Storkyrkan

Storkyrkan (, lit. 'The Great Church'), also called Stockholms domkyrka (Stockholm Cathedral) and Sankt Nikolai kyrka (Church of Saint Nicholas), is the oldest church in Stockholm. Storkyrkan lies in the centre of Stockholm in Gamla stan, between Stockholm Palace and Stortorget, the old main square of Stockholm. It was consecrated to Saint Nicholas in 1306 but construction of the church probably started in the 13th century. Inside, Storkyrkan still maintains much of its late medieval appearance in the form of a hall church with a vaulted ceiling supported by brick pillars. The exterior of the church is however uniformly Baroque in appearance, the result of extensive changes made in the 18th century. The church played an important role during the Reformation in Sweden as the place where Mass was celebrated in Swedish for the first time. It currently serves as the seat of the Bishop of Stockholm within the Church of Sweden since the creation of the Diocese of Stockholm in 1942.

Storkyrkan was for a long time the only parish church of Stockholm, and from an early date it was connected with the Swedish royal family. It has been the scene of historical events on numerous occasions, and was used as a coronation church for centuries. More recently, the wedding between Crown Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling took place in the church in 2010. Military victories as well as national tragedies have been commemorated in Storkyrkan, and it is still used for funerals of public figures such as the writers Astrid Lindgren and Sara Danius.

The church contains several important works of art as well as elaborate furnishings, among these a late medieval sculpture of Saint George and the Dragon and Vädersolstavlan, a painting which shows one of the earliest images of Stockholm.

## Location and surroundings

Storkyrkan is the oldest church in Stockholm and was originally the parish church of the entire city, and as such was built at the very centre of the medieval city. It lies at the highest point of Gamla stan, wedged between the Stock Exchange Building and Stockholm Palace. The church, together with the palace, Stortorget and the first town hall of Stockholm (located on the site of the present stock exchange building), formed the heart of the earliest urban development. While the interior of the church still retains much of its medieval appearance, the exterior of the church is largely the result of changes made in the 18th century. Together with the Royal Palace, the Axel Oxenstierna palace, Slottsbacken and its obelisk, and the Tessin Palace, it is part of a coherent ensemble of Baroque architecture. It has been described as an "irreplaceable" part of the cityscape of Stockholm.

Storkyrkan is surrounded on three sides by streets (Trångsund to the west, Storkyrkobrinken and Högvaktsterrassen to the north and Slottsbacken to the east). A courtyard is located immediately south of the church. On the opposite side the courtyard faces the back of the stock exchange buildings, and two small pavilions, designed by Erik Palmstedt as wings of the stock exchange, were actually built as the burial chapel and coach-house of the church. They were built in 1767. To the west and east the courtyard is limited by walls, with openings through wrought iron gates. The posts of both gates were originally decorated with allegorical statues, although only the couple on the west gate are still in place. These two statues probably depict Reason (on the south post) and Divine Love (on the north post), and were made by Peter Schultz in 1675. The statues formerly on the posts of the east gate depict females symbolising Caution and Hope. The pair was made in 1702 by Daniel Kortz [sv].

Another statue, depicting the Swedish reformer Olaus Petri, stands adjacent to the east facade of the church. It faces Slottsbacken and forms part of the church ensemble even though it is not formally connected to Storkyrkan. It was inaugurated in 1898 and made by Theodor Lundberg [sv]. In the pavement next to the east facade there are also lines which mark the former extent of a church choir, demolished during the reign of King Gustav Vasa.

## History of the building

### Middle Ages

The presence of a church in Stockholm was indicated for the first time in 1279. The consecration of the city church is furthermore mentioned in 1306, making Storkyrkan the oldest church in Stockholm. The earliest history of the church is thus somewhat unclear: Stockholm was founded in the middle of the 13th century and it has been considered unlikely that the city would not have a functioning church until 1306. Tradition also holds that Birger Jarl founded the church. It is therefore possible that the church inaugurated in 1306 was preceded by another church, or that it was under construction for a long time, or perhaps re-dedicated in 1306. Regardless, the oldest parts of the current building probably belong to the church which was inaugurated in 1306. During the entire Middle Ages, the main patron saint of the church was Saint Nicholas. Several churches in the Baltic region from the 13th century are dedicated to Saint Nicholas, especially in cities where the Hanseatic League had a presence, as was the case in Stockholm. The church was also dedicated to Saint Mary and Saint Eric. The church remained the only parish church of Stockholm, serving the entire city, until the 1590s. In general, the medieval history of the church building is complex and difficult to determine in detail. There are few written sources, and a lack of ornaments has made it difficult to draw any conclusions about the age of the different parts on stylistic grounds.

Originally, the church appears to have consisted of a nave with two aisles. It had a wooden ceiling supported by six pillars. The building material was brick. The main entrance was probably located to the west, though side entrances may have existed in the north and south walls. Stylistically, the church was part of a group of brick churches built in the area around Lake Mälaren at the time, including Strängnäs Cathedral, St. Mary's Church, Sigtuna and Skokloster Church [sv]. The church was successively rebuilt and enlarged during the 14th and 15th centuries. Embellishing the church was a way for both the monarchs of Sweden and the citizens of Stockholm to demonstrate their power and influence.

A donation to the church in 1346 by King Magnus IV and his wife Blanche of Namur probably indicates that the first of a number of chapels had been added to the church. This chapel was originally dedicated to Saint Mary and was located at the south side of the east end of the church. The four bays that belonged to the chapel are still discernible in the interior of Storkyrkan. Similar chapels were built at approximately the same time at Visby Cathedral and St. Mary's Church, Lübeck. The chapel was decorated with Early Gothic murals in a style unusual for Swedish churches (later heavily restored). A second chapel was added to the church sometime before 1361, and further chapels were built during the early 15th century. By the end of the Middle Ages, Storkyrkan contained more than 30 chapels or specifically dedicated altarpieces, an amount only comparable with the cathedrals of medieval Sweden. The church thus grew piecemeal by the addition of chapels. Another set of murals, painted by Albertus Pictor and decorating the south west vaults (the paintings are currently not visible from the floor of the church) was also added during the 15th century. Between 1474 and 1496, a major reconstruction of the church was carried out which then incorporated these chapels into a single, unified space and installed new vaults, creating a uniformly high ceiling. The church was at approximately the same time also substantially expanded toward the east, while a choir was also added. This was partially because the church had become too small for the growing population of the city. The choir was demolished during the 16th century. The tower was also built in the early 15th century and was originally intended mainly as a defensive tower. By the end of the 15th century Storkyrkan had acquired the basic shape and size that it still has.

### Reformation and later changes

During the 16th century, the Reformation in Sweden led to important changes for the church. Catholicism was abandoned and Lutheranism was adopted. The state confiscated much of the property of the church, including large amounts of silver from the chapels and altars of Storkyrkan. Although Sweden as a whole did not suffer from any extensive outbreaks of iconoclasm during the Reformation, some of the formerly Catholic sculptures of the church were vandalised. When Christian II of Denmark resided in Stockholm in 1520, the church was fortified, a reflection of the political tensions which, among other things, led to the Stockholm Bloodbath in 1521. Adam van Düren was responsible for these works, and he also made an allegorical sculpture adorning the base of one of the pillars of the church. It depicts a male and a female lion and an eel, together with a satirical inscription of dubious meaning. Some further changes to the pillars, vaults and walls of the church were made during the reign of King John III in order to further harmonise the interior space.

### Changes during the 18th century

During the 18th century, the facade of Storkyrkan underwent far-reaching changes. The medieval exterior was completely transformed into a Baroque exterior. Nicodemus Tessin the Younger had put forward a proposal to remake the facade in a more contemporary style. In 1736, Johan Eberhard Carlberg was employed to oversee repairs of the church tower. Relatively soon, the commission expanded to a complete overhaul of the exterior and a new tower spire. Both Carlberg and Carl Hårleman, who had succeeded Nicodemus Tessin the Younger as architect of the Royal Palace, instantly produced numerous proposals for a new tower spire, further indicating that the idea of modernising the exterior had been entertained for some time. Particularly Hårleman seems to have viewed the issue from the standpoint that the church should be stylistically incorporated in the palace surroundings. The two architects accused each other's designs for the church spire to have technical problems. In the end, Carlberg's fourth proposal for a new spire, which was a compromise between his own and Hårleman's ideas, was adopted and Carlberg also designed the other changes to the facade. This transformation of the exterior of the church from a Gothic to a Baroque building was carried out between 1736 and 1745. The exterior seen today is still largely the result of Carlberg's work.

Further changes were made later in the same century, when architect Erik Palmstedt in 1777 redesigned the south side of the church courtyard in connection with the building of the stock exchange building on Stortorget. At the same time, he also designed the stairwell attached to the south side of the tower, at the west end of the church; the stairwell was finished in 1778. These and some other additions, later demolished, further underlined the Classical appearance of the church and its surroundings, in contrast to its medieval roots. King Gustav III of Sweden wanted to go even further, demolish the entire church and replace it with a new church inspired by the Pantheon in Rome.

### Later history

The windows were equipped with new, wrought-iron tracery in Neo-Gothic style in the 1860s. Some further changes, not least in order to increase the fire safety of the church, were carried out during the late 19th century. A more thorough renovation was done in 1903–1909 under the guidance of architect Ernst Stenhammar. Among other things, the whitewash which had covered the brick pillars and walls was removed, and the interior has been characterised by the exposed brick since then. It was done as an attempt to recreate a more "medieval" interior, but in fact the interior had probably always been whitewashed. Another comprehensive renovation was carried out 1952–54. The church was raised to the status of cathedral for the newly formed Diocese of Stockholm in 1942.

## Historical significance and royal connections

Storkyrkan has been the venue of important events in the history of Sweden. The growing wealth and influence of Stockholm during the Middle Ages, and the church's vicinity to the Royal Palace, attracted the attention of both the Archbishop of Uppsala and the monarchs of Sweden. The archbishop occasionally appointed a special representative to the church, and frequently intervened in local church matters. On at least one occasion, in 1338, a bishop (Hemming of Turku) was ordained in Storkyrkan.

The Reformation in Sweden was at least partly born in Storkyrkan: it was here that Lutheranism was publicly preached for the first time in Sweden and Storkyrkan was at the same time the first church in Sweden where Mass was celebrated in Swedish (instead of Latin), in 1525. One of the main advocates of the Reformation in Sweden, Olaus Petri, then served as a priest in Storkyrkan. As Storkyrkan from then on was used exclusively by the Swedish-speaking congregation of Stockholm, the sizeable German and Finnish-speaking congregations also moved out to the German Church and a chapel in the town hall, respectively.

The church has been used for the coronation of kings and queens of Sweden on several occasions. The first royal coronation that took place in Storkyrkan was the coronation of Magnus IV and Blanche of Namur in 1336. The coronation was conducted by Engelbert von Dolen [de], Bishop of Tartu, in the presence of all Swedish bishops. Most medieval coronations however took place in Uppsala Cathedral. The next time a coronation took place in Storkyrkan was in 1497, when King John was crowned King of Sweden there, during the Kalmar Union. His son Christian II of Denmark was crowned in Storkyrkan on 4 November 1521 in a ceremony designed to mark the submission of Sweden to the rule of King Christian. During the ceremony, representatives of Emperor Charles V presented the king with the Order of the Golden Fleece. Just a few days later, the Stockholm Bloodbath took place.

For some time it was then considered inauspicious for ruling monarchs to be crowned in Storkyrkan. However, the wedding between King Eric XIV of Sweden and Karin Månsdotter, as well as her coronation following the wedding, took place in Storkyrkan in 1568. Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg was also crowned as Queen of Sweden in Storkyrkan, following her marriage to King Gustavus Adolphus in 1620. The next ruling monarch to be crowned in Storkyrkan was, after a hiatus of 130 years, Queen Christina, in 1650. The coronation of the next two kings were in Uppsala, but King Charles XII again preferred Storkyrkan for his coronation in 1697. The coronation of King Frederick I was also conducted in Storkyrkan, in 1720. From then on the coronations of all Swedish monarchs, with the exception of Gustav IV Adolf, took place in Storkyrkan. The last coronation of a Swedish monarch was that of King Oscar II in 1873, which took place in Storkyrkan.

The church has been used for royal weddings on several occasions. Two of the daughters of King Gustav Vasa were married in Storkyrkan, as well as the son of King John III. The wedding between the future King Oscar I and Josephine of Leuchtenberg took place in Storkyrkan in 1823, and several other members of the royal family were married in the church during the 19th and 20th centuries. In 2010, Storkyrkan was the venue for the wedding of Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, and Daniel Westling.

While Storkyrkan has rarely been used as a burial church for royalty (instead, Riddarholmen Church fulfilled that role until 1950), a number of high-profile funerals have taken place in Storkyrkan during the 20th century. After the bodies of the three members of the failed Andrée's Arctic balloon expedition (Salomon August Andrée, Knut Frænkel and Nils Strindberg) were retrieved and returned to Stockholm in 1930, their funeral was held in Storkyrkan. More recently, the funerals of writer Astrid Lindgren (died 2002) and of the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy Sara Danius (died 2019) were also held in Storkyrkan. When MS Estonia sank in 1994 with the loss of many Swedish lives, a memorial service, attended by the royal family and the Prime Minister of Sweden, was held in Storkyrkan. Similarly, the church hosted an extra service after the assassination of foreign minister Anna Lindh in 2003.

Storkyrkan has also been used for other public events. Several military victories were publicly celebrated in the church during the time of the Swedish Empire. The most elaborate of these was probably the celebration of the victory at the Battle of Narva (1700). The victories at Pułtusk (1703), Thorn (1703) and Svensksund (1790) were also publicly celebrated in the church. During the time of the Riksdag of the Estates, the estate of the clergy usually held their meetings in Storkyrkan. Still today, a sermon in Storkyrkan traditionally marks the opening of the Riksdag every autumn. During the Middle Ages the church was also used for meetings of the city council of Stockholm.

## Architecture

### Exterior

The building material of the church is brick. The base of the church is strengthened with sandstone and granite. Storkyrkan is "of modest proportions"; it is 63 metres (207 ft) long and 37.2 metres (122 ft) wide. The exterior of the church is uniformly Baroque, and only the stairwell added by Palmstedt is in a slightly different style. The north and south facades are divided by buttresses treated as pilasters. Otherwise, the elements of the exterior are oriented horizontally rather than vertically. The tower and the gables of the church are decorated with pilasters and mouldings, in a simplified version of Carlberg's original proposal. At the south east corner of the church, a sundial from the 16th century is attached to the wall. A large memorial plaque with an inscription in Latin is placed in the middle of the east wall of the church, commemorating the rebuilding of the church in the 18th century. 28 windows supply the interior with light. The main entrance is in the base of the tower at the west end of the church. Another entrance is located in the north wall, and there are two lesser entrances to the south.

### Interior

Storkyrkan is a hall church, five bays wide and eight bays long. The plan is that of an irregular rectangle, as the form of the building had to be adapted to pre-existing adjacent streets. Brick vaults supported by pillars and richly articulated compound piers cover the entire interior. The eight central bays are covered with rib vaults of a complex and unusual design. The rest of the church has groin vaults. The interior space is divided by the central nave, with open benches on either side. The choir floor is three steps higher than the rest of the church and limited by wrought iron fences to the north and south. Three galleries are placed in the west of the interior, one of which contains the church organ. Most of the windows are clear, but the north westernmost window is decorated with stained glass made by Einar Forseth in the 20th century. The stained glass rose window in the east wall was donated to the church in 1858. It was made in France.

## Furnishings

### Altarpiece

The main altarpiece of Storkyrkan is the so-called silver altarpiece (Swedish: silveraltaret). It was donated by Margareta Pedersdotter, widow of Johan Adler Salvius, in 1652. The altarpiece consists of a central part and two wings; the wings were made somewhat later than the middle section. The Baroque altarpiece was made in the workshop of Eustachius Erdmüller in Hamburg. It is made of ebony and silver. The central part is divided into three levels above a predella and surmounted by a statuette of the resurrected Christ. Each of the levels contains a panel with a silver relief. The reliefs depict, from bottom to top, the Crucifixion, the Entombment and Christ in realm of the dead. The relief on the predella depicts the Last Supper. The relief depicting the Crucifixion is the largest, and its composition may have been inspired by the painting Christ on the Cross by Peter Paul Rubens from 1620. Free-standing silver statuettes flank the central panels. Moses and John the Baptist flank the Crucifixion panel. The second and third panel are flanked by the Four Evangelists.

During the Middle Ages, the church possessed several additional altarpieces. Some of these have been preserved in other locations. The altarpiece currently in Boglösa Church in Uppland was made for Storkyrkan in the 15th century but sold sometime between 1478 and 1481. The altarpiece currently in Jäder Church in Södermanland originally also belonged to Storkyrkan. A third altarpiece, made in Lübeck in 1468, probably by Hermen Rode, is preserved in the Swedish History Museum. Another altarpiece was donated to Storkyrkan in 1629 by Carl Gyllenhielm, who had taken it as loot from Braniewo in present-day Poland. After the silver altarpiece was installed, Gyllenhielm's altarpiece became redundant and was eventually given away. Only the central part of it still exists, and is today located in Kläckeberga Church [sv] in Småland.

### Saint George and the Dragon

North of the choir stands a large, late medieval equestrian statue depicting the legend of Saint George and the Dragon. It has been described as "the most impressive medieval piece of art" as well as "the most curious memorial" in Storkyrkan. The statue is around 3.5 metres (11 ft) tall and depicts the saint on horseback, fighting the dragon. A subsidiary group shows the princess that the saint is rescuing from the dragon, accompanied by the symbolic Lamb of God. The plinth is furthermore decorated with scenes from the legend of Saint George.

It was commissioned by regent Sten Sture the Elder as a funerary monument for him and his wife, after his victory over Danish troops at the Battle of Brunkeberg in 1471. Sten Sture had prayed to the saint to protect the army during the battle. The sculpture was inaugurated in 1489. Saint George and the Dragon does not carry any signature, but is widely attributed to Bernt Notke, both on stylistic grounds and by deduction from archival sources. The sculpture has been interpreted, and was probably intended, as not only a religious work of art, but also as a political as well as a personal monument to Sten Sture and his victory over the Danish army.

### Other medieval furnishings

The church is also in possession of a crucifix, possibly also made by Notke or an artist working in the same tradition. The crucifix is made of oak and has lost its earlier polychromy. It was probably made some time between 1475 and 1500. A rood cross made c. 1400 previously belonged to Storkyrkan but is today on display at the Museum of Medieval Stockholm.

The baptismal font of the church was made in 1514, according to an inscription on its side. It belongs to a group of baptismal fonts, similar in style, found in central and northern Sweden. It is made of limestone from Uppland.

A 370 centimetres (150 in) tall seven-branched bronze candelabrum, probably made at the end of the 15th century, belongs to the church. It is decorated with sculptures of lions at its foot, and with two human faces on the shaft. Such candelabra are unusual in Sweden (another example exists in Lund Cathedral) but more common in Germany, where it was probably made.

In 1564, the helmet and spurs of Saint Olaf, the oldest preserved war trophies taken by Swedish troops, were put on display in Storkyrkan. In the 1860s they were moved to the Swedish History Museum.

### Vädersolstavlan

The oldest known depiction of Stockholm in colour is the so-called Vädersolstavlan (The sun dog painting), which was donated to the church in 1535 by Olaus Magnus. It was painted by Urban målare. The currently visible painting is however a copy from 1636, made by Jacob Heinrich Elbfas; judging from building details in the painting, it appears to be a faithful reproduction. The painting depicts Stockholm as it appeared in the early 16th century, and above it a sun dog, an atmospheric optical phenomenon, observed over Stockholm on 20 April 1535. The painting was restored in 1998–99.

### Other paintings

Storkyrkan houses two monumental paintings by David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl, The Crucifixion and The Last Judgment, painted in 1695 and 1696 respectively. They were originally intended to be displayed in the Royal Chapel at Tre Kronor but were saved from the fire which destroyed the castle and instead put on display in Storkyrkan. The Crucifixion is 7.4 metres (24 ft) tall, The Last Judgment more than 10 metres (33 ft).

Among the other paintings in the church, there is an epitaph taken as war loot from Frombork in 1626 and a 17th-century Russian icon of Saint Nicholas probably made in Moscow, which was seized by Swedish troops after a battle in 1703 and donated to the church by General Carl Magnus Stuart [sv].

### Royal pews and pulpit

The pulpit of the church is attached to one of the pillars on the north side of the nave. It was designed and constructed by Burchard Precht between 1698 and 1702. It is made of gilt wood and decorated with mouldings and reliefs. One bay east of the pulpit are the two royal pews, one attached to the north and the other to the south pillar of the nave. They are made of two parts. The lower is a seating area closed in by a decorated wooden barrier. Originally a throne was placed in each of the pews. The upper part of each pew is a gilt wooden canopy in the form of an oversize royal crown carried by angelic sculptures against a background in the form of an imitated drapery. The royal pews, intended for the royal family, were designed by Nicodemus Tessin the Younger and constructed by Burchard Precht.

### Graves and funerary monuments

Until the practice was abolished during the 19th century, burials within the church were considered prestigious and led to the church being crowded with graves. The church still contains a large number of decorated graves and other funerary monuments. Among these, the graves of the family of Jesper Mattson Cruus af Edeby and the grave of Johan Adler Salvius are among the most elaborate. There is also a profusion of memorial plaques attached to the walls; the one celebrating the memory of Nicodemus Tessin the Elder, Nicodemus Tessin the Younger and Carl Gustav Tessin is one of the more recent, made by sculptor Carl Milles.

### Votive ship

One of the oldest votive ships in the world comes from Storkyrkan. It dates from the 17th century and is today kept in the Maritime Museum in Stockholm. A copy hangs in the church.

## Music

The organ of Storkyrkan dates from 1960, and was made by Marcussen & Søn in Denmark. The facade of the organ was designed in 1789 and is three bays wide.

The church has been used as a concert venue since the end of the 18th century. Today the church has four choirs. One of these, Storkyrkans Gosskör (Storkyrkan's Boys Choir) traces its roots to the 17th century. At least three organists of Storkyrkan were also composers; Andreas Düben (c. 1597/98–1662), Ferdinand Zellbell the Younger (1719–1780) and Harald Fryklöf (1882–1918).

## See also

- List of churches in Stockholm

Swedish cathedral

Churches converted from the Roman Catholic Church to the Church of Sweden

Churches in the Diocese of Stockholm (Church of Sweden)


Shallow (Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper song)

"Shallow" is a song performed by American singer Lady Gaga and American actor and filmmaker Bradley Cooper. It was released through Interscope Records on September 27, 2018, as the lead single from the soundtrack to the 2018 musical romantic drama film A Star Is Born. "Shallow" was written by Gaga with Andrew Wyatt, Anthony Rossomando and Mark Ronson, and produced by Gaga with Benjamin Rice. The song is heard three times in the film, most prominently during a sequence when Cooper's character Jackson Maine invites Gaga's character Ally to perform it onstage with him. The scene was filmed in front of a live audience at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles.

"Shallow" is a pivotal moment in A Star Is Born, since it speaks about Ally and Jackson's conversations. Gaga wrote it from Ally's point of view with the self-aware lyrics asking each other if they are content being who they are. It is a power ballad that blends rock, country and folk-pop, finding Gaga and Cooper trading verses and gradually moves towards the climactic final chorus with a vocal run by Gaga. The recording is interspersed with the sound of audience noise and applause. Gaga premiered it on DJ Zane Lowe's Beats 1 radio show while giving an interview about the film. An accompanying music video was also released, showing both Gaga's and Cooper's characters singing "Shallow" together onstage, interspersed with scenes from A Star Is Born.

"Shallow" received universal acclaim from music critics, who commended Gaga's vocals, the dramatic nature of the composition and the songwriting. Commercially, the song topped the charts in more than twenty countries, including the United States and United Kingdom, and reached the top ten elsewhere. It received numerous accolades, including the Academy Award for Best Original Song, the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music and the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Song. It garnered four Grammy Award nominations, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year while winning for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and Best Song Written for Visual Media. It is one of the most streamed songs on Spotify and one of the world's best selling singles of all time. Gaga has performed "Shallow" live at her concerts and award ceremonies, including the 91st Academy Awards, where Cooper accompanied her.

## Background and release

Gaga collaborated with Mark Ronson, with whom she had produced her fifth studio album, Joanne (2016), to develop the soundtrack for this version of the film A Star Is Born. Joanne contains country rock tracks and "twangier" ballads like "Million Reasons" and the title track, which influenced the songs in A Star Is Born. In the film, after meeting Gaga's character Ally, Bradley Cooper's character Jackson Maine talks to her about their music and dreams. Ally confesses she has written a song and sings it briefly for Jackson. Its lyrics become the basis of "Shallow", the full version of which is used in a sequence when Jackson strides onto the stage at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles and sings the opening verses. He had invited Ally to come to his show and told her he would be debuting the song and had rearranged it to sing at the concert.

Before the second verse Ally musters up the courage to go onstage to sing "Shallow", including belting the loud chorus to the large audience. Their performance goes viral and launches her music career. The track becomes a staple of her concerts. The song is used briefly for a third time when she sings it at The Forum. To film the "Shallow" sequence, Cooper filled the Greek Theater with around 2,000 Gaga fans and then recorded the song. Following the filming, Gaga entertained the crowd playing piano versions of her old songs; Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real also sang at the venue.

"Shallow" was first heard during a teaser trailer for A Star Is Born in June 2018, where it appeared around the 1:46 mark with Gaga starting to belt the final chorus. The sequence was immediately made into many Internet memes. One week before the film's release, Interscope confirmed that "Shallow" would be released as the first single from the soundtrack on September 27, 2018. Gaga premiered it on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 radio show while being interviewed about the film. An accompanying music video was released showing Gaga and Cooper singing "Shallow" onstage, interspersed with scenes from A Star Is Born. The song was released as a digital download to the iTunes Store, YouTube and Spotify. BBC Radio 2 playlisted the track on October 13, 2018. In the United States, "Shallow" was sent to hot adult contemporary radio on October 15, 2018, and the next day it was added to contemporary hit radio panels.

## Writing and recording

"Shallow" was among the first songs written by Gaga, Ronson, Dirty Pretty Things' Anthony Rossomando and Miike Snow's Andrew Wyatt. She had played the melody to her collaborators two years earlier in a recording studio in Malibu. When Lukas Nelson came on board during the soundtrack's development, the track's sound evolved. Nelson used his own band, Promise of the Real, as Jackson's band. Inspired by Eric Clapton, he added a short acoustic guitar intro at the beginning of "Shallow", feeling it would contrast with Gaga's loud belting which follows later in the song. Gaga went to EastWest Studios to help Nelson with the track and direct the band. He recalled that with some of the instrumentation, like the cymbal crashes, they "did that live in the studio based on the vision that we had". As well as producing the track with Gaga, Benjamin Rice recorded it at EastWest and The Village West studios in Los Angeles, assisted by Bo Bodnar and Alex Williams. Tom Elmhirst mixed the song at Electric Lady Studios in New York City. It was engineered by Brandon Bost and mastered by Randy Merrill at Sterling Sound Studios. Ronson also re-recorded a 1980s version of "Shallow", accompanied by big drums; it was used in the film during a sequence when Ally plays at The Forum, while Jackson kills himself.

Gaga described "Shallow" as a pivotal moment in A Star Is Born, since it spoke about Ally and Jackson's conversations and their "need and drive" to go deep and move away from the shallow area in their relationship, an interpretation recognized by critics. The singer explained on Beats 1 they wrote the track from the point of view of Ally and how it became part of the reason they fall in love. "When I was writing music for the film I had to think about Ally as if she wasn't me. I went with a sound for her, even in the pop realm, that's unlike anything I've ever put out before," she clarified. The songwriting sessions included Gaga at the piano and Ronson, Wyatt and Rossomando on guitar as they tried to come up with the verses. Ronson explained the original draft of the script had Jackson dying by drowning, which led Gaga to write the lyrics, "I'm off the deep end watch as I dive in". Initially, "Shallow" was an end credits song, but when the script changed it became a love song about Jackson and Ally. Seeing the first trailer for the film, Ronson decided not to refine the track anymore and kept it as the final mix. For Gaga, the conversational nature of the lyrics helped to set up Shallow's aria, which she recorded with a falsetto voice. She also came up with the play on the song title "Shallow", "In the sha-ha, sha-ha-ha-low" lyrics.

## Composition and lyrical interpretation

A slow-burning rock, folk-pop and country power ballad, "Shallow" features mainly Nelson's acoustic guitar with Cooper and Gaga trading verses. The other musicians include Jesse Siebenberg on the lap steel guitar; Anthony Logerfo on drums; Corey McCormick on bass; Alberto Bof on keyboards; and Eduardo 'Tato' Melgar performing percussion. The recording is interspersed with the sound of audience noise and applause. The song is set in the time signature of common time and is composed in the key of G major with a moderate tempo of 96 beats per minute. It follows a chord progression of Em7–D/F–G5–C–G5–D, with Gaga's vocal range spanning from the low note of G3 to the high note of D5.

Cooper opens the first verse by singing "Tell me something, girl" in a restrained voice; Gaga joins from the second verse, belting with what is described by Pitchfork as a "sturdy voice". As the song moves gradually towards the final chorus the final vocal run has been described by Jon Blistein of Rolling Stone as "chilling" with "impressive harmonizing" from both artists, accompanied by drums and pedal steel guitar. Gaga sings a "roaring" vocal, harmonizing on the run "Haaa-ah-ah-ah, haaawaah, ha-ah-ah-aaah". This ends by moving into the final chorus as she sings the lines: "I'm off the deep end / Watch as I dive in / I'll never meet the ground / Crash through the surface / Where they can't hurt us / We're far from the shallow now".

An article in The Guardian, notes that "Shallow" depicts the protagonists' self-realization of their current situation and speaks "for those, to whom life has not always been fair or kind". For Gaga, it's the connection and the dialogue established between Jackson and Ally, which made "Shallow" impactful. Ronson believed that working with Gaga on Joanne allowed the singer to delve into a more personal songwriting with "Shallow". The lyrics have both characters asking each other if they are satisfied being who they are. They demonstrate self-awareness, portraying "the gains and pains of stardom", and those of addiction in the lines, "In all the good times, I find myself longing for change, And in the bad times, I fear myself". The songwriters claim the drowning metaphor in the lyrics could be literal as well as about heartache, addiction or dreams shattering.

### Copyright claim

Singer-songwriter Steve Ronsen claimed that the hook of "Shallow" is based on the same three-note progression sequence - G, A, B - from his track "Almost" (2012). Ronsen and his lawyer Mark D. Shirian are asking for millions of dollars in a settlement. Gaga has hired lawyer Orin Snyder, who said "Mr Ronsen and his lawyer are trying to make easy money off the back of a successful artist. It is shameful and wrong." He added, "Should Mr. Shirian proceed with this case, Lady Gaga will fight it vigorously and will prevail."

## Critical reception

"Shallow" received widespread critical acclaim. Nicole Engelman of Billboard described the song as a strong ballad and a "stunning duet" featuring "striking harmony" between Gaga and Cooper. Carrie Wittmer of Business Insider and Paper's Katherine Gillespie compared Cooper's vocals to those of singer-songwriter Eddie Vedder. Wittmer felt they complemented Gaga's "empowering and distinct voice". Several critics felt that "Shallow" was worthy of a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Pitchfork's Eve Barlow commended Gaga's performance, noting the theme "may prove to be Gaga's own apex in the spotlight, her completion into superstar of charts and screen". She wrote that although Cooper did not have "the deep growl of Kris Kristofferson (who played the lead male character in the 1976 film) [he] pulls off the earnestness required to hand over [to Gaga]".

Ben Beaumont-Thomas of The Guardian noted how "moments before she makes the octave jump for the big chorus, [Gaga's] face flickers with terror", adding the track is "torrid yet robust, and truly outstanding". Jenny Stevens, also a Guardian reviewer, complimented the lyrics for portraying the "inevitable comedown, the isolation and the untethered moments on the road when addiction can trample over a psyche". Stevens compared Gaga's vocals to those in Fleetwood Mac songs for their "raw, guttural, powerful" delivery and the ill-fated romance it heralds. Spin's Maggie Serota felt Cooper was convincing "as a grizzled, whiskey-throated troubadour", and that the ballad "gives Lady Gaga a chance to show off her impressive pipes". Maeve McDermott of the Chicago Sun-Times praised "Shallow" for elevating A Star Is Born "from normal blockbuster fare to a masterwork of the form". She feels the "rapturous reception of [the track] was the most universally excited reaction to any Lady Gaga song in recent memory".

Jon Pareles of The New York Times rated it the "most boffo track" from the album and complimented its "exponential buildup" and Gaga's "throaty and breathy to full-scale belting". He felt "Shallow" was an immediate sequel to Gaga's "Million Reasons", but contained characteristic stuttered repeated syllables in the chorus, like her earlier songs, "Poker Face" and "Paparazzi" (both 2009). In another review, Jon Caramanica, from the same newspaper, described the song as a "good, old-fashioned, sound-of-the-1970s, gumption-of-the-1980s, high-treacle-higher-pomp roots ballad", writing that Gaga's vocal "throbs intensely here, leaning deep into the natural husk of her voice". NPR's Lars Gotrich felt "Shallow" is a "quiet, reflective country croon", describing Cooper as having "a sweet and amiable set of pipes" while Gaga as a "theater kid [...] roar[s] in at the chorus... growling the last word as if every rejection, every ex, every barrier embodies it. Beyond the shallow end of life, they embrace the deep."

Writing in Esquire magazine, Matt Miller was initially ambivalent towards the song, feeling it was just "two hooks from the trailer stitched into one song" and had a "meh" response to it. However, after watching the film he changed his opinion, saying "it mostly lives up to expectations—specifically, the first part of the movie and the build-up to when you first hear [it being performed]". In an article published by Spotify analyzing "Shallow"'s importance, the writer describes it as the film's "hero song", the first to "truly cover the topic" of the "dangers of Hollywood, fame, and stardom" themes prevalent in A Star Is Born.

## Legacy

From its release, "Shallow" received universal acclaim and is considered among the best songs from any movie soundtrack of all time by many critics. "Shallow" was also seen by many commentators as assertion of Gaga's status in the entertainment industry. An article from Billboard regarding the 100 best musical bridges of the 21st century featured "Shallow" at number six, stating "the Oscar and Grammy winner starts off as a sweet, yet somber back and forth between a boy and a girl. But the guttural bridge launches "Shallow" off the deep end and into iconic territory. In the film, it's the precise moment that Ally's star is born. In the real world, it further cemented Gaga's legacy."

As for the song's impact on society, in an interview with Elle, Gaga states that "I really believe in my heart that the unfortunate truth is that our cell phones are becoming reality", she said. "It's become reality for the world. And in this song we provide not just a conversation, but also a very poignant statement. I wish not to be in the shallow, but I am. I wish to dive off the deep end, but watch me do it. I think this is something that speaks to many people, and during, I think, a very shallow time, it's a chance for us all to grab hands and dive into the water together and swim into the deepest depths of the water that we can."

## Chart performance

On the second week after its debut, "Shallow" topped the Digital Songs chart, selling 58,000 copies (Gaga's sixth chart-topper), and entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 28. Following the film's release on October 5, 2018, "Shallow" rose to number five on the Hot 100 and ran for a total of 45 weeks on that chart. It also topped the Digital Songs chart for a second consecutive week, selling 71,000 copies. The song marked Gaga's fifteenth top-ten entry on the chart and Cooper's first; it became Gaga's first Top Ten since 2017 with her track "Million Reasons". Shortly after the film's Academy Awards nominations, the track moved back into the top-twenty on the Hot 100, with sales increasing by 50%. One week after the Academy Awards, the song surged to the top of the Hot 100, becoming Gaga's fourth number-one single and Cooper's first, and returned to the top of the Digital Songs chart, selling 115,000 copies. It entered the Streaming Songs chart top-ten for the first time, with 27.3 million streams. The track became Gaga's longest running Digital Songs chart topper with ten weeks in the peak position, as well as longest-running number-one song by a female lead singer.

"Shallow" was streamed 148.6 million times in the US by January 2019 and was certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for four million units. As of November 2019, it has sold 1,287,000 copies in the US. The song accumulated 23.3 million audience impressions debuting at number 50 on the Radio Songs chart and gradually climbed to number 10, attaining an audience of 57.4 million. It became Gaga's eighth top 10 on the Adult Pop Songs airplay chart (number two peak) becoming her fastest flight to the tier, topping the five-week climb of "Born This Way" and reached number two on the Adult Contemporary chart. "Shallow" topped the Dance Club Songs chart on December 15, 2018, aided by remixes from DJ Aron, Nesco and Lodato, among many others. It became Gaga's 15th leader on the tally, ranking her among artists with the most chart toppers.

In Canada, "Shallow" entered the Digital Songs chart at number one, becoming Gaga's fifth leader and first since "Born This Way". The song debuted at number 16 on the Canadian Hot 100. It reached the top of the charts in March 2019, becoming Gaga's fifth number-one single and Cooper's first. On the Digital charts the track remained in the pole position for 24 non-consecutive weeks, surpassing Ed Sheeran's "Perfect" (2017) as the longest-running song atop the chart at the time. In Australia, "Shallow" debuted at number 25 on the ARIA Singles Chart, before reaching number one two weeks later. It became Gaga's fourth song to reach the top, her first since "Born This Way", and Cooper's first. The track was the best-selling digital download for the week. It also reached the top of the radio airplay charts according to The Music Network. "Shallow" has since held the summit for five non-consecutive weeks. It has been certified thirteen times platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). The song debuted at number 18 in New Zealand. By its second week it had climbed to number two. After two weeks, it topped the charts, becoming Gaga's third number-one song in the country.

The song entered the UK Singles Chart at number 13 with 20,425 units sold according to the Official Charts Company, and reached number six the following week. It sold another 36,952 units, becoming Gaga's 12th top-ten song in the nation. The track climbed to number four in the third week, selling 42,548 copies. It also reached the top-ten on the UK Airplay Charts, vaulting from number 62 to number eight, with total audience impressions of 48.83 million. For the week ending November 1, 2018, "Shallow" reached the top of the UK Singles Chart for two weeks becoming her fifth number one (her first since "Telephone" in 2010) and Cooper's first. The same week, A Star Is Born also returned to the top of the UK Albums Chart, giving Gaga and Cooper an Official UK Chart double, this being Gaga's third. After Gaga and Cooper's performance of the song at the 91st Academy Awards ceremony, it rose ten places to number 11 from number 21 on the UK Singles Chart for the week ending March 1, 2019. The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) awarded a quintuple platinum certification to the track for accumulating three million equivalent sales units in the UK; by July 2022, the song had sold a total of 2.6 million equivalent sales in the country with a total of 336 million streams, making it Gaga's best-performing single in the country.

Elsewhere, "Shallow" topped the charts in Ireland, Gaga's sixth number-one and Cooper's first. The song continued to top the charts and attained its highest weekly sales and streams in its third week. "Shallow" was the top-selling digital download in France for the week ending October 19, 2018, reaching number 13 on the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP) Singles Chart. After two weeks, the song reached number six on the chart. SNEP awarded "Shallow" a Diamond certification for accumulating 333,333 equivalent sales units.

In 2019 alone, the song sold 10.2 million copies worldwide (excluding the 2018 sales), according to the annual IFPI Reports. This makes Gaga the first woman ever to score four singles that have sold at least 10 million copies each globally (after "Just Dance", "Poker Face", and "Bad Romance").

## Accolades

"Shallow" was nominated and won in the category of Best Original Song – Feature Film, at the 2018 Hollywood Music in Media Awards. It also won in the category of Best Original Song at the 23rd Satellite Awards, and won in the Los Angeles Online Film Critics Society. It won the award for Best Song at the Critics' Choice Movie Awards and Best Original Song at the 76th Golden Globe Awards. At the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, the song won Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and Best Song Written for Visual Media while nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. "Shallow" also won the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music at the 72nd BAFTA Awards and the Best Original Song at the 91st Academy Awards. As a result, Gaga became the first woman in history to win an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Grammy Award and a Golden Globe Award in the same year.

"Shallow" is widely considered to be both one of the best songs of the 2010s decade and one of the best movie tracks of all time. Both Jon Pareles and Jon Caramanica of The New York Times ranked "Shallow" as the sixth best song of 2018. Pareles called it a "perfectly calibrated power ballad" which achieved "movie-musical triple duty as love song, vocal showcase and plot pivot". Rolling Stone listed it as the second-best song of 2018 and the 14th-best song of the 2010s; their writer, Brittany Spanos, called it a "classic-rock fantasy where the 1990s never ended".

## Live performances

### 91st Academy Awards

Gaga and Cooper performed "Shallow" together at the 91st Academy Awards on February 24, 2019. Cooper had confirmed that he would be singing in his own voice and not emulating that of his character in the film. The performance began with Gaga and Cooper walking up to the stage. They sat on opposite sides of a piano, with Cooper joining Gaga at the keyboard for the final part of the song, as both sang into one microphone. Rob Mills, senior vice president of the American Broadcasting Company, said the choreography, the camera placed facing the audience, and Cooper moving across towards Gaga during the last chorus were the duo's ideas. Aly Semigran from Billboard called it the best musical performance of the ceremony, saying that "their chemistry on stage was just as electric as it was on the big screen". She added that "The stars' sultry looks at one another [while] sitting at the piano launched a thousand 'OMG's on Twitter. A perfect Oscar performance was born." Gaga and Cooper's live performance of "Shallow" remains the most watched clip on the internet by the Academy Awards, garnering more than 700 million views on YouTube as of 2023.

### Other performances

"Shallow" has been included in several of Gaga's other live performances. It debuted at her Las Vegas residency show, Enigma (2018–2020), where she performed the song on the piano as the encore, while wearing an oversized shirt of her own merchandise. On January 26, 2019, Cooper joined her onstage, marking the first time the duo had performed the song together live. At the 61st Annual Grammy Awards on February 10, 2019, Gaga was joined onstage by Ronson, Rossomando and Wyatt, while Cooper was attending the 72nd British Academy Film Awards in London. Gaga wore a sparkling skin-tight bodysuit and high platform shoes, described as reminiscent of her looks from her The Fame-era. She also carried a bedazzled microphone stand. Brittany Spanos from Rolling Stone thought that Gaga and Ronson "stole the Grammy Awards show with a rocked-up performance" of "Shallow". She compared Gaga's movements on the stage to a "Ziggy Stardust-era David Bowie". According to Billboard's Tatiana Cirisano, the singer gave a "rollicking performance" of the song as she "held her own, kicking and hair-flipping her way across the stage". The performance generated a number of memes due to Gaga's continuous eye-contact with the recording camera onstage.

On November 2, 2020, Gaga performed "Shallow" along with "You and I" at president-elect Joe Biden's final campaign rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 2022, she performed "Shallow" at The Chromatica Ball stadium tour wearing a "praying mantis"-like headpiece, while playing on a piano which was set inside a sculpture of thorns. Jed Gottlieb of the Boston Herald opined that Gaga "delivered all the tenderness 'Shallow' demands" on the tour, while Adam Davidson of Clash found it a "spine-tingling rendition".

## Cover versions

American singers Lea Michele and Darren Criss added the song to the setlist of their LM/DC Tour on October 26, 2018, in Las Vegas. On November 14, 2018, Scottish singer Lewis Capaldi performed a cover of "Shallow" live on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge. His rendition was later included on his 2020 EP, To Tell the Truth I Can't Believe We Got This Far. Actor Billy Porter covered the song during the pre-Golden Globe Awards party on January 4, 2019, at The Sunset House in West Hollywood, California. Alicia Keys performed "Shallow" on piano on The Late Late Show with James Corden on February 6, 2019, along with the host, James Corden. They tweaked the lyrics so that it reflected Keys' role as host of the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. When Corden sang "Tell me something, Keys, I hear you're set to host this year's Grammys", Keys responded, "Didn't you host it twice? Maybe you could give me some advice".

Comedian Melissa Villaseñor covered the song as part of her impersonation of Gaga during the "Weekend Update" segment of Saturday Night Live that aired on February 9, 2019. Villaseñor's belting was described as a "thrilling live moment" by Ryan McGee from Rolling Stone. The comedian reprised the role for following week's episode, which aired on February 16, 2019, singing the high notes from "Shallow". In February 2019, Kelly Clarkson covered the song at the Green Bay stop of her Meaning of Life Tour, while Nick Jonas posted a video on his Instagram account in which he played the guitar while singing the track. On February 28, 2019, Tori Kelly and Ally Brooke performed the song together at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles during Kelly's headlining concert.

A video of Irish duo Jessica Reinl and Christopher Halligan, members of the Mount Sion Choir in Waterford, singing "Shallow" in December 2018 went viral and was seen by millions on Facebook. They were subsequently invited to perform the song on Irish national television. American indie rock duo Better Oblivion Community Center, composed of musicians Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers, covered the song during a performance at the Brooklyn Steel venue on April 1, 2019. In May 2019, Brazilian singers Paula Fernandes and Luan Santana released a Portuguese version of "Shallow", titled "Juntos" ("Together"). The release of the new rendition caused a slight uproar in Brazil. On July 23, 2019, Mexican singer Ángela Aguilar released a cover version as part of the Recording Academy's Grammy ReImagines video series. Aguilar performed the song while playing the piano.

On February 16, 2020, a video starring Charlotte Awbery, an at-the-time unknown London commuter, became an overnight viral sensation gathering millions of views over social media. It depicts Awbery delivering a cover of "Shallow" during a spontaneous singing challenge by internet blogger Kevin Freshwater during a game in which he asks strangers to finish off the lyrics to different songs. On Instagram, Awbery gained 217,000 followers within a week of the video circulating. In the same week after the video went viral, the single off the A Star Is Born soundtrack version from Gaga & Cooper reportedly reentered the Top 40 on iTunes in the United States, landing at the number 30 spot. On February 26, 2020, Awbery appeared in The Ellen DeGeneres Show and performed her rendition of the song. On August 28, 2020, she released an official cover version as her debut single.

In April 2020, Carina Dahl and Åge Sten Nilsen released a cover version in Norwegian, called "Shallow (Så Ekte Nå)" ("So Real Now"), which received attention and popularity in Norway. The single was certified Gold by IFPI Norway in 2021. In October 2020, country music singers Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, who are husband and wife, released a version of "Shallow". The duo released the version digitally in February 2021 and soon afterwards it was also serviced to country radio. A French version of the song is featured in the third season of Netflix's Emily in Paris (2022), sung by Ashley Park and Kevin Dias.

## Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of A Star Is Born.

### Management

- Published by Sony/ATV Songs LLC / SG Songs LLC (BMI) / ImageM CV / Songs of Zelig (BMI)
- Published by Stephaniesays Music (ASCAP) / Downtown DLJ Songs (ASCAP) by Downtown Music Publishing LLC, Whiteball Music Publishing Group / Downtown DMP Songs (BMI)
- Published by Warner-Barham Music LLC (BMI) / Admin by Songs of Universal (BMI) / Warner-Olive Music LLC (ASCAP)
- Recorded at Greek Theater, EastWest Studios, The Village West (Los Angeles, California)
- Mixed at Electric Lady Studios (New York City)
- Mastered at Sterling Sound Studios (New York City)

### Personnel

- Lady Gaga – songwriter, producer, primary vocals
- Bradley Cooper – primary vocals
- Mark Ronson – songwriter
- Anthony Rossomando – songwriter
- Andrew Wyatt – songwriter
- Benjamin Rice – producer, recording
- Bo Bodnar – recording assistant
- Alex Williams – recording assistant
- Tom Elmhirst – mixing
- Brandon Bost – mixing engineer
- Randy Merrill – audio mastering
- Anthony Logerfo – drums
- Corey McCormick – bass
- Alberto Bof – keyboards
- Lukas Nelson – acoustic guitar
- Jesse Siebenberg – lap steel guitar
- Eduardo 'Tato' Melgar – percussion

## Charts

### Weekly charts

### Monthly charts

### Year-end charts

### Decade-end charts

### Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood cover

#### Weekly charts

#### Year-end charts

## Certifications

## Release history

## See also

- List of best-selling singles
- List of best-selling singles by country
- List of best-selling singles in Australia
- List of best-selling singles in Belgium
- List of best-selling singles in Spain
- List of most-streamed songs on Spotify
- Artists with the most number-ones on the U.S. Dance Club Songs chart
- List of Billboard Hot 100 top-ten singles in 2018
- List of Billboard Hot 100 number ones of 2019
- List of Canadian Hot 100 number-one singles of 2019
- List of number-one singles of 2018 (Australia)
- List of number-one singles of 2019 (Australia)
- List of number-one hits of 2018 (Austria)
- List of number-one hits of 2019 (Denmark)
- List of number-one singles of 2018 (Ireland)
- List of number-one singles from the 2010s (New Zealand)
- List of number-one songs in Norway
- List of number-one singles of 2018 (Portugal)
- List of number-one singles of the 2010s (Sweden)
- List of number-one hits of 2018 (Switzerland)
- List of Billboard Dance Club Songs number ones of 2018
- List of number-one digital songs of 2018 (U.S.)
- List of number-one digital songs of 2019 (U.S.)
- List of top 10 singles in 2018 (France)
- List of UK Singles Chart number ones of the 2010s
- List of UK Singles Downloads Chart number ones of the 2010s

2018 single by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper

Best Original Song Academy Award-winning songs

Best Original Song Golden Globe winning songs

Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance

Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media

Number-one singles in the Czech Republic

Song recordings produced by Ben Rice (producer)

Songs involved in plagiarism controversies


SMS Gneisenau (1879)

SMS Gneisenau was a Bismarck-class corvette built for the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) in the late 1870s. The ship was named after the Prussian Field Marshal August von Gneisenau. She was the fifth member of the class, which included five other vessels. The Bismarck-class corvettes were ordered as part of a major naval construction program in the early 1870s, and she was designed to serve as a fleet scout and on extended tours in Germany's colonial empire. Gneisenau was laid down in June 1877, launched in September 1879, and was commissioned into the fleet in October 1880. She was armed with a battery of fourteen 15 cm (5.9 in) guns and had a full ship rig to supplement her steam engine on long cruises abroad.

Gneisenau went abroad on two major foreign deployments in the first decade of her career. The first, in 1882, was to protect German nationals in Egypt during the 'Urabi revolt, though by the time she arrived, British forces had largely defeated the rebels, allowing Gneisenau to return home. The second, lengthier deployment came two years later and lasted from 1884 to 1886, and primarily focused on German colonial designs on eastern Africa. She was involved in the seizure of the colony of German East Africa in 1885, and she briefly toured German interests in the Pacific Ocean in 1886.

In 1887, Gneisenau began her service as a training ship, a role she held for more than a decade. During this period, she was generally occupied with training cruises and individual, squadron, and fleet training. Long-distance cruises frequently alternated between the West Indies and the Mediterranean Sea. While on one such cruise on 16 December 1900, the ship was driven into the mole outside Málaga by heavy winds and destroyed, with the loss of 41 officers and crew. Her wreck proved impossible to salvage, and so she was sold for scrap shortly after the accident.

## Design

The six ships of the Bismarck class were ordered in the early 1870s to supplement Germany's fleet of cruising warships, which at that time relied on several ships that were twenty years old. Gneisenau and her sister ships were intended to patrol Germany's colonial empire and safeguard German economic interests around the world.

Gneisenau was 82 meters (269 ft) long overall, with a beam of 13.7 m (44 ft 11 in) and a draft of 5.2 m (17 ft 1 in) forward. She displaced 2,994 metric tons (2,947 long tons) at full load. The ship's crew consisted of 18 officers and 386 enlisted men. She was powered by a single marine steam engine that drove one 2-bladed screw propeller, with steam provided by four coal-fired fire-tube boilers, which gave her a top speed of 13.8 knots (25.6 km/h; 15.9 mph) at 2,866 metric horsepower (2,827 ihp). She had a cruising radius of 2,380 nautical miles (4,410 km; 2,740 mi) at a speed of 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph). As built, Gneisenau was equipped with a full ship rig, but this was later reduced.

Gneisenau was armed with a battery of fourteen 15 cm (5.9 in) 22-caliber (cal.) quick-firing guns and two 8.8 cm (3.5 in) 30-cal. guns. She also carried six 37 mm (1.5 in) Hotchkiss revolver cannon.

## Service history

### Construction and first overseas deployment

The new corvette, ordered under the contract name "D", was laid down in June 1877 at the Kaiserliche Werft (Imperial Shipyard) in Danzig (Gdańsk). She was launched on 4 September 1879, and was christened with the name Gneisenau, after the veteran of the Napoleonic Wars and Prussian military reformer Generalfeldmarschall (Field Marshal) August von Gneisenau, during the launching ceremony by Admiral Albrecht von Stosch, the head of the Kaiserliche Admiralität (Imperial Admiralty). She was commissioned on 3 October 1880 before work on the ship actually finished in order to transfer her to the Kaiserliche Werft in Kiel, where her guns were installed. Sea trials were then conducted, lasting from the end of December to 12 February 1881, after which she was decommissioned and placed in reserve. Her commander during this period was Kapitän zur See (KzS—Captain at Sea) Bartholomäus von Werner. At the time, Stosch had implemented a plan whereby Germany's colonies would be protected by gunboats, while larger warships would generally be kept in reserve, with a handful assigned to a flying squadron that could respond to crises quickly.

By the early 1880s, French and British controls in Egypt and particularly the Suez Canal produced the 'Urabi revolt, led by Ahmed ‘Urabi. In June 1882, the revolutionaries, angered by foreign influence in the country, murdered fifty Europeans, prompting the British Royal Navy to bombard Alexandria and then land forces to pursue the rebels. In the wake of the conflict, the German government determined that warships should be sent to protect Germans in the country. Initially hoping to avoid mobilizing any vessels in Germany to keep the cost of the operation to a minimum, the Admiralität ordered a pair of gunboats, Habicht and Möwe, that had been returning from overseas deployments to proceed to Egypt. There, they sent sailors ashore to protect Germans in Alexandria and Port Said, respectively.

These two small vessels proved to be insufficient for the task, and so on 13 August, Gneisenau, the corvette Nymphe, the aviso Zieten, and the gunboat Cyclop were commissioned to reinforce them. They departed Kiel on 19 August, under the command of Gneisenau's captain KzS Max von der Goltz, who was made Kommodore of the squadron. The ships arrived in Port Said on 21 August, and on 13 September the British defeated 'Urabi's forces at the Battle of Tell El Kebir, effectively ending the rebellion. The paddle steamer Loreley, the station ship in Constantinopel, joined the German squadron in the area. The German squadron remained in the area until December, primarily to protect the German embassy in Alexandria, when the squadron was disbanded; Gneisenau arrived back in Kiel on 24 December, where she was decommissioned on 9 January 1883, though Nymphe and Cyclop remained in the eastern Mediterranean Sea as a precaution against further unrest.

### Second overseas deployment

Gneisenau was recommissioned for another tour abroad on 5 October 1884 to join the newly-formed West African Cruiser Squadron, which was commanded by Konteradmiral (Rear Admiral) Eduard von Knorr aboard his flagship Bismarck. The ship's new commander was KzS Victor Valois. While en route from Kiel to Wilhelmshaven to join the rest of the squadron, Gneisenau ran aground off the island of Lolland in heavy fog; she had to be towed free by the ironclad Hansa, though she was undamaged in the accident. The squadron left Wilhelmshaven on 30 October, bound for West Africa. While in the Cape Verde islands, Knorr detached Gneisenau to Cape Town, where she arrived on 8 January 1885. There, she embarked Friedrich Gerhard Rohlfs, who had been appointed consul to Zanzibar, and took him to the island on 28 January. Gneisenau then went to the port of Lamu to survey the coast of eastern Africa, particularly the area around Wituland. Gneisenau's survey of the area led the German government to instruct Rohlfs to accept the offer of the Witu Sultan, Ahmed ibn Fumo Bakari, to form a protectorate on 27 May.

Gneisenau left Zanzibar on 1 April, bound for Melbourne, Australia, where she was to meet the corvette Augusta in August, but Augusta sank in the Bab-el-Mandeb. Gneisenau instead proceeded on to Port Louis on the island of Mauritius. There, she met the cruiser squadron commanded by Kommodore Carl Paschen, which included her sister ship Stosch and the corvette Prinz Adalbert, the frigate Elisabeth, and the supply ship Ehrenfels. Paschen had been tasked to take his squadron to East Africa to settle disputes over the German protectorate with the Sultan of Zanzibar, Barghash bin Said, which he accomplished by mid-August. On 18 August, Bismarck arrived with Knorr, who replaced Paschen as the squadron commander. Knorr sent Gneisenau to Wituland, where Valois informed Bakari that the Sultan of Zanzibar had agreed to recognize the protectorate and stop interfering in the internal affairs of Wituland. After anchoring in Lamu on 28 August, Gneisenau sent a contingent ashore, led by the executive officer, Curt von Prittwitz und Gaffron, to hold a parade to celebrate the agreement. Three days later, Valois took three officers and twenty-nine enlisted men to the Witu capital to meet Bakari, returning to the ship on 4 September.

Gneisenau departed Lamu on 6 September and went to Kismayu, before proceeding on to Zanzibar four days later. In the meantime, Paschen had been instructed to form a second cruiser squadron, which was to consist of his flagship Stosch, along with Gneisenau and Prinz Adalbert. The squadron was to proceed to the Caroline Islands, which were at the center of a dispute between Germany and Spain. Gneisenau first went to Cape Town, arriving on 11 October. While there, she received new orders to proceed instead to what was now German East Africa; on 9 November she was formally reassigned back to Knorr's squadron. Gneisenau patrolled the coast of East Africa until 6 March 1886, when Knorr's squadron, at that time consisting of Gneisenau, Bismarck, and the corvette Olga, departed for Australia. After reaching the south Pacific, the ships toured Australian ports, New Zealand, Tonga, and Samoa before Gneisenau was detached first to the Gazelle Peninsula on the island of New Pomerania to suppress an uprising against German colonial rule. She then went to the Palau Islands, part of the Caroline group, to retrieve a German monument, as Germany had dropped its claim to the islands in favor of Spain. On 25 July, Gneisenau began the journey back to Germany, reaching Kiel on 27 September. She was decommissioned there on 14 October.

### Training ship duties

#### 1887–1895

Gneisenau returned to service on 13 April 1887 under the command of KzS August von Thomsen, now in the role of a training ship for naval cadets and four-year enlisted volunteers. In late May, she joined the Training Squadron, which was present at the ceremony marking the beginning on construction of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal on 3 June. The squadron took part in the annual fleet training exercises that began on 6 August; during the maneuvers, the squadron filled the role of the II Division of the main fleet. After the exercises concluded the following month, the Training Squadron embarked on a winter cruise to the Mediterranean. During this voyage, the squadron flagship, Stein, caught fire and had to be docked for repairs, during which time Gneisenau served as the flagship from 19 November 1887 to 8 January 1888. On the way back to Germany in 1888, the ships stopped at Cape St. Vincent and in Funchal, before arriving back in Wilhelmshaven on 10 April. Gneisenau proceeded on to Kiel, where she underwent an overhaul. The ship embarked on individual training exercises after returning to service before rejoining the Training Squadron on 25 June. The following month, the squadron escorted Kaiser Wilhelm II on a tour of Scandinavian ports aboard the ironclad Baden.

The Training Squadron began another Mediterranean cruise on 29 September, during which they participated in celebrations commemorating the 25th anniversary of King George I of Greece. The ships toured ports in the Ottoman Empire in Asia Minor and Egypt. On 16 April 1889, Gneisenau and the other training ships arrived back in Wilhelmshaven. Gneisenau moved to Kiel, where on 30 April she was again decommissioned. On 1 January 1891, Gneisenau was formally re-designated as a training ship. The ship remained out of service until 1 April 1892, when she was reactivated for a cruise in the Baltic and North Seas under the command of Korvettenkapitän (KK—Corvette Captain) Felix Stubenrauch. In August and September, she took part in the annual fleet maneuvers, and beginning on 3 October, she participated in the winter cruise, which this time went to the West Indies and Venezuela. While in the Caribbean Sea, the German squadron met the French West Indies Squadron and exchanged formal visits between the squadrons' commanders. On the way back to Germany, the squadron spent a month in British waters, from 22 May to 21 June, during which time they took part in the Cowes Regatta with Wilhelm II aboard the new aviso Blitz.

Upon returning to Germany, she underwent a short overhaul before joining the ships of III Division during the fleet training exercise in August and September. During the maneuvers she accidentally collided with the torpedo boat D2, which was badly damaged. Gneisenau continued in the exercises until she too was decommissioned for repairs on 30 September. On 3 April 1894, Gneisenau embarked on the summer training cruise, which this year just went to Christiana, Norway and concluded with the Kiel Week regatta. The ships thereafter took part in the fleet maneuvers in August and September again as III Division, with Gneisenau's commander now KK Hermann da Fonseca-Wollheim. On 1 October, Gneisenau began the winter training cruise to the Mediterranean, and while in La Valletta, Malta, she met the unprotected cruisers Condor and Cormoran. Gneisenau then visited Souda Bay, Crete from 16 November to 20 December, followed by Smyrna for three weeks. On 18 January 1895, she began the voyage back to Germany, arriving in Kiel on 27 March.

#### 1895–1900

The next set of training exercises began on 6 May, and were conducted in the North Sea and concluded with ceremonies marking the opening of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal. On 21 June, Gneisenau joined the newly formed IV Division in the Kieler Förde, at the Baltic entrance to the canal, where the ships' bands played the national anthems of each countries' warships as they arrived for the celebration. Gneisenau cruised alone in the North Sea in July, and on 14 August joined III Division for the fleet maneuvers, which concluded on 17 September. During the exercises, Gneisenau collided with the Danish schooner Delphin off Horns Rev on 24 August, and could save only three men from her crew before the latter sank. On 28 September she embarked on the annual winter cruise, which again went to the West Indies. While in Charlotte Amalie, Gneisenau and the Danish gunboat Fyen helped to suppress a major fire in the port. She visited Havana, Cuba on 21 January 1896, where she, Stosch, and Stein monitored the civil unrest on the island. On 7 February, Gneisenau left Cuban waters and arrived back in Kiel on 18 March. Gneisenau departed Kiel on 15 May, bound for Bergen for a training cruise. While in Norway, Gneisenau was visited by the German imperial family on 19 June and by King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway on 14 July. She returned to Kiel on 18 July, where she prepared for the annual fleet maneuvers in August and September.

On 2 October, Gneisenau began the winter cruise to the Mediterranean, where she visited numerous foreign ports. She initially joined Stein for the return voyage to Germany in early 1897, but while en route Gneisenau was ordered to Tangier to enforce German claims for compensation for a German banker who had been murdered in the country in December 1896. She arrived there on 27 February 1897, and was able to leave on 2 March, her mission having been accomplished in that time. After arriving in Kiel on 25 March, she went into drydock on 4 April for an overhaul, which was completed by mid-May; on 17 May, she began another training cruise in the Baltic. The ship began another major overseas cruise on 16 August, rather than participate in the annual fleet exercises. This trip went to South America, and included stops in Rio de Janeiro and São Francisco do Sul in Brazil, and Havana, where she rendezvoused with the training cruiser Charlotte. On 1 March 1898, Gneisenau left Havana to return to Germany, stopping in Key West and Horta on the way back. Heavy storms in the North Sea forced her to put into Den Helder in the Netherlands on 27 March. She reached Kiel three days later, where she was decommissioned on 18 April for another overhaul.

She remained out of service for the next year, before being recommissioned on 9 April 1899, thereafter embarking on a training cruise to Bergen on 5 July. On 24 July, she began another training voyage that went first to Iceland and then Queenstown, Ireland before continuing on to the Mediterranean. Foreign ports that were visited included Jaffa from 16 to 20 December and Beirut from 20 December to 2 January 1900. She began the journey back to Germany on 5 January, departing Port Said and sailing to La Spezia, Italy, where she was visited by Kaiserin Friedrich and her daughter Princess Viktoria. Gneisenau arrived in Kiel on 23 March, and after minor repairs began a training cruise in the Baltic on 26 May. Another short visit to Bergen followed on 10 September.

#### Loss

On 18 September, she left Kiel once again for another overseas cruise, stopping in Dartmouth on the way through the English Channel. She toured ports in Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, stopping in Málaga on 13 November, where she remained for nearly a month. On 10 December, she left the port to begin shooting exercises; she moored off the mole, some 800 to 900 m (2,600 to 3,000 ft) from shore, where the exercises were held. At around 10:30 on 16 December, the weather off Málaga worsened considerably, with force 8 winds. The ship's commander, KzS Kretschmann, ordered the crew to raise steam in the boilers so the ship could be moved into the safety of the harbor, and thirty minutes later a miscommunication between the engine room personnel and the captain led to Kretschmann ordering the anchors raised so the ship could get underway. The commander believed the engine room had reported 50 revolutions per minute (rpm) on the propeller shaft, but the actual figure was 15 rpm, not sufficient to propel the ship. As a result, the now-unmoored ship drifted helplessly in the heavy winds.

The crew attempted to drop the starboard anchor, but it did not catch in the stony ground. Gneisenau was driven into the mole repeatedly, striking it with her stern twice before being turned and pushed bow-first on the starboard side, forcing her aground. A merchant ship attempted to come to the crew's aid, but they were unable to connect a line between the two ships before Gneisenau began to list 35 degrees. A boat from shore also attempted to rescue the crew, but it too was forced ashore in the heavy seas. Wave action quickly smashed Gneisenau's hull against the mole, and part of her crew attempted to find safety by climbing the rigging. The ship rolled over onto her side, and the surviving crewmen reached shore with a line. Forty-one men were killed in the accident, including Kretschmann and the ship's first officer. Charlotte and the British ironclad HMS Devastation were sent to aid the wounded. Those killed in the sinking were buried in Málaga's cemetery, and the survivors returned to Germany aboard the HAPAG steamship SS Andalusia on 2 January 1901.

The equipment director from the Kaiserliche Werft of Wilhelmshaven, KK Otto Mandt, surveyed the wreck to determine if it could be salvaged, but he determined that it was too badly damaged. Instead, the guns and other valuable equipment were removed and the wreck was blown up to test the strength of the hull's construction. The remains of the ship were then sold for scrap, to be broken up in situ.

Screw corvette of the German Imperial Navy


Modern Life Is Rubbish

Modern Life Is Rubbish is the second studio album by English alternative rock band Blur, released in May 1993. Although their debut album Leisure (1991) had been commercially successful, Blur faced a severe media backlash soon after its release, and fell out of public favour. After the group returned from an unsuccessful tour of the United States, poorly received live performances and the rising popularity of rival band Suede further diminished Blur's status in the UK.

Under threat of being dropped by Food Records, for their next album Blur underwent an image makeover championed by frontman Damon Albarn. The band incorporated influences from traditional British guitar-pop groups such as the Kinks and the Small Faces, and the resulting sound was melodic and lushly produced, featuring brass, woodwind and backing vocalists. Albarn's lyrics on Modern Life Is Rubbish use "poignant humour and Ray Davies characterisation to investigate the dreams, traditions and prejudices of suburban England", according to writer David Cavanagh.

Modern Life Is Rubbish was a moderate chart success in the UK; the album peaked at number 15, while the singles taken from the album charted in the Top 30. Applauded by the music press, the album's Anglocentric rhetoric rejuvenated the group's fortunes after their post-Leisure slump. Modern Life Is Rubbish is regarded as one of the defining releases of the Britpop scene, and its chart-topping follow-ups—Parklife and The Great Escape—saw Blur emerge as one of Britain's leading pop acts.

## Background

Blur's baggy-inspired debut album Leisure (1991) was a UK Top 10-charting record that, according to the NME, made the band the "acceptable pretty face of a whole clump of bands that have emerged since the whole Manchester thing started to run out of steam". However, as the baggy scene soon began to fade, Blur were—according to The Guardian—"[s]wiftly exposed as bogus trend-hoppers, [and] they duly caught the wrath of the Madchester backlash". Further, following their fall from public favour, the group found that they were £60,000 in debt, mainly due to mismanagement. Blur hired new manager Chris Morrison and, to recoup losses, were sent by their record label Food to the United States as part of the Rollercoaster tour. To coincide with the start of the tour, Blur released the "Popscene" single; the new release showcased a significant change in musical direction, as Blur traded their shoegaze-derived sound for one influenced by 60s British guitar pop. However, the single failed to break into the UK top 30 which further diminished Blur's profile in the UK.

The 44-date tour of the United States left Blur in "complete disarray", according to writer David Cavanagh. Dismayed by American audiences' infatuation with grunge and the lacklustre response to their music, the group frequently drank, and members often broke into fist-fights with one another. Homesick, the tour "instilled in the band a contempt for everything American", Cavanagh later wrote; frontman Damon Albarn, who "started to miss really simple things [about England]", listened to a tape of the English pop group the Kinks throughout the tour. He later stated the only pleasant memory he had of the tour was his time spent listening to the Kinks' 1967 single "Waterloo Sunset". Upon their return to England, the group discovered that the attention of the music press had shifted to Suede. The newcomers' success displeased Blur who, in Cavanagh's words, "were inclined to feel that every record Suede sold was an affront to human decency". After many poor live shows, which Blur members often performed while drunk—in particular one at a 1992 gig that featured a well-received performance by Suede on the same bill—Blur were in danger of being dropped by Food.

## Recording

Damon Albarn, in a 2000 Mojo interview, said that "Suede and America fuelled my desire to prove to everyone that Blur were worth it ... There was nothing more important in my life." He felt the popularity that American grunge music was enjoying in Britain at the time would soon fade, and argued that Blur would embody a renaissance of classic British pop on their next album. Food Records owner David Balfe strongly disagreed, and argued with Albarn over the proposed change in Blur's image. After the still-sceptical Balfe relented, Food warily gave Blur the go-ahead to work on their second album with Albarn's first choice of producer, XTC leader Andy Partridge. Partridge said he was dissatisfied with the songs, but was "immensely" fond of the band, likening them to XTC circa Go 2. He said he agreed to the project "for the wrong reasons, the flattery and the money."

Blur began working on the album with Partridge at The Church, a studio in Crouch End owned by David A. Stewart. However, the sessions ended prematurely. Bassist Alex James described the sessions as a "disaster"; he added that "as it was all being put together, they were all good parts, but it just wasn't ... sexy". Partridge recalled: "I felt quite fatherly and I thought I did sterling work. They got Dave Balfe really stoned to listen to some mixes and he was rolling around going, 'This is fantastic, you're George Martin and they're The Beatles.' Next day he'd say, 'Quite frankly, Andy, this is shit'". The band successfully recorded four songs, but were wary about working in the same conditions again. The Partridge-produced tracks were abandoned; three were later included on the 2012 boxed set Blur 21.

Work resumed on the album due to a chance meeting with producer Stephen Street, who had previously worked with the band on their 1991 single "There's No Other Way". With Street now producing the album, Blur recorded a mix of material spanning both the period immediately after the release of Leisure and their 1992 tour. While the band members were pleased with the recording session results, Balfe, after hearing the songs, told the band they were committing artistic suicide. Although dejected by his response, Blur gave Food the completed album in December 1992. The label rejected the album and instructed the band to record more potential singles. Albarn complied, and on Christmas Day wrote the song "For Tomorrow". Although "For Tomorrow" sated Food's concerns, Blur's American label SBK voiced discontent upon hearing the finished tapes of the album. To appease SBK the band recorded "Chemical World", which Blur thought would increase Rubbish's American appeal. However, Blur refused SBK's demand of re-recording the album with American producer Butch Vig, who was popular at the time for his work with Nirvana.

## Music and lyrical themes

Modern Life Is Rubbish's sound is highly influenced by the traditional guitar pop of British bands such as the Kinks, the Jam, the Small Faces and the Who. The album's songs explore a number of styles—punk rock ("Advert"), neo-psychedelia ("Chemical World"), and vaudeville music-hall ("Sunday Sunday"). Opening track "For Tomorrow" is, according to NME, "quintessential Blur. Damon, perennially bored, never stops singing, and Graham [Coxon] supplie[s] his usual immaculate guitar accompaniment". While "Oily Water" harked back to the baggy sound of Leisure, NME described "Intermission" as "a pub piano knees-up that rinky-dinks along then gets frazzled in guitars and speeded-up drums". Most of the songs on the album are melodic and lushly produced, often supplemented by a brass section, string arrangements and backing vocals. To offer contrast to the classicist songwriting, AllMusic noted that "Coxon's guitar tears each song open, either with unpredictable melodic lines or layers of translucent, hypnotic effects, and his work creates great tension with Alex James' kinetic bass".

Deriving from "the biting humor of Ray Davies and the bitterness of Paul Weller", Albarn's lyrics on Modern Life Is Rubbish are a social commentary and satire on contemporary suburban English life. While Rubbish celebrates modern British life, it also takes a cynical look at middle-class existence. The overt Anglo-centricism of the album was also retaliation against American popular culture; James later explained, "it was f\*\*\*ing scary how American everything's becoming ... so the whole thing was a f\*\*\*ing big two fingers up to America". NME summarised the theme of the "thinly-veiled concept album" as a "London odyssey crammed full of strange commuters, peeping Thomases and lost dreams; of opening the windows and breathing in petrol ... It's the Village Green Preservation Society come home to find a car park in its place".

## Packaging

The album's title derives from stenciled graffiti painted along Bayswater Road in London, created by an anarchist group. For Albarn, the phrase reflected the "rubbish" of the past that accumulated over time, stifling creativity. Albarn told journalist John Harris in 1993 that he thought the phrase was "the most significant comment on popular culture since 'Anarchy in the UK'". Due to Blur's disdain for America at the time, the album's working title was Britain Versus America.

The painting of the steam locomotive Mallard on the album cover was a stock image that Stylorouge—Blur's design consultants—obtained from a photo library in Halifax. According to Design Week magazine, the painting by Paul Gribble "evoked the feel of a Just William schoolboy's pre-war Britain". Inside the packaging, there is an oil-on-canvas of the band dressed as mop-top skinheads in a tube train. The album's lyric sheets also feature the songs' chord progressions, hand-written by guitar player Graham Coxon. While Albarn explained that it was an attempt to "[let] people to know that, old-fashioned as it might seem, we write songs", Total Guitar magazine attributed the inclusion of the chords to Coxon's "keen[ness] to demystify guitar playing".

## Release

To promote Modern Life Is Rubbish, Food released "For Tomorrow" as the album's lead single in the UK in April 1993. The single, which showcased Blur's new sound and attitude, performed moderately well in the charts, reaching number 28. A few weeks later in May 1993, Modern Life was released. The announcement of the album's release included a press photo that featured the phrase "British Image 1" spraypainted behind Blur members (who were dressed in a mixture of mod and skinhead attire) and a Mastiff. At the time, such imagery was viewed as nationalistic and racially insensitive by the British music press; to quiet concerns, Blur subsequently released the "British Image 2" photo, which was "a camp restaging of a pre-war aristocratic tea party". The album peaked at number 15 on the UK Album Chart. In the next few months Food further issued two UK Top 30-charting singles—"Chemical World" and "Sunday Sunday"—to support the record; however, Modern Life only managed to sell around 40,000 copies at the time. Nonetheless, the mood within the Blur camp was positive, as the band felt they had accomplished something; James told writer David Cavanagh in 2000, "Modern Life Is Rubbish was a successful record because it achieved what we set out to achieve. I thought everything was shit except us".

Modern Life Is Rubbish was released in the United States by Blur's American record label SBK in December 1993—seven months after the album's UK release. This delay was because SBK's alternative-music department had closed down; Blur manager Chris Morrison later quipped, "When I asked [SBK] why, they said it was because the girl had left." Despite fears that Modern Life's overt Englishness would be lost on the American market, SBK insisted on marketing the album to MOR stations and aimed for Top 40 airplay. The label largely ignored Morrison's arguments that Blur's best chance of exposure in America would be to court college radio-stations. SBK's strategy was to list the album at a developing-artist price (around three dollars less than standard), send the band on an intensive tour in 1994 and to target modern rock airplay with debut single "Chemical World". The record company believed this would help expand on the base audience who bought Leisure, and eventually open Blur to Top 40 radio. Further, to lessen the anglocentric feel of the record, SBK added additional songs to the track-listing—including "Popscene". The plan fared poorly, as Modern Life had little impact in the US; the album did not chart on the US Billboard 200 and sold only 19,000 copies, a sharp decline compared to the 87,000 units that Leisure shifted.

## Contemporary reviews

Among contemporary reviews, NME reviewer Paul Moody was mostly enthusiastic about the record and rated it seven out of ten. While he felt the album had "enough faults to give a surveyor nightmares", he was impressed that, unlike their peers, "Blur [had] thrown on their old clothes and stormed into No Man's Land with all guns blazing". Moody also praised the improvement in Albarn's lyrics, which had hitherto "[made] Eurovision Song Contest entries seem like great works of poetry". Q's David Roberts, in a favourable four out of five star review, called Modern Life "an energised, infectious romp around contemporary little England, by way of an exuberant trawl through a highly-coloured patchwork of its pop past". Roberts placed Coxon as the leading contender for "the vacant crown of [Smiths guitarist] Johnny Marr".

Writing for the Chicago Tribune, rock critic Greg Kot felt the album was a vast improvement over Leisure, which he found "highly derivative" of the Madchester genre. "Nothing on [Leisure] prepares the listener for the adventurousness of Modern Life is Rubbish," he wrote, going on to describe the album as "a swirling, intoxicating song cycle that enriches superior popcraft with wiggy studio experiments." Although they found the album to be "overly lengthy", Billboard agreed with Kot, dubbing Modern Life "a giant leap forward artistically" from Leisure. St. Louis Post-Dispatch writer Paul Hampel commended Blur for having "taken a bold step [with Modern Life] – backward", and pointed to their attempt at "a communion with past masters of smart, satirical Brit pop". He concluded his positive review of the album by calling it a "series of pleasant surprises [that] offers numerous signs that great things are to come from Blur".

## Aftermath and legacy

In August 1993, Blur set off on the Sugary Tea tour of the UK to promote Modern Life Is Rubbish. Named after a lyric in "Chemical World", the tour was a success, as Blur reclaimed some of their popularity. A key performance was at that year's Reading Festival which, according to David Cavanagh, was "brilliant". On the tour, Blur performed a number of songs that would end up on the group's follow-up album, Parklife (1994).

Parklife saw Blur expanding upon the themes and sounds they had first explored on Modern Life Is Rubbish; the NME described it as " 'Modern Life Is Rubbish's' older brother – bigger, bolder, narkier and funnier". Parklife debuted at number one on the UK charts, and helped Blur emerge as one of Britain's most popular acts. As Jim Shelley wrote in The Guardian, "a year after Blur were dismissed as too mannered, too retrograde and too English, Parklife was embraced for exactly the same reasons". Modern Life Is Rubbish and Parklife, along with The Great Escape (1995), formed what would be later referred to as the "Life" trilogy of Blur albums revolving around British themes.

Modern Life Is Rubbish remains highly regarded by critics; Ian Wade of BBC Music wrote that the album was Blur's "first masterpiece... which established them as worthy of being mentioned alongside their heroes." It is seen as one of the early, defining releases of Britpop, a genre that would dominate British pop music in the mid-1990s. Writing for The Guardian, John Harris called the album "one of the 1990s' most influential records". Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic felt that "Modern Life Is Rubbish established Blur as the heir to the archly British pop of the Kinks, the Small Faces, and the Jam" and that it "ushered in a new era of British pop". Mark Redfern wrote in Under the Radar magazine that following Modern Life Is Rubbish, "[a] whole wave of Britpop bands followed in [Blur's] footsteps, and for a while, it was cool to be British again". In 2007, IGN listed the album at no. 4 in a 'Top 25 Britpop Albums' list. Their contributor wrote: "With so many seminal albums to their credit, it's hard to pinpoint one, but this is the one if you are forced into a corner." The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

## Track listing

All lyrics by Damon Albarn. All music by Damon Albarn/Graham Coxon/Alex James/Dave Rowntree.

Notes

- Track 7, "Chemical World" ends and "Intermission" begins at 4:02.
- Track 14, "Resigned" ends and "Commercial Break" begins at 5:13.

### American release

The American release of Modern Life Is Rubbish features an altered track listing. Blur's American label SBK Records preferred the group's original demo of "Chemical World", and included it on the album instead of the Stephen Street-produced version. According to Select magazine, this "defeated the object of recording a heavy rock song in the first place". SBK inserted "Popscene" between "Turn It Up" and "Resigned"; Blur had refused to include "Popscene" on the British version of Modern Life, disappointed by the tepid response it received when it was released as a single. "We thought, If you didn’t fucking want it in the first place," Coxon told Select, "you’re not going to get it now". The American version also features several tracks with a few seconds of silence (tracks 18 to 67 on the CD), followed by two "For Tomorrow" B-sides ("When the Cows Come Home" and "Peach") as hidden tracks 68 and 69.

### 2012 reissue

Following the release of the Blur 21 box set, a special edition of the album was released on 7 August 2012, featuring the remastered original album packaged with an additional disc of bonus material.

## Personnel

Blur

- Damon Albarn – vocals, piano (tracks 6, "intermission", "commercial break"), sleigh bells (tracks 1, 7), solina organ (track 1), casio ski (track 2), shopping tannoy (track 2), melodica (tracks 6, 14), bingo organ (track 8), avon lady keyboard (track 11), jupiter 8 (track 12), moog (track 12)
- Graham Coxon – electric guitars (tracks 1-14), acoustic guitars (tracks 1-3, 5-8, 10-13), backing vocals, percussion (tracks 2, 3, 10, 12, 13), black & decker (track 4), anti cat and dog tone (track 5), volume guitar (track 6), slide guitar (tracks 8, 14)
- Alex James – bass guitar, distorted bass (track 11)
- Dave Rowntree – drums, timpani (track 1)

Additional personnel

- Stephen Street – producer (except "Sunday Sunday" and "Villa Rosie"), drumbox and handclaps (on "Advert"), S1000 (on "Colin Zeal"), typewriter bell
- Steve Lovell – producer ("Sunday Sunday" and "Villa Rosie")
- Simon Weinstock – mixer ("Sunday Sunday" and "Villa Rosie")
- John Smith – engineer; co-producer ("Intermission", "Commercial Break", "Miss America", "Resigned")
- Blur – producer ("Oily Water"), co-producer ("Intermission", "Commercial Break", "Miss America", "Resigned")
- Kick Horns – brass ("Sunday Sunday")
- Kate St John – oboe, cor anglais, saxophone ("Star Shaped")
- The Duke String Quartet – strings ("For Tomorrow")

## Certifications