The Drugs Don't Work
 

Best song ever.
I've been revisiting my older cds during this holiday because I had nothing to do and I was stunned by this song. I forgot how good it was. The Verve was one of the most underrated bands ever and Richard Ashcroft was/is a great songwriter. The Ben Harper cover is great too.

Anyone else think this song is amazing?

The song as well as Richard Ashcroft are terrific.

not a big Harper fan but it was a good cover of DRUGS

The only way to accurately describe the mood of that song would be a crying smiley... :(

oh the Verve...I still say they are the greatest band of say, last 10 years. 'on your own' still gets me though....

liked ashcroft's first cd, could not get into his second...

This is NOT a troll here!!! I love those British bands. I mean, I'll never tire of Coldplay, Doves, Travis, Trash Can Sinatras... pretty much anything similar I enjoy.

I bought that Verve disc used a couple of years ago, listened to it twice, and stashed it away. It didn't take the first couple of listens. But I will say that I think "Bittersweet Sympony" might be the best song of the 90's. A brilliant song. But the rest of that CD leaves me cold. I mean, the songs meander and are boring. "The Drugs Don't Work"... great title and interesting lyrics, but the music for that song and the others idle with nowhere to go. I listened to the CD again the other day and I even commented to my wife how surprised I was that these songs are so lifeless.

I guess compared to other bands similar to the Verve I don't think they are in the same league. Actually, I owned one of their earlier discs years before and sold that one.

Wow, I'm rather shocked atlantamoi. I'm also a huge fan of Travis, Doves, Coldplay...basically anything British :). But I love the Verve and Urban Hymns is probably my favorite album period. I've never heard anyone describe the album or Ashcroft's writing (which I think is at its peak here) as being lifeless or the songs menadering. I find Urban Hymns to be the perfect blend of melancholy and optimism, or as DonnachaOne put it "a crying smiley face". This is also a tight album which I believe can be credited to Nick McCabe, something that defintely shows as lacking in Ashcroft's solo work.

Anyways, I just thought I would put my two cents in. Maybe you just need to really sit down with the album. I've had a few CDs that I coudln't get into at first and then stashed away. A few did grow on me and became some favorites of mine: James' Laid, Aphex Twin's I Care Because You Do, and Lush's Spooky.

The greatness of "The Drugs Don't Work" come the lyrics and Richard Ashcroft's voice. It's similar to "Fake Plastic Trees" by Radiohead in that manner. The music of both is simple but makes the listener focus on the lyrics and vocals.

The Verve are definitely not in the same league as Coldplay, Travis and Doves. Those 3 bands couldn't even carry the Verve's jock. The Verve are in the same category as Blur, the Stone Roses, and Radiohead, the top British bands. Coldplay, Travis, etc. are a step below. IMO.

Urban Hymns is not only one of the top Brit rock albums of the 90's, but it also ranks as one of the best albums of the 90's (at least somewhere in the top 100).

It really did raise the bar for Brit rockers, and I don't think that many followers have been able to match it's greatness.

Well, it's GOOD that we all like these bands and these sounds. I know that is must be bizarre for me to come into this thread and say I don't really get the Verve. I have a friend at work and we enjoy the same bands, but then while he loves CD X by SoandSo I like CD Y better by SoandSo. This is always funny to me. I guess it's the same kind of thing with the chasm fans of Radiohead have with pre-OK Computer to post. I wrote off Radiohead until I heard OK (never liked the Bends).

Personally, I'd put Coldplay's "Rush of Blood..." up against all of my fave British bands top recordings. And that includes bands I love like Radiohead, Stone Roses, Kinks, Blur, Kirsty MacColl, James, etc.

When I bought the Verve disc it was due in part to so many people raving about songs like Weeping and Drugs. I'll listen to it again someday.

You have not heard The Drugs Don't Work until you hear the demo/acoustic version of it. That song is sad period, but hearing it acoustically makes you want to kill yourself :)

Okay, I'm intrigued now. I'm pretty ignorant of the Verve/Ashcroft's stuff (just know "Bittersweet Symphony" - which I like), so I guess I'll have to seek this song out and see what all the hub-bub is about.

Was that track released on any CDs?

It's a B-side on one of the "Drugs Don't Work" UK singles.

There's also a great demo version at the beginning of the Verve "Videos" VHS that was released about 4 years ago.

I'd let you listen to it, but I've got nowhere to host a 10.5 mb file :)