"Sonnet" is a song by the English

rock band ''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...

the Verve The Verve were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Wigan in 1990 by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bass guitarist Simon Jones (musician), Simon Jones and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboard player Sim ...

and is featured on their third album, ''

Urban Hymns ''Urban Hymns'' is the third studio album by English Rock music, rock band the Verve, released on 29 September 1997 on Hut Records. The group had broken up while promoting ''A Northern Soul'' in August 1995, though they reformed two weeks later ...

''. It was released on 2 March 1998 as the final

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from the album. The

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 ...

has the same instrumental layout as "

The Drugs Don't Work "The Drugs Don't Work" is a song by English Rock music, rock band the Verve. The song was written by Richard Ashcroft and is featured on their third studio album, ''Urban Hymns''. It was released on 1 September 1997 as the second single from th ...

", consisting of acoustic and electric

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s backed up with a string section mainly consisting of violins. At the start of 1998, Hut wanted to release another single from the album, an idea which the band disagreed with. Unusually, Hut pressed them on this matter, and so the band finally agreed to release "Sonnet", but only in a format that would make it ineligible for chart recognition. Consequently, "Sonnet" was released as part of a set of four

12-inch The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12) is a type of vinyl (polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a "single" or a few related sound tracks on each surface, compar ...

records (backed by "Stamped", "So Sister" and "Echo Bass"). The release of "Sonnet" was limited to just 5,000 copies, despite the huge radio coverage it received, and the UK's

Official Charts Company The Official UK Charts Company Limited (formerly Music Industry Chart Services Limited), trading as the Official Charts Company (OCC) or the Official Charts (formerly the Chart Information Network), is a British inter-professional organisation ...

refused to recognise it as a single because of the extra content, as planned. The pack was released in a cardboard mailer, and the preceding three singles from the album, all were re-released on the same day, fitted into the mailer. However, sales of an imported format resulted in it charting in the United Kingdom at number 74. The song also charted in Australia, Iceland, and New Zealand, reaching numbers 83, 4, and 43, respectively. Richard Ashcroft re-recorded the song for his 2021 album " Acoustic Hymns Vol 1". This version was featured in the 2024

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Music video

The music video is set in a large

car park A parking lot or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface. In most jurisdic ...

. An "Exit" sign written in

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can be seen in the background. The rest of the video consists of repeated close-ups of singer

Richard Ashcroft Richard Paul Ashcroft (born 11 September 1971) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter. He formed the alternative rock band the Verve in 1990 and served as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist throughout the band's lifetime. Ashcroft was ...

sitting in a chair, with different backgrounds each time, and every member of the band at the end of the video. The music video was filmed in July 1997.

Track listing

* European CD and 12-inch single : Australian and Japanese CD single # "Sonnet" # "Stamped" # "So Sister" # "Echo Bass"

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sonnet (Song) 1997 songs 1998 singles The Verve songs Hut Records singles Songs written by Richard Ashcroft British soft rock songs