More than This (Roxy Music song)

"More Than This"
Single by Roxy Music
from the album Avalon
B-side	"India"
Released	April 1982 [1]
Format	Vinyl record, 45 RPM, 7", Single
Recorded	1981-1982
Genre	Art rock, new wave, soft rock[2]
Length	4:30 (Album version) 4:10 (7" single version)
Label	Polydor/Warner Bros./E.G./Atco
Writer(s)	Bryan Ferry
Producer(s)	Rhett Davies and Roxy Music
Roxy Music singles chronology
"Jealous Guy" (1981) "More Than This" (1982) "Avalon" (1982)

"More Than This" is a 1982 single by the English rock band Roxy Music. It was released as the first single from their final album, Avalon, and was the group's last Top 10 UK hit (peaking at #6). Although it only reached #102 (on Billboard's Bubbling Under The Hot 100 chart) in the United States, it remains one of Roxy Music's best-known songs in America.

The American alternative rock band 10,000 Maniacs released a successful cover version in 1997 which peaked at #25 and British singer Emmie released a dance cover version which went one place higher in the UK charts (#5) in January 1999.

Composition

Written by Bryan Ferry, the lead singer has stated in interviews that he began writing the songs for Avalon while on the western coast of Ireland, which he believes contributed to the dark melancholy of the album. The lyrics describe a passive protagonist, to whom things happen, instead of actively participating in the world.

"More Than This" is somewhat unusual for a pop song in that Ferry's lead vocals end at 2:45 minutes, leaving the last 1:45 minutes as a synthesizer-driven instrumental. The song also contains lead guitar work by Phil Manzanera.

Promotional video

The music video to the track opens with a light shining through a cross-shaped opening in a darkened studio. As the lights come up, Bryan Ferry begins singing the song. The video cuts to Ferry sitting in a small movie theater, showing footage of him (and later the band) perform the song. The video then cuts to Roxy Music performing "More Than This" on a soundstage. It was very popular on MTV in 1983.

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1982)	Peak position
Australian Kent Music Report[3]	6
Belgium VRT Top 30[4]	13
Dutch Top 40[4]	24
French Singles Chart[5]	6
German Media Control Singles Chart[4]	24
Irish Singles Chart[6]	6
Italian Singles Chart[7]	21
New Zealand Singles Chart[4]	12
Norwegian Singles Chart[4]	2
Radio Luxemburg Singles[8]	3
Spanish Singles Chart	10
Swedish Singles Chart[4]	17
Swiss Singles Chart[4]	6
UK Singles Chart[9]	6

Year-end charts

Chart (1982)	Position
Australian Kent Music Report	49
Italian Singles Chart[7]	77

Cover versions

• In 1997, a cover performed by 10,000 Maniacs with Mary Ramsey singing the lead became a US hit when it reached 25 on the Billboard Hot 100. The video for the cover was filmed at House on the Rock.
• Emmie's cover of "More Than This" reached #5 in the UK charts in early 1999.
• Jazz guitarist Charlie Hunter and singer Norah Jones covered the song for Hunter's 2001 album Songs from the Analog Playground.
• Jimmy Gomma, an Italo dance producer did a cover of the song in 2002.^[10]
• During 2004, a compilation called Roxy Remodeled was released with Madison Park's version.
• Blondie played and recorded the song for their double-billed Road Rage Tour of 2006. They also recorded the track, which is now available in two versions. The first one was officially released, first in a 10 track album along wit the tour tickets^[11] and currently in a shortened 4-track EP entitled The New Cars and Blondie: Road Rage.^[12] The second version is an alternate arrangement known as "Paul mix" (Paul by Paul Carbonara, producer of the track and Blondie guitar player at the time) and is only available as a bootleg.
• Electrelane did a live cover of this song, which can be found on their album Singles, B-Sides & Live.
• Australian singer-songwriter Missy Higgins recorded a cover of the song that was released as a single in 2009 and appears on her EP Steer & More.
• Low Pop Suicide covered the song on the 1997 tribute album Dream Home Heartaches... Remaking-Remodeling Roxy Music.
• Robyn Hitchcock has covered the song live. A recording can be found on his greatest hits compilation.
• Contemporary folk artist Lucy Kaplansky covered the song on her 2007 album, Over the Hills.
• Canadian singer/songwriter Damhnait Doyle covered the song on her 2008 album of cover songs, Lights Down Low.
• Dance songwriter Alex Christensen released a cover in 2011 under the adopted name Jasper Forks.
• Spanish band Peanut Pie covered the song for their only album in 1994.^[13]
• Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs covered the song for their 2013 album, Under the Covers, Volume 3.
• One Nation feat Victory did a dance cover in 1995.
• Andy Allo & Prince released an acoustic album, 'Oui Can Luv', streamed on Tidal on 7 November 2015, which featured the song

In popular culture

• In the popular video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, "More Than This" was one of the songs featured on fictional radio station Emotion 98.3.
• Bill Murray performed the song in the film Lost in Translation, directed by Sofia Coppola. Murray sings in a scene where his character is at a karaoke party. His performance is included as a hidden track after a period of silence at the end of the soundtrack album.
• The song is played in the movie Matchstick Men when Roy Waller, Nicolas Cage and his teenage daughter Angela (Alison Lohman) are in a bowling alley together.
• The song is played on Nip/Tuck in Season 2, Episode 3 ("Manya Mabika") during a hair-transplant surgery.
• Featured on the soundtrack to the 1999 movie 200 Cigarettes.
• The song is played on Community in Season 5, Episode 6 ("Analysis of Cork-Based Networking") during the montage/Fat Dog Dance.
• The song is featured in the trailer for the 2014 HBO television film The Normal Heart.

References

1. Strong, Martin C. (2006). The Essential Rock Discography. Edinburgh: Canongate Books. p. 931. ISBN 1-84195-860-3.
2. Top 10 Soft Rock Songs of the '80s
3. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
4. Hung, Steffen. "Roxy Music - More Than This". swisscharts.com. Retrieved 2013-02-21.
5. InfoDisc : Tout les Titres par Artiste
6. The Irish Charts - All there is to know
7. Hit Parade Italia - Top Annuali Single: 1982
8. Ultimate Music Database
9. "The Official Charts Company - More Than This by Roxy Music Search". The Official Charts Company. 6 May 2013.
10. "Discogs". Retrieved 26 February 2014.
11. Press release of the 2006 US "Road Rage Tour": http://archive.blondie.net/pressrelease_us_tour2006.shtml
12. Road Rage EP, buy at eMusic: http://www.emusic.com/album/the-new-cars-and-blondie/the-new-cars-and-blondie-road-rage/10906691/
13. Peanute Pie's cover in Lastfm: http://www.last.fm/music/Peanut+Pie/_/More+than+this

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics