or Tia Carter but better known by her original name of Tracie Marguerite Andrews (originally registered as Tracey Marguerite Andrews) (born 9 April 1969), is an English murderer who k ...
in December 1996, something for which singer
Cerys Matthews
Cerys Matthews (; born 11 April 1969) is a Welsh singer, songwriter, author, and broadcaster. She was a founding member of Welsh rock band Catatonia and a leading figure in the "Cool Cymru" movement of the late 1990s.
Matthews programmes and ...
later apologised to Harvey's mother.
"Road Rage" was received positively by the press, with particular praise given to the way that Matthews rolled the r's in the chorus of the song. Commercially, the song peaked at number five on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
, eventually gaining a silver
sales certification from the
British Phonographic Industry
British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...
. It also reached the top 30 in Ireland and the top 40 in Australia. It received nominations for best song at the
Brit Awards
The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...
, and the
Ivor Novello Awards
The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been a ...
, winning at the
Q Awards
The Q Awards were the UK's annual music awards run by the music magazine '' Q''. Since they began in 1990, the Q Awards became one of Britain's biggest and best publicised music awards. Locations for the awards ceremony included Abbey Road Studios ...
.
Recording and release
"Road Rage" was released as a follow-up to the success of their single "
Mulder and Scully",
which became their break-out hit. "Road Rage" was released as the third single from the album ''
International Velvet'' on 20 April 1998.
"Road Rage" was also included on the American release of the album ''
Equally Cursed and Blessed'' in March 2000. It later appeared on the best of collection by their label
Blanco y Negro Records
Blanco y Negro Records (Spanish: "White and Black"), a subsidiary of WEA Records Ltd., was established in 1983 by Geoff Travis of Rough Trade Records and Mike Alway of él Records. Michel Duval of Les Disques du Crépuscule was also involved ...
, ''
Catatonia Greatest Hits''.
Composition
The title of "Road Rage" was based on the murder of Lee Harvey by his girlfriend
Tracie Andrews
Jenna Stephens, also known as Jenna Stephens Goldsworthy or Tia Carter but better known by her original name of Tracie Marguerite Andrews (originally registered as Tracey Marguerite Andrews) (born 9 April 1969), is an English murderer who k ...
in December 1996. She stabbed him more than 30 times with a
penknife
Penknife, or pen knife, is a British English term for a small folding knife. Today the word ''penknife'' is the common British English term for both a pocketknife, which can have single or multiple blades, and for multi-tools, with additional too ...
, claiming originally that this had been committed by a stranger in a
road rage
Road rage is aggressive or angry behavior exhibited by motorists. These behaviors include rude and verbal insults, yelling, physical threats or dangerous driving methods targeted at other drivers, pedestrians or cyclists in an effort to intimid ...
-type attack. As a result of the song's release, Lee's mother Maureen said that "It is disgusting that people are trying to make money from such a tragedy. My son did not die in a road rage attack, he was killed by Tracie Andrews. We simply do not need songs like this". Catatonia's lead singer
Cerys Matthews
Cerys Matthews (; born 11 April 1969) is a Welsh singer, songwriter, author, and broadcaster. She was a founding member of Welsh rock band Catatonia and a leading figure in the "Cool Cymru" movement of the late 1990s.
Matthews programmes and ...
said that while the title of the song was based on the case, the lyrics were about advances in technology. In her book ''Pure Evil'', Maureen Harvey stated " . . . at least the group's singer Cerys Matthews had the decency to return my call and explain that she hadn't intended to cause any offence. She tried to convince me that the song showed how Tracie had gone crazy and that it didn't actually do her any favours."
The song structure is based on
4/4 time
The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...
, with a moderate
tempo
In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...
played at approximately 92 beats per minute. The song contains a total of eight distinct
key changes throughout its duration.
Critical reception
Ian Hyland gave "Road Rage" a rating of nine out of ten in his review for the ''
Sunday Mirror
The ''Sunday Mirror'' is the Sunday sister paper of the ''Daily Mirror''. It began life in 1915 as the ''Sunday Pictorial'' and was renamed the ''Sunday Mirror'' in 1963. In 2016 it had an average weekly circulation of 620,861, dropping marke ...
''. He said that if "Matthews sounded any more Welsh she'd be a dragon but this is a very excellent tune in any language." Richard Wallace called the single "magnificent" in an article for the ''
Daily Mirror
The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print ...
'' and praised the "seductive rolling Rs in the chorus". Paul Cole, for the ''
Sunday Mercury
''Sunday Mercury'' is a Sunday tabloid published in Birmingham, UK, and now owned by Reach plc.
The first edition was published on 29 December 1918. The first editor was John Turner Fearon (1869–1937), who left the Dublin-based ''Freeman's ...
'', described "Road Rage" in 2002 as the best of Catatonia's greatest hits and "the perfect pop song".
In 2002, "Road Rage" was ranked as the third best song by a Welsh artist, behind "
Delilah
Delilah ( ; , meaning "delicate";Gesenius's ''Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon'' ar, دليلة, Dalīlah; grc, label=Greek, Δαλιδά, Dalidá) is a woman mentioned in the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible. She is loved b ...
" by
Tom Jones and "
Sixty Eight Guns
"Sixty Eight Guns" is a song by Welsh rock band the Alarm that was released as a single in August 1983 and later appeared on the group's debut album '' Declaration'' in February 1984. It was written by Alarm members Mike Peters and Eddie MacDonal ...
" by
The Alarm
The Alarm are a Welsh rock band that formed in Rhyl, Wales, in 1981. Initially formed as a punk band, the Toilets, in 1977, under lead vocalist Mike Peters, the band soon embraced arena rock and included marked influences from Welsh language ...
, in a list compiled for the ''Guinness World Records British Hit Singles'' book. However, none of these songs featured in the overall top 20.
"Road Rage" was nominated for several major music awards. It won the Best Single award at the
Q Awards
The Q Awards were the UK's annual music awards run by the music magazine '' Q''. Since they began in 1990, the Q Awards became one of Britain's biggest and best publicised music awards. Locations for the awards ceremony included Abbey Road Studios ...
in 1998, with Matthews picking up the award on the night. It was nominated for Best British Single at the
1999 Brit Awards
Brit Awards 1999 was the 19th edition of the Brit Awards, an annual pop music awards ceremony in the United Kingdom. It was organised by the British Phonographic Industry and took place on 16 February 1999 at the London Arena in London.
Perform ...
, but lost out to "
Angels
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
" by
Robbie Williams
Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...
. "Road Rage" was also nominated for Best Contemporary Song at the 1999
Ivor Novello Awards
The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been a ...
. After the award was given to
Tin Tin Out
Tin Tin Out were an English electronic dance music duo, comprising Darren Stokes and Lindsay Edwards. They remixed songs for a variety of artists such as Duran Duran, Erasure, Pet Shop Boys, The Corrs and Des'ree, as well as collaborating with ...
instead, Matthews left the ceremony but later returned.
Live performances
Catatonia played at the
Barrowland Ballroom in Glasgow, Scotland, shortly after the release of "Road Rage" as the support act for
Travis. Neil Cooper at ''
The Scotsman
''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...
'' said that "the way
atthewsrolls her R's" on "Road Rage", "you can forgive her anything." A similar comment was received in the ''
Birmingham Evening Mail
The ''Birmingham Mail'' (branded the ''Black Country Mail'' in the Black Country) is a tabloid newspaper based in Birmingham, England but distributed around Birmingham, the Black Country, and Solihull and parts of Warwickshire, Worcestershire ...
'' for the performed at the
Wellington Rooms, Liverpool
The Wellington Rooms, also known as the former Irish Centre, is a Regency building in Liverpool, England. Designed as assembly rooms, the building is situated on Mount Pleasant, close to Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral.
The building has been ...
, saying "the way she rasped and rolled her R's on Road Rage was delightful".
Returning to the Barrowland Ballroom in March 1999, the audience joined in with the rendition of "Road Rage", causing the review in the ''
Daily Record'' to describe the atmosphere as not "all that different to some huge, back-of-the-bus knees-up". After the breakup of Catatonia, Matthews performed "Road Rage" solo at the
Inspirations for Barretstown Camp concert on 30 March 2012.
Track listings
UK and Australian CD single; German maxi-CD single
# "Road Rage" (radio edit) – 4:00
# "I'm Cured" – 2:51
# "Blow the Millennium" – 2:28
# "Road Rage (Ghia)" – 4:55
UK 7-inch and cassette single
# "Road Rage" (radio edit) – 4:00
# "I'm Cured" – 2:51
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
{{Authority control
1998 singles
1998 songs
Blanco y Negro Records singles
Catatonia (band) songs
Songs about crime
Songs about roads
Songs based on actual events
Songs written by Mark Roberts (singer)