"Love Is Noise" is a song by English

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band

the Verve The Verve were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Wigan in 1990 by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bass guitarist Simon Jones (musician), Simon Jones and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboard player Simo ...

, the second track on their fourth album, ''

Forth Forth or FORTH may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''forth'' magazine, an Internet magazine * ''Forth'' (album), by The Verve, 2008 * ''Forth'', a 2011 album by Proto-Kaw * Radio Forth, a group of independent local radio stations in Scotla ...

'' (2008). It was released as the first single from the album on 3 August 2008 as a digital download, with the physical release following on 11 August 2008 in the United Kingdom. The song received its first airplay by

Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

on 23 June 2008. The single debuted 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 ...

at number five after during first week of release via online download alone. The following week, the song peaked at number four and stayed five weeks in the UK top 10, giving the Verve their first top-10 hit since 1997 with " Lucky Man". It was their third UK top-five single and their fourth to crack the UK top 10. "Love Is Noise" also reached the top 10 in Ireland, Italy, and Sweden. The song's music video debuted on the band's Myspace page shortly before the song's release.

Background

The song reworks lines from

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

's poem "

And did those feet in ancient time "And did those feet in ancient time" is a poem by William Blake from the preface to his epic '' Milton: A Poem in Two Books'', one of a collection of writings known as the Prophetic Books. The date of 1804 on the title page is probably when the ...

", commonly known as 'Jerusalem'. Where Blake begins "And did those feet in ancient time, / Walk upon England's mountains green?", "Love is Noise" asks: "Will those feet in modern times / Walk on soles that are made in China?", and alludes to "bright prosaic malls" in place of "dark Satanic Mills". This is the second time Richard Ashcroft has referenced Blake, following 1995's "

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

". "Love Is Noise" derived from "Columbo", another song on the album. While recording that track, Ashcroft created a new loop on a vocoder and added it to the song, which was essentially a jam the band had been working on for a few days. The band continued adding to it until it evolved into a different track.

Music video

The video for the song was released on the band's Myspace page on 9 July 2008. The video mixes up shots of the band performing in a dimly-lit room, with frontman Richard Ashcroft sitting on the floor, with montages of other images, including snow-capped mountains, a North Korean choreography, a couple about to kiss, a dancer and a blonde woman with an eagle.

Live performances

The song has been played live as early as the late 2007 gigs but was given different names such as "Modern Times", "Love is Pain", "Love is noise (with boy)". The band played it at 2008's

Coachella Coachella may refer to: * Coachella, California * Coachella Canal, in California * Coachella (festival), an annual music and arts festival in California * "Coachella – Woodstock in My Mind", a 2017 song by Lana del Rey See also

* Coachell ...

as the setlist's closer, something that was repeated in

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury ...

's Pyramid Stage on 29 June.

Track listings

On 3 August a digital download of the "album version" of the song was released with the song's video in the

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. A week later, an exclusive iTunes Store bundle was released featuring a "Freelance Hellraiser" remix at the same time as another bundle featuring the "album version" and the physical format's

B-sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

. The physical formats ( CD and

7-inch vinyl In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separate ...

records) were released on 11 August 2008. 7-inch vinyl gatefold (VERVE002) # "Love Is Noise" # "Let the Damage Begin" (live 2007) 7-inch clear vinyl (VERVE003) # "Love Is Noise" # "A Man Called Sun" (live 2007) CD single (VERVE004) # "Love Is Noise" # "Chic Dub" Digital download # "Love Is Noise" # "Love Is Noise" (music video) – 4:02 Digital EP # "Love Is Noise" – 5:27 # "Chic Dub" – 6:09 # "Let the Damage Begin" (live 2007) – 4:09 # "A Man Called Sun" (live 2007) – 5:18 # "Love Is Noise" (The Freelance Hellraiser remix) – 9:09

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control The Verve songs 2008 singles 2008 songs Number-one singles in Scotland Parlophone singles Songs written by Nick McCabe Songs written by Peter Salisbury Songs written by Richard Ashcroft Songs written by Simon Jones (musician)