"Hard to Make a Stand" is the third single from

Sheryl Crow Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She is noted for her Optimism, optimistic and Idealism, idealistic subject matter, and incorporation of genres including Rock music, rock, Po ...

's self-titled second album (1996). It was released by A&M as a single only in Europe, Canada, Japan, and South Africa. The track caused controversy in the US due to its references to

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

. The music video for the song, directed by Matthew Amos, is taken from a live performance in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. A live performance of this song is featured on Sheryl Crow's 2006 concert DVD: ''Wildflower Tour, Live from New York''.

Critical reception

Kevin Courtney from ''

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'' commented, "'Hard to Make a Stand' is another just bog standard

country rock Country rock is a music genre that fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal sty ...

tune, but somehow Ms Crow manages to turn it into a sparkling, rhinestone encrusted pop hit. This one faithfully follows the path of its predecessor, '

Everyday Is a Winding Road "Everyday Is a Winding Road" is the second single from American singer and songwriter Sheryl Crow's 1996 eponymous album. Neil Finn, lead singer of Crowded House, provides backing vocals. Paul Hester, another member of Crowded House, was the ins ...

', offering nothing new except another chance to see the 1990s

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is an American singer who has performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin music. Ronstadt has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three A ...

do her cowgirl routine on video."

Track listings

* UK CD1 # "Hard to Make a Stand" # "Hard to Make a Stand" (alternate version) # "Hard to Make a Stand" (live BBC Simon Mayo Session) # "In Need" * UK CD2 # "Hard to Make a Stand" # "Sad Sad World" # "No One Said It Would Be Easy" (live from

Shepherd's Bush Empire Shepherd's Bush Empire (currently known as O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the BBC Television Theatre) is a music venue in Shepherd's Bush, West London, run by the Academy Music Group. It was original ...

in London) # "

If It Makes You Happy "If It Makes You Happy" is a song by American singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow, released as the lead single from her 1996 Sheryl Crow (album), eponymous album in September 1996. The song peaked at number 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' ...

" (live from Shepherd's Bush Empire in London) * European CD single # "Hard to Make a Stand" # "Sad Sad World" * Japanese CD single # "Hard to Make a Stand" # "If It Makes You Happy" (live) # "On the Outside" (live) # "No One Said It Would Be Easy" (live)

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the UK CD2 liner notes and the ''

'' album booklet. Studios * Recorded at Sunset Sound Factory (Los Angeles) * Mastered at Gateway Mastering (

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

, US) Personnel * Sheryl Crow – writing, vocals, bass guitar, acoustic guitar,

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

, production *

Bill Bottrell William Allen Bottrell (born October 27, 1952) is an American record producer and songwriter. He is perhaps best known for his production and uncredited guest appearance on Michael Jackson's 1991 single "Black or White", which peaked the ''Bill ...

– writing * Todd Wolfe – writing * R.S. Bryan – writing * Steve Donnelly – electric guitar * Pete Thomas – drums *

Tchad Blake Tchad Blake (born 1955) is an American record producer, audio engineer, mixer and musician. A native of Baytown, Texas, he has worked with artists and musicians including Al Green, American Music Club, Ani DiFranco, Apartment 26, Arctic Monke ...

– mixing, recording *

Bob Ludwig Robert Carl Ludwig (born December 11, 1944), is a retired American mastering engineer. He mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists, including Led Zeppeli ...

– mastering * Jeri Heiden – artwork design * Jim Wright – photography

Charts

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hard To Make A Stand 1996 songs 1997 singles A&M Records singles Music videos directed by Matthew Amos Sheryl Crow songs Songs about abortion Songs written by Bill Bottrell Songs written by Sheryl Crow