"Broken Stones" is a song by English singer-songwriter

Paul Weller John William Weller (born 25 May 1958), better known as Paul Weller, is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame in the late 1970s as the guitarist and principal singer and songwriter of the rock band the Jam, alongside ...

, released in September 1995 by

Go! Discs Go! Discs was a London-based record label, launched in 1983 from offices in Wendell Road, Shepherd's Bush, by Andy Macdonald and Lesley Symons. The pair founded the label after Macdonald left his job as press officer at Stiff Records, and Sy ...

as the fourth single from his third solo album, ''

Stanley Road ''Stanley Road'' is the third solo studio album by the English singer-songwriter and musician Paul Weller, released by Go! Discs in 1995. The album took its name from the street in Woking where Weller grew up. Weller's cover version of the song ...

'' (1995). It was written by Weller and co-produced by him with Brendan Lynch. The song reached 20 on the UK Singles Chart the same month. Weller was inspired to write the track after a conversation he had with his son at the beach, with the idea that people were like a broken stone trying to become whole again.

Critical reception

Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'' wrote, "Mid-tempo scorchers like 'Broken Stones' with its Memphis-soul-meets- New-Orleans feeling keep the rhythmic tension at cooking level." Ted Kessler from ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' named the song a "soul ballad" and "a distant and healthy cousin of

The Jam The Jam were an English rock band formed in 1972 in Woking, Surrey, consisting of Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler. They released 18 consecutive top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in ...

's '

Ghosts In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

Charts

References

1995 singles 1995 songs Go! Discs singles Song recordings produced by Brendan Lynch (music producer) Songs written by Paul Weller Paul Weller songs {{1990s-UK-single-stub