The Verve

The Verve.

The video I will be analysing is 'Drugs Don't Work,' the song is featured on their third album, Urban Hymns. It was released on September 1, 1997 as the second single from the album, charting at number 1 in the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's most successful single in the UK.

The lead singer of the band, Richard Ashcroft wrote the song in early 1995. In an interview at the time it was released Ashcroft related the lyrics to his drug usage he stated that 'They make me worse, man. But I still take 'em. Out of boredom and frustration you turn to something else to escape.'

The music video of the song was directed by Andy Baybutt. According to 'wikipedia' the video begins with: references to The Verve's earlier work. The band appears in the same formation and clothes as they did at the end of the video for "Bitter Sweet Symphony". The cover of the machine on the front of the album No Come Down also appears briefly. The band turns around a corner and walks over to a vending machine called "Feelings." This refers to the song "Life's an Ocean" from their second album, A Northern Soul, where Ashcroft sings, "I was buying some feelings from a vending machine" (the same vending machine is also seen on the back of that album). The rest of the video shows, partially in black and white, the band playing the song indoors. The video ends with a piece of burning wood, with the words 'Urban Hymns' written on, floating on water.