The Andrew Oldham Orchestra is a side project fronted by Andrew Loog Oldham… Read Full Bio ↴The Andrew Oldham Orchestra is a side project fronted by Andrew Loog Oldham, from London, United Kingdom, the original manager of the Rolling Stones.

The Orchestra released four studio albums, 'East Meets West: Famous Hits of the Beach Boys and the Four Seasons' (1964), '16 Hip Hits' (1964), 'Lionel Bart's Maggie May' (1964), and 'Rolling Stones Songbook' (1966).

Rolling Stones Songbook features the orchestrated version of the Mick Jagger and Keith Richards song 'The Last Time', which was sampled by The Verve for their track 'Bitter Sweet Symphony'. Licensing issues over the sample caused the copyright of the song to revert to ABKCO Records and the composition to Jagger and Richards.

bitter sweet symphony
The Andrew Oldham Orchestra Lyrics

We have lyrics for 'bitter sweet symphony' by these artists:

- The Verve 'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, that's life Tryna make e…
8-Bit Arcade 「ポーカーフェイスのつもり?」また君に突かれる図星内心あぁ憎らしいでも不思議総じて愛しい巷じゃ自己肯定感だ…
Cello The Verve - Bitter Sweet Symphony ′Cause it's a bittersweet …
Cerberus Circuitbreaker Cause it′s a bittersweet symphony this life Trying to make e…
Coldplay 'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life Tryin' to make…
D-Me Man I just want to thank everybody that's Just been supporti…
Eiskalte Engel - The Verve 'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, that's life Tryna make e…
Jay Z and the Verve If you feelin like a pimp nigga Go and brush your…
KITCHEN - The Verve 'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, that's life Tryna make e…

Marston Smith Cause it′s a bittersweet symphony this life Trying to make e…
Maxwell Satisfaction Did you get just what you wanted? And you said …
Richard Ashcroft Cause it′s a bittersweet symphony this life Trying to make e…
Rockin'1000 ′Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life Trying to make…
The Camden Towners Cause it's a bittersweet symphony this life Trying to make e…
The Verve 'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, that's life Tryna make e…
The Verve (OST Жестокие игры) 'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life Try to make en…
The Verve - Bitter Sweet Symphony 'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, that's life Tryna make e…
The Verve ft. Jay-Z 'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life Trying to mak…
The Verve Vs. Jay-Z If you feelin like a pimp nigga Go and brush your…
The Verve; Richard Ashcroft; Nick McCabe; Simon Jones; Simon Tong; Peter Salisbury; Wil Malone 'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, that's life Tryna make e…
Verve 'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life Trying to mak…
Verve / Richard Ashcroft 'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, that's life Tryna make e…
Verve pipe 'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life Trying to mak…
Wild Wild Cultivate your hunger, before you idealize Motivate your ang…
★The Verve 'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life Try to make en…

We have lyrics for these tracks by The Andrew Oldham Orchestra:

365 Rolling Stones My resolution this year? I′ll disappear completely. My absol…
Da Doo Ron Ron I met her on a Monday and my heart stood…

Satisfaction I can't get no satisfaction, I can't get no satisfaction 'C…

The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos

TRACKS

Genre not found

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Comments from YouTube:

@NightRunner417

2y↑820

What everybody else said. It's truly bizarre how "This Could Be The Last Time" morphed into this beautiful thing, and then this beautiful thing morphed into "Bittersweet Symphony", one of the greatest songs ever made. Sometimes you just gotta put down the "you stole this!" pitchfork and torch and just appreciate the music. This to me is a rare, brilliant example of how one song can be made from another and work OH so well. 🙂

@timster1995

2y↑14

Yeah I can still hear the violin riff melody in this version and the way they play the chords in expression even chords progression isn’t copyrighted but the expressed way is and in the same rhythm and the strings and the melody is exactly the same so Bittersweet Symphony is too awfully close to this!

@efan2012

2y↑3

Indeed. It's honestly amazing. The Last Time imo is one of the Stones's more underrated songs, then Oldham did this version which is gorgeous. Then BS came out all those years later and is iconic on it's own right.

@Deep.Purple

2y↑1

Except the Verve got permission from Decca to use that clip and then Decca did what a lot of crooks did... tell them that the deal wasn't enough and they would have to give them 100% of the royalties from the Verves song through extortion. Alan Kline also a notorious crook jumped in and demanded 100% and signed it away for $1. Kline did the same thing to George Harrison. AND if that all isn't enough the STONES took the song "The last time" from the Staple Singers. Which you can still go listen to and hear the same lyrics and melody. The Stones didn't really change anything in the song and the staple singers never got a dime from it. The music industry is F-ed up. Crooks one and all.

@nell580

1y↑16

The verbe just put the lirycs on this masterpiece.

@jorgegonza8681

1y↑2

How about RIDING SOLO

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@Rumeiyuh

2y↑481

It literally feels like you're walking in paradise listening to this. Imagine hearing this live

@PM-vv3uc

2y↑47

Maybe it feels a little bit more like walking down a street without paying attention to passers-by. In doing so, I arbitrarily push other passers-by aside and just walk over a car. I don't really have a clue how I got this idea.

@cllewis1

2y↑4

@@PM-vv3uc Man, I felt the same way and I don't know why.

@jimmanuel9512

2y↑1

I feel like I’m swinging from star to star

@waanaabe-4795

I would word it (IMHO) "feels like Walking in paradise and Drowning the world below with your Tears", especially with the (Verve) lyrics... what the bells do to lift you up, the strings undo by wrapping around your heart SO tight... SO much emotion... why do people listen to songs that torment them? seriously, timeless progression

@eamonnmulhern2332

1y↑2

Quite grand

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@MrTubular13

1y↑231

The Stones had no claim to this, but Andrew Oldham, and David Whitaker who did the string arrangements, certainly did.

@Fireglo

45w↑17

Except Jagger-Richards composed the music. Arrangement on different instruments doesn't entitle you to songwriting royalties.

@gabrielledebourg2487

39w↑20

The worst part is that Mick and Keith were sympathetic to The Verve, but all of Stones pre-‘71 catalogue was owned by Allen Klein, the scummiest man in music biz, so they had no say in it.

@mateusbmedeiros

38w↑14

Yeah, even now people don't understand that, despite Mick Jagger and Keith Richards getting their names on the credits, this wasn't their doing. There's obvious actual pieces of Bittersweet Symphony in this arrangement, but The Verve did get the rights to sample the song, so it's expected to have actual parts of Bittersweet Symphony ripped directly from this. The blame lies with Allan Klein who successfully sued them on the grounds that they used more than they licensed (which is probably true, but still pretty forgiving if one gives at least one crap to the artistry involved).

Allan Klein was very infamous in the music industry because he made artists sell their copyrights to him and then he used them as assets on what I guess he thought as investments, capitalizing on everything he could with those rights.

It took the man freaking DYING for the whole Bittersweet Symphony to be resolved. And the man's name was infamous for a reason. He screwed A LOT of artists during his life, not only Verve's.

@Narpets2112

37w

And yet only Jagger and Richard's appear as the songwriters.

@oliverdavidson8198

34w↑1

@@Fireglo Thank you, mate. Exactly. Thank God these imbeciles aren't lawyers. Transitive property even works here. If A = B, and B = C, then A = C. A is the Stones. B is the bollocks. C is the ripoff artist c--nts.

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@dentonmilton1573

2y↑54

I was the engineer that sat with andrew oldham and dug through hundreds of session tapes to find the original source of this piece of history.

@Jipwell

2y↑4

You’ve gotta upload your findings!

@deadlotCamper

1y↑3

why did you/they need the original source? the orchestral release wasnt enough blatant obvious proof? its where they verve got it right? i personally hate this trend of sampling a well known (or not) riff and singing/rapping over its loop. crappy way of creating art. verve song is great, i just dont know where the urge to do this comes from. i dont have that urge hahaha...obviously the verve heard this piece and made decisions to do what they did "because everyone else is doing it". cool piece of music but not what i would strive for myself. when it is obscure music like this, its marginally ok to do this. copping stones property has ramifications hahahahaha... the beastie boys were masters of this, but they tended to use 20 clips per song and really mash it up. but when p-diddy looped the police "every breath you take" and annihilated the original then i get infuriated. the verve basically did the same thing but with a completely unknown piece that in some twisted theory that stones might not figure it out? would have loved to be there when the first person in the stones org figured it out. wow just wow. idiots. they created their own misery

@Prozak78

@@deadlotCamper You daft or something? You write all of that and don't check any facts? Wikipedia: "The Verve negotiated rights to use the "Last Time" sample from the copyright holder, Decca Records. However, they did not obtain permission from the Rolling Stones' former manager Allen Klein, who owned the copyrights to their pre-1970 songs, including "The Last Time". When "Bitter Sweet Symphony" was about to be released as a single, Klein, then the head of ABKCO Records, refused clearance for the sample(...)"

@SciakkaPRODUCTION

1y↑2

@@deadlotCamper you really dpmt know how this happened? The verve were smart bored teen smoking pots om grandparents basement. They find this lp. They hear the tune and know this is wonderful. They think they are the only one who heard this and factory seems a really shitty place where work for a lifetime. They say if the stones sent us to trial is just free ads and anyway the song will made us popular. And they got it right.

@deadlotCamper

@@SciakkaPRODUCTION ...not so sure they would say it was worth it.

4 More Replies...

@dannydorko7075

4y↑1.3K

it was genius of mick and Keith to write the last time. it was genius of andrew Oldham to make it into this and it was genius of Richard Ashcroft to take this song and make it into bittersweet symphony

@LEFT4BASS

4y↑74

Plus Mick and Kieth certainly were inspired by something else when they wrote the last time. No music is really original. It’s just a tweaked version of what the artist was inspired by.

New music is built on previously-made music, else every band would sound like the Shaggs.

@swungover

3y↑79

It was genius of the STAPLE SINGERS to record a great version of a BLACK AMERICAN SPIRITUAL. I love the Stones but they should have given millions of dollars in some way to the Black American community that they very very very much more or less ripped off. If they, the Beatles, Led Zep, and Elvis did the same, for starters, it would at least be a step towards justice.

@HerrVidiot

3y↑3

@@swungover I agree.

@ronj9448

3y↑25

@@swungover I think you are right but the Stones did try to give back by having black artists on their tours which upped their exposure and income for a long time. They cannot right all the wrongs of the world but they were not complete assholes either. Clapton did the same.

@jimcricket8128

3y↑13

Still enjoy the verve version the best. It's overproduced trash and I love it.

59 More Replies...

@generalfishcake

2y↑163

1:39 - Goosebumps all over

@generalfishcake

1y↑16

@@ianrobertdavies8605 This original has such a fulfilling culmination - to be honest, it's better than the Verve - not overusing the main theme.

@cristianocarrilloso3343

50w

@Ian Robert Davies Media Archive *Andrew Oldham

@george4821

49w↑7

I can hear the strings from Bittersweet Symphony in this somehow.

@RomarioToretto

21w

You can say that again

@HANIMEME

15w

Some how? 😅@@george4821

@eamonnmulhern2332

1y↑74

36 years on this planet. Heard all the controversy, both the last time and the bitter sweet ..... just found this piece of music today.
this is the piece that caused all the bother..... it was worth it in the long run..... what a gem

@bruxinth4660

Had nothing to do with the music; it had everything to do with thieves in suits.

@MarkSiosal

5y↑4.1K

Who's here because Richard got the rights back today?

@TheMoonigans

5y↑121

I suspect someone at "Rolling Stones" did the numbers and figured it wasn't making any money any more so lets give it back to Richard Ashcroft as a kick in the teeth who is probably singing in a working mans club in Scunthorpe. Initially I had some sympathy that this massive band had robbed them but having listened to the original a few times I don't think the Verve had any complaints. Did Young MC ever make any money from "Know How" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wck6YaZytmM

@richp.1234

5y↑58

Me. Can kinda see why the Stones would be peeved. 70/30 split to the Stones would've been more fair.

@eyesburningup

5y↑4

Hello! :D

@raulbd25

5y↑3

here i am

@deanmoore7239

5y↑7

'Bout time I say

131 More Replies...

@abilenebibleandbrew9685

5y↑2.3K

The verve just regained their rights to Bittersweet symphony.

@RevGary

5y↑239

first time hearing this and tbh the verve deserve no writing credit for bittersweet symphony - the main hook is clearly this

@marcosoliveira2841

5y↑2

Meeee

@BigWill2k

5y↑78

How much did Andrew Oldham make i wonder, probably peanuts! He was the real brilliance, Richard Ashcroft did a good job and the music video is iconic but creatively he just wrote new lyrics. He lifted the vocal melody from the Stones original and put it over this.

@tangentz0007

5y↑11

I can see why they did not have it to begin with. This isn't even close to the Cold Play and Satriani lawsuit. Which Joe won by the way.

@kWazt

5y↑6

@Jared Chambers and proceeded to hook it to death. what a shit symphony.

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@bestofboastworlds1883

51w↑93

This is an incredible piece of music.

@davidalbino3241

47w↑1

Ikr 😭😭😭

@TheLightknight7

36w↑31

With my headphones listening to this classic instrumental while walking down the street. It's a busy street so everyone is passing beside me. Some people smile at me and some people don't. It's a bittersweet thing I guess. 🤔🤣

@bandspubsthugs1197

15w

Hoxton st. N1 London

@dj-um7el

2y↑29

Both are great!
The 1997 version literally just sounds updated.
Also, this really holds up!

@VitalikButtring

5y↑84

People saying they can't hear The Last Time, this version is played at a half time tempo.

@sfrenato

3y↑2

This orchestration and Stones' The Last Time just share chords. For the rest they are totally different songs

@valentinaomg6754

5y↑111

0:40 Cause it's a bittersweet symphony this life🎶🎶 😂😂❤

@Quoutub

3y↑1

Wrong, it's not "this life", it's "that's life", this was even printed on the CD cover of Bitter Sweet Symphony. There's even a YouTube video about this verse.

@squ34ky

Actually 1:38

@OSNAYA7R

Tal cuál jajajaja

@WarmVoice

46w↑8

Music is a thread of memory and expression that connects humanity through time.

@slowfuse

3y↑13

So awesome that Ashcroft went back in time to 1965 to write this!

@denisefreitas6727

3y↑700

Nobody wouldn't know this masterpiece if The Verve hadn't made Bittersweet Symphony!

@ericdalton7904

3y↑121

Nobody in your generation maybe

@ShowMeWhatINeedToKnow

3y↑20

@@ericdalton7904 --- Sweet burrrrrrn, man

@virgilio6349

3y↑29

@@ericdalton7904 lmao my dad was born in the RS generation and he only listened to the Verve version on the radio.

@mickyherman445

3y↑3

Yes they would

@mickyherman445

3y↑3

Bollocks

25 More Replies...

@vinskeeter

2y↑52

When I first heard Bittersweet Symphony, it sounded like a 60's orchestra to me and it sounded great! I don't know if it was because I had heard this way back when I was a kid or what. The Verve's "version" is one of my all time favorite songs.

@maestro-zq8gu

4y↑62

As someone who loved the Verve in college but my dad is a lifelong Stones fan, well this is just awkward just finding this now... and liking this version instantly more .. it's got that stronger range of sound and emotion that music from that era had and doesn't even have words... I love the Verve version always have and will but... it 100% owes it's existance to a renaissance of music that came way before it.

@dundaravewine2390

2y↑1

Well said!

@hanspeterraatz4928

1y↑2

The words are more important than the music

@13donstalos

The original is a good song, but this is amazing, and it came out in 1996.

@gavin2715

19w

@@13donstalos it was 1965

@Tarantulisimo

4y↑82

So it all started over a sample from this Andrew Oldham Orchestra cover version of the Rolling Stones' song "The Last Time"......There never actually was an "Andrew Oldham Orchestra" -- Oldham was the Stones manager/producer at the time, & he used his musical connections & studio knowledge to create various side projects under that name. The Verve had successfully negotiated the rights to use a six-note sample of said recording from Decca Records, the recording's copyright holder -- however, they did NOT obtain direct permission from another former Rolling Stones manager Allen Klein, who owned the actual song copyrights. One version of the story is that the Stones & Decca agreed to license a five-note segment in exchange for 50 percent of the royalties, but Klein claimed the Verve voided the agreement by using a SIX-note sample. Although "Bitter Sweet Symphony" had already been released, Klein refused to grant the licence for the sample, as Decca Records had previously done -- This led to a lawsuit with ABKCO Records (Klein's holding company), which was settled out of court. The Verve ended up having to relinquish all royalties to Klein, and the songwriting credits were changed to Jagger/Richards, with Ashcroft receiving just $1,000 for completely relinquishing those rights. Verve bassist Simon Jones said, "We were told it was going to be a 50/50 split, and then they saw how well the record was doing -- They rung up and said we want 100 percent or take it out of the shops....you don't have much choice." Ashcroft sarcastically said, "This is the best song Jagger and Richards have written in 20 years", noting it was their biggest UK hit since "Brown Sugar".

In a 1999 interview, when asked whether he believed the end result was fair, Keith Richards said: "I'm out of whack here, this is serious lawyer shit. If the Verve can write a better song, they can keep the money!" Eventually, Andrew Loog Oldham jumped on the money train as well & sued The Verve after failing to receive the so-called "mechanical royalties" he claimed he was owed. After receiving his royalties, Oldham joked that he bought "a pretty presentable watch strap" compared to the watch Jagger and Richards would get with their money. In a later interview, he said: "As for Richard Ashcroft: well, I don't know how an artist can be severely damaged by that experience. Songwriters have learned to call songs their children, and he thinks he wrote something. He didn't. I hope he's got over it. It takes a while."

In May 2019, Ashcroft received the Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors. Ashcroft announced that the dispute was over following negotiations with Klein's son, Jody, and the Rolling Stones' new manager Joyce Smith. Ashcroft thanked Jagger and Richards "for acknowledging me as the writer of a fucking masterpiece!" He added: "As of last month, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards signed over all their publishing for Bittersweet Symphony, which was a truly kind and magnanimous thing for them to do. I never had a personal beef with the Stones. They've always been the greatest rock and roll band in the world. It's been a fantastic development. It's life-affirming in a way."

@ElementalNature1

3y↑7

That’s wild. Thanks for sharing., it sounds nothing like The Last Time but sounds exactly like the orchestral version. I’m surprised two old multi-millionaires (even in the 90s) would care so much about the royalties for this one song as to take away the royalties of a much less popular/financially successful band.

@phillhelbig6924

Thanks for that afford. We appreciate this Kind of crime-roman 😘

@ronj9448

3y↑2

Thanks for copying Wikipedia

@leighharris2080

Here we thought it was just a simply lovely song

@rainbowrose9299

5y↑175

I can hear both songs, but The Verve did their own version of this and Richard wrote the lyrics to the song, so they should all get something lol! I actually love this so much, it's amazing

@dj-um7el

2y↑1

Same here!

@hanspeterraatz4928

1y↑1

Lyrics is the most important piece of a song.

@anthony5868

52w↑6

@@hanspeterraatz4928 - you obviously haven’t heard “Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini”

@GreenToast01

48w

@@hanspeterraatz4928 you're stupid.

@steffanhoffmann

46w↑3

It's a total rip-off

7 More Replies...

@malialaguisa4797

5y↑704

If anyone should have challenged the rights it should have been andrew oldham orchestra

@josephkyle1557

4y↑35

LOL. Andrew Loog-Oldham was their manager. He didn't care. It was Allen Klein and Jagger/Richards who did. But I have to side with them on this. Ashcroft was in the wrong.

@lucasm3879

4y↑63

Joseph Kyle
I'm pretty sure it was Klein only, not the Stones. Klein was always known as a ruthless, avaricious gangster type figure in the music industry.
He sneakily got the Stones to sign over all their publishing rights when they were still inexperienced.
Ashcroft did make something new with his vocals and lyrics.
50/50 would have been fair, and if it was anyone besides Klein, he would likely have got that at the start.

@who7063

4y↑2

I think he sued them for like 2 million

@LEFT4BASS

4y↑4

Joseph Kyle Oldham sued the Verve separately.

@LEFT4BASS

4y↑17

Lucas Maximus honestly, all the Verve did was use a similar riff based on a sample of this song. It would be one thing if they just lifted the exact riff, but they changed it up a little, has different vocals and had permission to sample the song.

All music worth listening to is influenced by previous works. None of it is completely original. Not even The Rolling Stones original version. Just using a similar riff shouldn’t have been enough to steal all the Verve’s royalties for 20 years. It was a different song with one similar sounding aspect.

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@UmTrovador

6y↑840

Man.... I swear I can't reconize Rolling Stones's The Last Time in this song. For me it is a completly new and original song, without any similarity with the "original".

@deivyjose3470

5y↑10

Ikr

@deivyjose3470

5y↑7

this is ridiculous

@McDonaldsDude

5y↑59

Play The Last Time at half speed, then you can hear it like "she tries very hard to please me" you can hear it in the orchestra.

@sergiokeko2637

5y↑10

technically Andrew oldham is a stone

@musicalbliues

5y↑16

At 2.39 very clear This could be" thelast time")

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@dawnsstar5918

42w↑4

When I heard this as Bittersweet, I swear, I had heard it before.
I am in my 60's.... I finally found where I had heard it before, when I was 3 -4 years old.
Wow.

@asmith121

6y↑433

Man, this alternate version of Bittersweet Symphony is something

@MobinKiadeh

5y↑41

Bittersweet Symphony was sampled from this, this is from 1966.

@orpheus7374

5y↑77

Mobin Kiadeh you sure are a joke killer

@MobinKiadeh

5y↑25

@@orpheus7374 oh my bad I just realised 😂

@wilhelmtm

4y↑15

Sarcasm detected

@ESTEBANCAM

3y↑1

Jajajaja

8 More Replies...

@Casey5693

45w↑4

This music, it’s so uplifting and bittersweet and victorious it has brought me to tears.

@Omegaweaponsguy2

2y↑28

I swear upon this song, this will play the day i get married. The bells, the melody, everything just tugs at my heart in ways I've never known. The longing for Everlasting love with that special girl.

@calebsankey6945

You want to play a break-up song at your wedding?! 😜🤣 Haha but jokes aside though, it's amazing what a bit of context and arrangement can do, isn't it? Changes the feeling of song entirely!

@Omegaweaponsguy2

1y↑2

@@calebsankey6945 it really does., doesnt it? this version really feels like a triumphant theme, without the lyrics the Verve added to it. it's the kind of song that says (at least from my POV) "we finally did it, be proud and take it in", although that's just me... hope its not a bad omen 🤣 🤣 🤣

@SpartaYoshi

4y↑38

One of the best samples I've ever heard

@torstenscholz6243

3y↑6

That's what Richard Ashcroft thought, too.

@dj-um7el

Yo Sparta!

@DJC06390

5y↑32

I like both the last time and bitter sweet symphony

@tonyk.9212

5y↑26

Real music by real musicians..... Sheer quality.

@alessandrotaccari358

4y↑6

Bittersweet Symphony, absolutely

@joyusachoobarb

4y↑18

this is totally incredible

@usmh

2y↑60

Listening to this, I can only acknowledge that Bittersweet Symphony is a cover. Everything that's great about that song is in here, save the vocals. What a fantastic piece of music.

@rikindanger1079

2y↑4

This is also a sample believe it or not

@usmh

2y↑9

@@rikindanger1079 Well, a cover, which sounds nothing like the original. Certainly not a sample.

@aelahn

2y↑4

@@usmh cover? where in Bittersweet.. is a section like 2:24? Dunno, it sounds a very important part of this song, it would be in a cover...

@usmh

2y↑2

@@aelahn I think you can leave out a section of a song and still call your version of it a cover.

@denisliber6740

1y↑8

it isnt a cover, they stole it and have the nerve to say that they wrote it...

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@thebigdecision

6y↑529

you can sing bitter sweet symphony on this

@holymimigolightly

6y↑25

And "The Last Time" too

@misturchips

5y↑69

That's because the Verve sampled this for their song....

@sweet.n.soursauce

5y↑8

@@misturchips yeah... illegally...

@misturchips

5y↑35

Really? As long as the originating artist gets credit for a sample which makes up more than a certain percentage of the song, it's not illegal.

@qwertyasdf66

5y↑2

@@misturchips That's covered in the first paragraph about the song on wikipedia.

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@FrancescaGramegna

2y↑7

this track is the foundation of a masterpiece ❤️

@jolinejoline2471

2y↑23

This melody is iconic and a contemporary classic.

@etpicci5915

14w

A piece of music can't be "iconic" by definition (and the term is also used arbitrarily when applied to images).

@hb11912

4y↑73

I can see the similarity, but Bitter Sweet Symphony is such a brilliant and iconic song from the 90’s and The Verve should be applauded for it

@mikephillips8810

2y↑16

Similarity? It's the identical melody and that's the basis for the whole song by The Verve, without it the song wouldn't have existed. Having said that the lyrics and vocals on BSS are great as is the instrumentation. Also had The Verve not made BSS, none of us would have heard of this. Spare a thought though for composer/writer David Whitaker who wrote this but didn't make much money from it.

@acidchurch7619

22w

its not just similar, Bitter Sweet Symphony used this as the sample for the whole song

@MiguelOtoya1001

30w↑3

Tengo que dar mi opinión definitivamente, claro como no un buen oidor de la música contemporánea clásica, perfeccionista, no hay mejor versión que la de uno mismo y si tú sientes algo x la primera tbn lo harás por esta segunda así que no hay lugar para decir está o la otra, las dos son hermosas pero mis oídos se quedaron con la de la legendaria banda The verve.
👏👏👏👏🇵🇪🌎💘😇

@eduardpeeterlemming

2y↑3

Bittersweet Symphony is a blessing

@justmadeit2

5y↑232

You can definetly hear bittersweet symphony in this, but the Verve made it a good song. Richard ashcroft will be happy now he'll get some royalties

@LEFT4BASS

4y↑11

He deserves to finally get his share. All he did was use a similar riff to this song, and they took all his royalties for 20 years.

He changed the riff up a little, had different backing instruments, different vocals and everything. It might have sounded similar, but it wasn’t the same song by any means.

@burtreynolds3143

LoL. All royalties from the song go to former Rolling Stones manager Allen Klein.

@nxsuggested8290

3y↑6

@@LEFT4BASS Similar Riff - its a complete rip off - Whatever you think of the Verve or Ashcroft, his biggest hit and the fame and money he earned as a musician was on the back of a someone elses music with his own lyrics.

Rather than complaining about the money he "Lost" he should thank his lucky stars, because without "The Last Time" Bittersweet Symphony would have never existed.

@Trazgazm

3y↑4

@@nxsuggested8290 The Verve actually got a license to use a sample of this so it's only really a rip-off as much as any other song that samples another, however, they used a little more than was agreed which was what allowed the lawsuit.

@justmadeit2

Just to add, theres a huge folder of decent music in the Playlist part of my channel, over n out

2 More Replies...

@greenpeas154

5y↑10

I played it with double speed and now I can finally hear The Last Time song!

@mikephillips8810

Yes same keys and key changes. But the composer of this orchestration didn't get credited, by The Stones, their management or The Verve

@204776439

3y↑5

quite a curiosity, oldham slowing the original song down like this and making a symphonic instrumental version, then the Verve sampling that and transforming into an international mega hit, same chords but totally different song really, fascinating

@dougreckord2409

5y↑73

Is the late David Sinclair Whitaker, the arranger, the one who should get the credit for the lovely string melody that is the heart of this piece and BSS?

@andrewmarinelly5838

4y↑4

This may be the only time I sing the praises of a well implemented tambourine.

@Quoutub

3y↑1

I don't know , but Bitter Sweet Symphony's strings were arranged by Wil Malone. The Andrew Oldham Orchestra didn't use the melody of the Bitter Sweet Symphony strings for strings. Also, the Orchestra version contains the notes of the string melody, but it doesn't contain the exact same sequence of notes. So the final melody of the strings was written by Wil Malone.

@mikephillips8810

2y↑1

Yes he should be. I think it's fine that the credits are now Richard Ashcroft's but would have been a nice touch to have added David Whitaker. It's his string orchestration and Richard's lyrics and vocals that make BSS such a great song. David Whitaker has long since passed away so no royalties to give but Ashcroft/Whitaker on the song would be a nice touch. He made hardly any money from the original recording.

@mikephillips8810

@@Quoutub I take your point but Malone had to re-do the strings I'm guessing because the original recording didn't have enough tracks so he or the producer couldn't separate out the originals completely. Still it's the identical melody which was Whitaker's.

@A.S_0707

3y↑5

This song is an anthem for its melody melody but above all for the unbeatable voice of Mr.Ashcroft

@BobbieBees

5y↑21

To those of you who can't hear the connection between this song and the Rolling Stones version of "The Last Time", speed this song up to 2x.
Then at the 1:04 minute mark start singing:
"Well this could be the last time
This could be the last time
Maybe the last time
I don't know, oh no, oh no"

@OKandEZ

@m PREACH 🙌

@ulicadluga

5y↑3

Bridge, bridge, bridge, "last time", bridge, bridge, bridge, bridge, "last time", bridge, bridge, bridge.

Brilliant arrangement!

@Jeffpidrila5730

10w↑1

This is a bittersweet symphony....

@JAMWITCH666

2y↑2

imo this is the best version of all three

@Rocker79

4y↑203

The Verve’s greatest song 🙏🏻 Nice to hear a decent cover from The Rolling Stones 🙌🏻

@maestro-zq8gu

4y↑13

Funny!

@HighlandMike325

4y↑9

Dragging themselves up on The Verve's coat tails

@sheilaminogue6521

4y↑4

Apparently the Verve stole the music from the Stones

@805livin4

4y↑18

@@sheilaminogue6521 and the stones stole it from another band

@checynhadi2815

3y↑9

They stole from the BLACK community as usual 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

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@amrsalama911

5y↑27

At normal speed this sounds like Bitter Sweet Symphony, but at 2x speed it sounds like The Last Time

@randyracos198

35w↑1

This is amazing,takes me back and never knew this was even part of the stones' the last time. Wow.

@nashcomp

3y↑5

This is feel bitter and sweet at the same time

@wrathofgrothendieck

It’s like a bitter sweet symphony

@johnclark3431

2y↑12

I was today years old when I learned that bittersweet symphony isn’t the original creator of this magnificent tune

@ulicadluga

5y↑31

1:05 to 1:26 and 2:25 to 2:46 - "Last Time" at half speed. Otherwise this is a new composition. Great, especially the tubular bells!

@Vikanuck

3y↑84

Played at 2x speed, I swear this song can, and should be classified as the world first Jungle beat haha 😄
That sounds fucking sick man 🤟

@JorgeHA7

2y↑5

Omg, you're totally right! Haha, amazing

@electroid8119

haha you mad b**tard!! :-D

@stephenmacartney

1y↑3

Holy shit. Mind blown dude.

@eamonnmulhern2332

1y↑2

Just woke the neighbours with this X2

@craig1538

46w

How can it sound like vomit?

@oscaroscar7904

1y↑14

The verve deserve credit for bringing this to light at least no one would know about it without them, one of the greatest examples of using a sample to show a buried masterpice of music into the mainstream which otherwise would been remained forgotten, using sampling shouldent be looked down on if it helps a song ( and the bittersweet symphonie sounds like this version not the orginal guitar riff from the first version which i would never realise was the bittersweet symphonie version, its this orchestra version which is the great one and that made the verve version so good.) Its also weird how similar the singer of the verve is to a young mick jagger😂

@steffanhoffmann

46w

That's rubbish lots of us 🇬🇧 knew it.

@marcioibcq

4y↑26

O instrumental é extraordinário, mas ganhou ainda mais vida com The Verve.

@alinecunha1205

3y↑7

The verve deu mais ênfase ao instrumental por isso muita gente nem sabe que Rolling Stones é dono da melodia original.

@steffanhoffmann

46w

Rubbish

@user-lg7es7mk1l

4y↑5

0:39 Coz it's a Bittersweet Symphony this life...

@CalicoShoes

2y↑2

The description should be a 1966 cover, not 1996, fyi. Gorgeous song.

@Sergio_clutchmad

5y↑104

1:38 This is the part that the Verve used on their song

@ryanmanley441

5y↑35

They stole the entirety of this track.

@KristallFire

5y↑11

@@ryanmanley441 "stole" lel

@latortugapicante719

5y↑11

You mean the whole song

@ryanmanley441

5y↑18

@@KristallFire Well, they did. They payed for the rights to SOME of the sample and they used more than they agreed to.

@ruaridhgilmour5761

4y↑21

@@ryanmanley441 well they made it 100x better

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@thesound-chameleonman3580

2y↑4

That opening 0:06 riff is out of this world.

C.P.

@FernandoKovalchuk

4y↑9

i love this song!!! " It's just a bittersweet, sinph......." Oh....

@wilhelmtm

Lol

@torstenscholz6243

3y↑1

Stones did it first!

@corovideo

4y↑6

The Bells appears on FUTURAMA intro theme. Another case of Royalties.

@BUSHBOY666

Nope. They are off psyche rock by pierre henry.

@brianwilson49

52w↑9

The whole story of the derivative progression of the original gospel piece through to the verve’s song is fascinating from both a musical and legal perspective. You can hear where the verve’s string arranger got the idea for their string melody from and the entire backing track of their song is basically derived from this instrumental reinterpretation of the Rolling Stones’ song which was greatly influenced by an old gospel song whose roots disappear back in the mists of time. Mad! The creative process - is there really anything that is new or is all art derivative? 🤔

@neverletthemusicstop

16w↑1

What’s the gospel song ?

@Deibbito

15w

yeah what is the gospel song? We need to know please.

@soozisongbyrd

3y↑114

You know what? The Verve turned this into a masterpiece. There is no doubt at all about that. Oasis took the Coca Cola riff to make Shakermaker too. It makes no odds, especially since The Stones gave Richard the rights back in 2018. Bittersweet Symphony is a classic. My all time favourite song

@m4nc0o

2y↑7

That’s why the Gallagher’s drink Pepsi now lol

@thehighllama8101

The Verve wrote great lyrics, but the melody and everything else they stole from the Stones and Oldham. The Verve took more than just a sample of this song. They basically copied it almost note for note.

@soozisongbyrd

2y↑2

@@thehighllama8101 you do know The Stones stole this song too... from The Staple Singers. So its a case of touché

@permafrost0979

2y↑1

@@thehighllama8101 the Verve got permission from the publishers who owned Oldham's version, just not from the Stones. Which makes it so annoying that they sued over a version so different from their own, considering they didn't py any royalties for "borrowing" the Staples' music 🤔

@steffanhoffmann

46w↑1

No i don't know what 😂
I only know right down to the drums they stole it.
However YOU dress it up

3 More Replies...

@vcc100100

5y↑18

the verve perfected

@jeffj9322

2y↑1

Happy Birthday Andrew Loog Oldham born on January 29, 1944. He is an English record producer, talent manager, impresario and author. He was manager and producer of The Rolling Stones from 1963 to 1967. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Loog_Oldham

@worldwidehey

50w↑2

Man that kick drum and the church bells (taken from French LP psyche rock?) are SO good to open the song

@konstantinosmousoutzanis5991

4y↑2

Thanks to God... It is an divine song!
And also the lyrics and the performance of the Verves!
God blessed U All!

@jfoust7945

2y↑4

I just cant wrap my head around how this has anything to do with the stones "last time" its kinda in the same key, kinda follows changes, but actually not at all, ive been trying to sleep the last hr but cant stop thinking about how this melody has anything to do with last time. I busted out the guitar to play last time and try to transition it to this and all i an the gf can think of is acid. That or they foreseen the future and knew they could make money off these dope ass riffs.

Anyone help me with this?

@Likourgos_Katselis

Even from the Album artwork one would assume this was done in the 60s. "In 1965, Andrew Oldham Orchestra recorded the song for the album The Rolling Stones Songbook." outtake from wikipedia

@StoneOslo

3y↑68

Me da gusto que Mick Jagger y Keith Richard le hayan regresado los derechos a Richard Ashcrofth. Cómo también debe reconocer que The Last Time en esta excelente versión, fue embellecida vía Bitter Sweet Simphony, en lo personal la mejor canción de los 90's.

@manuelvasquez4945

3y↑2

22 años más tarde

@mickyherman445

Pissoff

@1691980

El mejor comentario que leí!

@claudiodanielmora5287

Richard Ashcrofth 👍👍👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

@leonardoparada4541

38w

Claro la sedio luego de exprimirle más de 40 millones de Dólares en Ganancias . Le lucharon asta la sociedad y luego la soltaron.

@andreasgeorgiou1901

5y↑32

I can see why The Rolling Stones wanted royalties this sounds like a karaoke version of bittersweet symphony even though it came first. The Rolling Stones are class to give him the rights to it though all because of their love of music!

@JamieCoco

5y↑11

20 years later class acts.

@andrewdewis4350

Was it the orchestra or stones

@OKandEZ

5y↑2

@@JamieCoco 😂😂😂😂😂😂 "Class acts"? 😉

@omikronweapon

According to the Wikipedia article, at least Richards didn't really care, he put it down to their lawyers.

@PeteS_1994

No it doesn't to me, it sounds much more live to me and feels different, has a bit of a brighter vibe to it. Not every song requires lyrics.

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@thebandit1974

5y↑324

The rights should really go to the Andrew Oldham Orchestra... ;)

@chrisreardon9822

5y↑23

Not really. They paid to use the sample

@heggy_69

Brianlet

@coronelsakura2841

5y↑10

The merit. Thats all. The Verve shouldnt have been sued.

@adamwhitelock1982

4y↑5

@@coronelsakura2841 - Oh please. The Verve's biggest ever song, what made them, is a blatant rip off.

@maryannemason10

4y↑3

Um... they didn’t WRITE the music

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@staringatthesun861

2y↑3

This is it. This deserves 90% of the credit for Bitter Sweet Symphony. Good on The Verve for adding the finishing touches, but they did just that -- add window dressing.

@animegamingdude

search for bitter sweet symphony vh2 on youtube there is still a song there even without the strings and the sample

@staringatthesun861

@@animegamingdude You have a point. The song could've succeeded even as a folk song.

@lobodestepa

4y↑28

Para los que escuchamos primero Bitter Sweet... es inevitable no reproducir mentalmente los sonidos que The Verve agregó al escuchar después The last..., pero creo que nunca podremos imaginar cómo sonaba realmente esta canción sin esa proyección, creo que sí tuvo un gran mérito The Verve, pues esta versión de The last time pasó sin pena ni gloria con todo y el peso del nombre de The Rolling Stones, sin embargo, Bitter sweet symphony se convirtió en un gran éxito mundial.

@LuisJ967

4y↑4

Es bueno señalar que The Verve tiene muchas buenas canciones en su discografia, a pesar de que solamente son conocidos por bittersweet symphony.

@patriciostarr8573

1y↑3

Te equivocas... esta pieza original... fue sacada del mismo cielo... si bien es cierto the verve compuso una version mas moderna..... a mi que me gusta la musica clasica y sinfonica... este track es toda una obra maestra que me hace imaginar que musica asi solooo sera tocada en el Cielo....!!

@MariPogba35

@@hectorbastias6713 eso es mentira,yo escuché antes a los Stones que a The Verve,y me decepcionó el plagio descarado,no quiero ni escuchar bitter socks

@MariPogba35

@@hectorbastias6713 arte significa creación,no robo, el robó descaradamente

@eduardocastillo6988

@@MariPogba35 jaja creo que ni conocías esto y apenas te estás dando cuenta 😂

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@FRENCHTOURIST

10y↑415

1966 But Not 1996 .

@kevinwong6588

6y↑19

'65 to be correct (date of LP album release).

@slouhend

6y↑13

Released 3 June 1966.

@glenstransportvideos

6y↑14

It was made in 1965 and released in 1966

@londonxrainn

6y↑11

Also it's not a cover like the description states, it is a track that was inspired by the song The Last Time by the Rolling Stones

@pierregreiss4736

5y↑5

The Cover of the verve was in 1996

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@dhpbear2

5y↑1.2K

I can make out "Bittersweet Symphony" but CAN'T make out "The Last Time" ;)

@neilgibbons2532

5y↑25

Same here 😂🤣

@SuperAnimelover100

5y↑5

David Perkins
Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, same here ! : )

@nigelcharlton-wright1747

5y↑85

@@munckymagic They claimed 100% of the royalties for the Bittersweet Symphony, which I is unjust, a very greedy considering they are both multi-millionaires compared to the members of The Verve.

@davidocall

5y↑75

@@nigelcharlton-wright1747 it was the manager not the talent. Do some research before talking shit ;)

@gabrielledebourg2487

5y↑60

davidocall Exactly. Allen Klein even screwed over the Stones real bad too.

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@anthonyohara793

I love it and hear it often on Tony Blackburn's backdrop music when he chats ! I can't somehow ever dislike it and find it useful in some events .

@tg72211

4y↑34

So, the Verve borrowed from an orchestral piece that is a cover of a Rolling Stones song that is almost a straight cover of a Staples Singers song that is a blues version of a traditional gospel song.

Wild that the Stones were given writing credits for a song that samples an orchestral version that sounds nothing like their song, which they didn't even write the main hook of.

@sheilaminogue6521

Yep go figure that one out

@silkymilkymememonkey

It’s kinda weird knowing a rock band sampled a song... I always thought only hip-hop and dub producers use samples.

@tg72211

4y↑2

@@silkymilkymememonkey Led Zeppelin were quite famous for "sampling."

@gonzalohiguain2589

4y↑1

Given? If you want something of value you either make it or buy it. Rarely it will be given

@silkymilkymememonkey

@tg72201 Really? Interesting. I never knew that. Do you have an example?

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@mattkai4636

4y↑23

I would love to see a mashup of this and bittersweet symphony

@jasgag1217

https://rave.dj/

@geimenberg1718

2y↑2

But this is already in it so it would sound the same

@permafrost0979

2y↑1

@@geimenberg1718 lol right I'd like to see a mash-up of bittersweet symphony nd the Stones' version of The Last Time

@kabuman

18w

Here is the mashup you requested! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V4G6SWj5BI

@flywings111

5y↑31

Ashcroft had the agreement to use this sample, he could repeat those 4 seconds that he was allowed to use no matter what. Had Bittersweet Symphony been an unknown song, no one would have cared anyway. Allen Klein was just one of the greediest managers in the history of pop music. Now Ashcroft has the royalties but Jagger and Richards still decide about re-release rights, when and how to use the songs etc.

@shahanshah7622

4y↑7

Allen Klein is the worst thing that happened to the industry IMO, Ashcroft was already giving them 50% as agreed upon but the greedy man wanted 100%. But also i was very disappointed about rolling stones. Being that famous i would expect them to support and encourage younger bands. Completely stopped listening to them after i heard about this case

@lyndabotez3274

Interesting that Walmart is using this same riff (the Verve version though) in their new commercial. I wonder who gets the royalties for that? https://youtu.be/cIiDtq1u2JM

@noxvi4753

4y↑1

@@shahanshah7622 but is it the rolling stones that sued? Is it not their labels? Idk why the RS would sue, it's probably their label to get money.

@dudleyrupan5713

True, and they all ripped-off David Whittaker, he was the creator of the original sample. Never any mention of him by the rock gods or their accountants.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/feb/16/david-whitaker

@flywings111

@@noxvi4753 even if it wasn't the Stones who sued them they could have said something supporting The Verve, but they didn't. 👎

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@michaelredfearn9125

5y↑2

Both, great music pieces.

@MarcsWishes5

1y↑1

Y'all shouldn't forget that Brian Jones and his guitarlick made The last time finally great. No one else.

@Monalisacries316

4y↑5

Whatever. "Bitter sweet symphony" will always be one of the best songs with so many great memories!

@kingofcrows8829

5y↑4

This would be an awesome ringtone

@prinzmidas9004

3y↑1

What a sad story, and how ironic. If Bittersweet Symphony wouldn't be such a wonderful song it would be just so sad.

@lw97nilslinuswhitewaterweb23

5y↑1

Looks like it's a bittersweet symphony... that's life :)

@felmac83

3y↑3

I've been Iistening for a while this song.....I don't know, but independently of the original song from Rolling Stones or the re-cover part of The Verve, this version is the very best of the three! Forgive me for the Stones fans, but the song was improved!

@ZinnedineMorales

6y↑12

Cause that's a bitter sweet symphony, this life Trying to make ends meet, you're a slave to the money then you die I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down You know the one that takes you To the places where all the veins meet, yeah No change, I can change, I can change, I can change But I'm here in my mould, I am here in my mould

But I'm a million different people from one day to the next

I can't change my mould, no, no, no, no, no Have you ever been down? Well, I've never prayed, but tonight I'm on my knees, yeah I need to hear some sounds that recognize the pain in me, yeah I let the melody shine, let it cleanse my mind, I feel free now But the airwaves are clean and there's nobody singing to me now

No change, I can change, I can change, I can change But I'm here in my mould, I am here in my mould And I'm a million different people from one day to the next I can't change my mould, no, no, no, no, no Have you ever been down? I can't change it you know, I can't change it 'Cause that's a bitter sweet symphony, this life Trying to make ends meet, trying to find some money then you die I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down You know the one that takes you To the places where all the veins meet, yeah You know, I can change, I can change, I can change, I can change But I'm here in my mould, I am here in my mould And I'm a million different people from one day to the next I can't change my mould, no, no, no, no, no I can't change my mould, no, no, no, no, no I can't change my mould, no, no, no, no, no It's just sex and violence, melody and silence It's just I can't change my violence, melody and silence I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down It's just I can't change my violence, melody and silence I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down Been down Ever been down Ever been down Ever been down Ever been down Ever been down Ever been down

@conorfagan7489

Applemans Cider Ad sig., tune.

@logan2955

2y↑2

I can just imagine seeing this version live

@PDGgaming2005

45w↑2

1:38 bittersweet symphony

@juniord.bedoya9121

4y↑5

Richard Ashcroft, El único siempre!!
The Verve Forever!!

@luisivanluckie3848

Esta es la versión de The Rolling Stones del 66

@testtube1195

6y↑310

Who would recognize the stones original in this track? It's completly different.

@carlannerstedt6796

6y↑13

DUBBLE SPEED of the original "Last time" ,

@umutparlak1697

6y↑19

01:40

@testtube1195

6y↑30

I did not say, I don't recognize the Verve, I said I don't recognize the Stones Song in this. No Richards or Jagger ever played that.

@pascalrobert3524

6y↑1

https://youtu.be/I_s90-Hi2ZY?t=87

@davidalexbyrne

6y↑27

This has nothing in common with the stones last time. Had the composer of this piece not mentioned the stones song the last time, no one would ever put them next to each other. And this piece is far better than the stones song. But it was obviously the huge source of inspiration for the verve bittersweet symphony

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@jacobwright609

23w

This bears no resemblance to the original Rolling Stones song. Good for The Verve for taking this to a level that millions could have be a forever memory of their lives

@DeAndresTellez

25w↑2

the melody of "Bitter sweet" is almost there. The violin riff is almost there (one note missing). Damn, the song shouldn't belong to the Stones or Ashcroft, but to Andrew Loog Oldham.

@Zsword92

3y↑5

"Cos it's a bittersweet symphony this liiiiiiife"

@juanpagina4648

6y↑15

Las dos versiones son la mismisima ostia en verso las dos , son para correrse d egusto oyendolas las dos , all right the 2 songs are amazing, una puta locura