Richard Ashcroft – A Song For The Lovers

Song

"A Song for the Lovers" is a song by English singer-songwriter Richard Ashcroft and is the opening track on his 2000 album, Alone with Everybody.

The song was also released on April 3, 2000 as the first single from that album in the United Kingdom (see 2000 in British music). The single peaked at #3 in the UK Singles Chart, a position that would be matched by Ashcroft's 2006 single "Break the Night with Colour".

A Song for the Lovers was originally written by Richard Ashcroft as a demo track for The Verve's studio album Urban Hymns, three different versions were recorded but the song did not make the final album.

Music video

Music video for "A Song for the Lovers" premiered in May 2000 and was directed by Jonathan Glazer.

The video is of narrative style. It is shot in real-time with an element of diegetic sound unusual in most music videos. Diegetic sound was used previously by Glazer for "Rabbit in Your Headlights".

The video appears to take its cue from the first lines of the song:

I spend the night, yeah,
Looking for my insides in a hotel room,
Waiting for you.

It shows Richard Ashcroft shirtless in a hotel room, having apparently just showered. The hotel room is decorated with a large amount of Native American imagery, featuring framed photos of tribal chiefs and a large mural in the bedroom. Ashcroft turns on a stereo and "A Song for the Lovers" starts playing. He makes an enigmatic, mumbled phone call, ending with the complaint, "It's been half an hour."

He hangs up and walks out into the hotel corridor (still shirtless) as if expecting to find someone there, looks around, finding nothing, then returns to his hotel room.

After he goes into the bathroom, where he washes his hands and distractedly dabs at his appearance. While he is in the bathroom, the song plays loudly as to hide the sound of someone knocking on the hotel room door. The sound of the knocking is loud and insistent, almost threatening, but Ashcroft, in the bathroom, hears nothing other than the song.

He sings along with it, in a manner in which two Ashcrofts are heard: pre-recorded audio of Ashcroft singing the song, occasionally being paused by the "real life" Ashcroft holding a remote control; and the "live" voice of Ashcroft as seen in the video, less articulate, mostly mumbling or humming in a rough counterpoint to the song.

Ending

He leaves the bathroom, and stops short, staring... at a room-service tray left in the centre of the room, holding a covered dish.

Ashcroft sits down and starts to eat in a largely dissatisfied way. He picks apart a single sandwich before becoming distracted by an ominously flickering light in the nearby bathroom. He pauses the song and listens for further indication that anything is wrong. Dead silence. Ashcroft resumes the song (in mid-word) and resumes eating. He then pauses the song again, disturbed further by something never explained within the video.

He walks towards the bathroom, past the flickering fluorescent tube, and stops. In a close up, Ashcroft stares slightly downward into a corner of the room for a long, silent moment. The silence is broken by the sound of Ashcroft urinating into an off-camera toilet. Immediately, as if to dismiss the prior foreboding, the song resumes of its own accord, loudly and triumphantly as Ashcroft continues to pass water.

The final shot shows Ashcroft standing in the bathroom, urinating obliviously, as every light in the hotel room turns itself off except for the bathroom light... which is no longer flickering on and off. Ashcroft is left alone in a single square of light surrounded by darkness.

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Album

Alone with Everybody is the first solo album by English singer-songwriter Richard Ashcroft, released via Hut Records in June 2000 (see 2000 in British music). The songs "A Song for the Lovers", "C'mon People (We're Making It Now)" and "New York" were initially recorded with the Verve for their 1997 album Urban Hymns, but were never released.

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Alone With Everybody è il primo album da solista di Richard Ashcroft, pubblicato il 26 giugno 2000.

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Artist

Richard Paul Ashcroft (born 11 September 1971) is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and occasional rhythm guitarist of the alternative rock band The Verve from their formation in 1990 until their original split in 1999. He became a successful solo artist in his own right, releasing three UK top three solo albums.

The Verve reformed in 2007 but again broke up by summer 2009. Ashcroft then founded a new band, RPA & The United Nations of Sound, and released a new album on 19 July 2010. On 22 February 2016 Ashcroft announced his fourth solo album, These People, which was released 20 May 2016. Chris Martin of Coldplay has described Ashcroft as "the best singer in the world".

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Richard Paul Ashcroft (Wigan, 11 settembre 1971) è un cantautore britannico noto come frontman del gruppo musicale Verve.

Voce e membro fondatore della band dei Verve, fu attivo con il sodalizio dal 1990 al 1995 e dal 1996 al 1999. Intrapresa la carriera da solista, pubblicò tre dischi, Alone with Everybody (2000), Human Conditions (2002) e Keys to the World (2006).

Nel 2007 tornò a far parte dei redivivi Verve, che pubblicarono l'album Forth nel 2008 e si sciolsero nuovamente nel 2009. Ashcroft fondò quindi una nuova band, la RPA & The United Nations of Sound e il 19 luglio 2010 pubblicò un nuovo album, United Nations of Sound. Nel 2016 torna come solista con l'album These People.

I spend the night
Yeah looking for my insides in a hotel room
Waiting for you

Were gonna make it tonight

Yeah something in the air tells me the time is right
So we'd better get it on

And DJ, play a song for the Lovers, tonight
Please, play a song for the lovers, tonight

Don't wanna wait
Lord I've been waiting all my life but I'm too late again
I know but I was scared

Can't you see
I'm moving like a train into some foreign land
I ain't Got a Ticket for this ride but I will

Ooh, play a song for the Lover, tonight
DJ, play a song for the Lover, tonight
DJ, play a song for the Lovers, tonight
Please play a song for the Lovers, tonight

Can't stop looking back no no

One more for the lovers

Oh brother won't you lend a hand
I'm alone in a room and I'm waiting for love
I don't know when this trains gonna stop
But I'm telling you friend I don't want to get up

Ho passato la notte 
guardando dentro me stesso in una camera d'albergo 
aspettandoti

lo faremo stanotte 

qualcosa nell'aria mi dice che é il momento giusto 
quindi è meglio continuare

E DJ, suona una canzone per gli innamorati, stanotte 
per favore, suona una canzone per gli innamorati, stanotte 

non voglio aspettare 
Dio, ho aspettato tutta la vita ma arrivo sempre in ritardo
lo so ma ero spaventato

vedi, 
sembro un treno in un paese straniero 
non ho un biglietto per questo viaggio, ma lo farò

oh, suona una canzone per il mio amore, stanotte 
DJ, suona una canzone per il mio amore, stanotte 
DJ, suona una canzone per gli innamorati, stanotte 
per favore suona una canzone per gli innamorati, stanotte 

Non riesco a smettere di guardarmi indietro no no

Ancora un'altra canzone per gli innamorati

Oh fratello, mi tenderai la mano?
sono solo in una stanza e sto aspettando l'amore
non so quando si fermerà questo treno
ma ti sto dicendo, amico, che non voglio alzarmi.