"Cemetery" is a single by the Australian

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band

Silverchair Silverchair was an Australian Rock music, rock band, which formed in 1992 as Innocent Criminals in Newcastle, New South Wales, with Daniel Johns on vocals and guitars, Ben Gillies on drums, and Chris Joannou on bass guitar. The group got thei ...

. The song is found on the band's second album ''

Freak Show A freak show is an exhibition of biological rarities, referred to in popular culture as "Freak, freaks of nature". Typical features would be physically unusual Human#Anatomy and physiology, humans, such as those uncommonly large or small, t ...

''. It was also included on their '' Best of Volume 1''. In their review for ''Freak Show'', ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' called the song a " proggy" ballad.

Background

"Cemetery" was originally composed by frontman

Daniel Johns Daniel Paul Johns (born 22 April 1979) is an Australian musician, singer, and songwriter, best known as the Lead vocalist, frontman, guitarist, and main songwriter of the Rock music, rock band Silverchair. Johns is also one half of The Dissociat ...

as a solo acoustic piece while still living at home. Originally, Johns had no intention of including it on a Silverchair album. In interviews, he revealed that he was initially apprehensive about presenting "Cemetery" even to his bandmates due to its soft and delicate nature, fearing that he would be ridiculed for creating a

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

. However, once Johns played the solo acoustic recording for his bandmates, they enjoyed it immensely, and Johns then felt confident enough to include it on ''Freak Show''.

Covers

The song was covered by The Brave on the Silverchair tribute album '' Spawn (Again): A Tribute to Silverchair''.

Track listing

Australian CD single (MATTCD052) *12" ltd. promo vinyl (MATTV052) ** Ltd. cassette (MATT0052) # "Cemetery" # "Slab" (Nicklaunoise mix) # "Cemetery" (acoustic) European CD single (6645342) # "Cemetery" # "Freak (Remix for Us Rejects)" # "Undecided"

Charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 1997 singles Silverchair songs 1990s ballads Songs written by Daniel Johns Song recordings produced by Nick Launay 1997 songs Alternative rock ballads Songs about cemeteries