"The Bitter End" is a song by British

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

Placebo A placebo ( ) can be roughly defined as a sham medical treatment. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like saline), sham surgery, and other procedures. Placebos are used in randomized clinical trials ...

. It was released as the lead single from their fourth studio album, '' Sleeping with Ghosts'' (2003), on 10 March 2003. "The Bitter End" and " Every You Every Me" are the two most often played songs in the Placebo's live shows.

Critical response

Critics generally praised the single upon its release. Reviewing ''Sleeping with Ghosts'',

BBC.co.uk BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...

's rock/indie reviewer Dan Tallis described "The Bitter End" as "a good pop tune",Tallis, Dan. ''"Placebo, Sleeping with Ghosts"'', album review, March 2003, a
BBC.co.uk
last accessed 8 January 2007. having "just the right amount of dark, gothic atmosphere to please their fans and enough radio friendly guitars to please the new generation of indie kids." The Times thought the song "ramped up the energy level to devastating effect." ''

Rock Sound ''Rock Sound'' is a British magazine that covers rock music. The magazine aims at being more " underground" and less commercial, while also giving coverage to better-known acts. It generally focuses on pop punk, post-hardcore, metalcore, punk, ...

'' reasoned that the track's "kick ass romp"Perrone, Pierre. ''"Sleeping with Ghosts"'', album review, March 2003,

magazine. reinforces "their status as purveyors of pure indie pop in the vein of

The Smiths The Smiths were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Manchester in 1982, composed of Morrissey (vocals), Johnny Marr (guitar), Andy Rourke (bass) and Mike Joyce (musician), Mike Joyce (drums). Morrissey and Marr formed the band's songwrit ...

." However,

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 ...

saw differing influences woven in the track, reporting that "The Bitter End" "sees Placebo powering along with a relentless U2- chasing-after-

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). The band's current line-up comprises Smith, Perry Bamonte (guitar and keyboards), Reev ...

melody that's as infectious as 24." Summarising Placebo's 2004 singles collection, '' Once More with Feeling'',

's Nottingham music reviewer Jaime Gill stated that "each song stems from a songwriter so instinctive and precise that when he writes a song called "The Bitter End", that's exactly what it sounds like."Gill, Jaime. ''"Placebo - Once More With Feeling (The Singles)"'', album review, 2 November 2004, a
BBC.co.uk
; last accessed 8 January 2007.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

sees the band playing in the dish of the

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, one of the largest radio telescopes. Halfway through the video, it displays an

infrared Infrared (IR; sometimes called infrared light) is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than that of visible light but shorter than microwaves. The infrared spectral band begins with the waves that are just longer than those ...

image of a couple chasing after each other. They eventually catch each other up and kiss against a wall. Near the end of the video, the band is rained upon. It was filmed close to

Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Track listings

CD 1 CD 2 7-inch vinyl

Formats

"The Bitter End" was released on 10 March 2003 via Elevator Music/Hut Records,Singles from 'Sleeping with Ghosts'. "The Bitter End", a
PlaceboWorld.co.uk
last accessed 16 January 2016. the first single to be culled from ''Sleeping with Ghosts''. Two CD singles offering differing B-sides were issued, as well as a single in 7-inch vinyl format. Later, "The Bitter End" saw inclusion on the November 2004 compilation '' Once More with Feeling: The Singles''. Key *B - "The Bitter End" *D - "Daddy Cool" *T - "Teenage Angst (piano version)" *BV - "The Bitter End video" *E - "Evalia" *DP - "Drink You Pretty"

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bitter End, The Placebo (band) songs 2003 singles 2003 songs Number-one singles in Portugal Song recordings produced by Jim Abbiss Songs written by Brian Molko Songs written by Stefan Olsdal Songs written by Steve Hewitt Virgin Records singles