All Saints 'Under The Bridge'

Chart Peak: 1 (2 weeks)

YouTube

I don't know whether this is the only instance of the two parts of a double A-sided single appearing on the same Now! album but I can't think of another. Perhaps its only fitting since the single spent two non-consecutive weeks at Number One. It seems odd that they're both strewn haphazardly onto the same disc instead of being spaced further apart; perhaps even odder that this more promoted side is sequenced later, although there's a tenuous logic in that the video for this one follows on from the 'Lady Marmalade' on, rather than vice versa.

Unlike some people, I didn't consider it inherantly wrong for there to be a cover version of this song by some GIRLS, but I did suspect it would be rubbish. In fact, Nellee Hooper does a decent production job, but All Saints themselves let the side down somewhat. Whatever else they might have had going for them, they were never very emotive singers and at best they fail to convey why they don't want to feel like they did that day. In the verses they sound like they've only been shown one word of the lyric at a time. It's understandable that the climactic final section from the original ("Under the bridge above is where I drew some blood", etc) but without it the track seems to lose all sense of direction well before it ends.

In fact the only reason I'm glad to see this track is that it marks my only opportunity to mention Richard Hawley, who appears here as the session guitarist reproducing some of John Frusciante's guitar parts. It's interesting to compare this with his playing on 'All Hype' by Longpigs.

Also appearing on: Now 38, 39, 41, 42, 47, 65
Available on: All Hits [CD + Bonus DVD]