This was the only hit for The Verve, however: it seemed to keep on hitting as Nike used this in commercials. Allen Klein got royalties from those.

 

Richard Ashcroft (lead singer) wrote the lyrics, which are a somber look at the doldrums of everyday life: "You're a slave to money, then you die."

 

The sampling of the song in which you can hear an orchestral version of the Rolling Stones song, "The Last Time." This was recorded before they got permission from the Stones to use the riff (seems a lot of that went on with various groups using that method), so the Verve had to sign away most of the royalties of it before they could release it.

The publishing rights went to Allen Klein, The Rolling Stones' former manager. The Stones signed a contract with Klein early in their career, part of the deal gave Klein the publishing rights to all of the Stones' songs through 1969. He made loads of money from this song (more than anyone else).

The Verve, "Bitter Sweet Symphony":

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