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"Sour Times" is a song by English trip hop group Portishead, from their debut album, Dummy (1994). It was written by all three members of the band. It was released by Go! Beat Records in 1994 as a CD single, accompanied by three bonus tracks: "It's a Fire", "Pedestal", and "Theme from 'To Kill a Dead Man'".[2] NME ranked it number 32 in their list of the 50 best songs of 1994.[3] Slant Magazine placed it at number 77 in their ranking of "The 100 Best Singles of the 1990s" in 2011.[4]

This article is about the Portishead song. For the Madison Beer song, see Life Support (Madison Beer album).
"Sour Times"
Single by Portishead
from the album Dummy
Released1 August 1994
Recorded1994
Genre
  • Trip hop[1]
  • alternative rock[1]
Length4:14
Label
  • Go! Discs
  • London
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Portishead singles chronology
"Numb"
(1994)		 "Sour Times"
(1994)		 "Glory Box"
(1995)

Composition


The song uses a sample from Argentine composer Lalo Schifrin's "Danube Incident", from the 1967 album, More Mission: Impossible. Portishead sped up the sample to a desired tempo which took Schifrin's arrangement up nearly a semitone, giving the song a dissonant kind of "hip-hop tuning”.[5]


Critical reception


Music writer James Masterton wrote, "Its the kind of gloriously understated piece of melancholia that is normally supposed to appeal to students but is actually far too good to be wasted solely on that market."[6] Alan Jones from Music Week rated the song four out of five. He added, "Their first single, Numb, was a non-starter, but Portishead make a quantum jump with this single. This is a melancholy, wistful and worthy successor to the widescreen meanderings of fellow Bristolians Massive Attack, with a soulful vocal and tense backing track that evokes Bond movies and spaghetti westerns in equal measure. A spinechiller, and a hit."[7] Another editor, Andy Beevers stated, "Hot on the heels of their critically acclaimed Numb, the Bristol duo are re-releasing this single which first appeared as a very limited self-financed white label several months back. It is another moody downbeat tune featuring melancholy vocals, although it is a less leftfield and more complete song than Numb."[8] James Hamilton from the magazine's RM Dance Update deemed it a "tremulous gentle girl sighed doodling atmospheric 'Twin Peaks'/'From Russia With Love'-ish 94bpm pop swayer".[9]


Music video


The accompanying music video for "Sour Times" is made of footage from Portishead's short film To Kill a Dead Man. It was directed by Alexander Hemming.[10]


Release


"Sour Times" was released as the second single from Dummy on 1 August 1994. It initially reached only number 57 in the UK Singles Chart, but after the success of "Glory Box" in 1995, it was re-released and peaked at number 13 in April.[11] It is also the band's only song to date to appear on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, at number 53. "Sour Times" was the band's first entry on the Australian ARIA top 100 singles chart, peaking at number 66 in March 1995.[12] The B-side track "Airbus Reconstruction" was actually recorded by the band Airbus,[13] who were former school friends of Geoff Barrow.


Legacy


The Blank Theory covered "Sour Times" on their Beyond the Calm of the Corridor release, which was featured in the trailer for Wicker Park.

"Sour Times" was used as the theme music to the ITV drama series The Vice, and also appeared in the film Killing Time and TV shows Warehouse 13 and The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.

The song was sampled in the 2004 single "Teardrops" by The 411.

The name of Turkish social network "Ekşi Sözlük (Sour Dictionary)" was derived from "Sour Times". This network was founded as a part of sourtimes.org in 1999.[14][15]

English singer Marsha Ambrosius covered the song on her 2011 album Late Nights & Early Mornings.


Track listing


  1. "Sour Times" (4'14)
  2. "It's a Fire" (3'47)
  3. "Pedestal" (3'41)
  4. "Theme from 'To Kill a Dead Man'" (4'25)

Tracks 1-3: from the album Dummy

  1. "Sour Times" (edit) (3'25)
  2. "Sour Sour Times" (5'49)
  3. "Lot More" (4'21)
  4. "Sheared Times" (4'03)
  5. "Airbus Reconstruction" (5'08)

Although they bear new titles, all tracks on CD 2 are remixes of “Sour Times”


Charts


Chart (1994–1995) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[12] 66
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[16] 29
Netherlands (Single Top 100 Tipparade)[17] 5
Scotland (OCC)[18] 13
UK Singles (OCC)[19] 13
UK Dance (OCC)[20] 28
UK Dance (Music Week)[21] 28
US Billboard Hot 100[22] 53
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[23] 5

Certifications


Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[24] Silver 200,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.


References


  1. "The 100 Best Alternative Rock Songs of 1994: Portishead, "Sour Times"". Spin. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  2. Portishead Sour Times UK Cd. Vinyl Tap. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  3. "Albums and Tracks of the Year". NME. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  4. "The 100 Best Singles of the 1990s". Slant Magazine. 9 January 2011. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  5. Weingarten, Christopher R. (21 August 2019). "Portishead's 'Dummy' is 25. The Band Asks That You Play It Loud". The New York Times.
  6. Masterton, James (16 April 1995). "Week Ending April 22nd 1995". Chart Watch UK. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  7. Jones, Alan (30 July 1994). "Market Preview: Mainstream - Singles" (PDF). Music Week. p. 16. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  8. Beevers, Andy (23 July 1994). "Market Preview: Dance" (PDF). Music Week. p. 20. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  9. Hamilton, James (30 July 1994). "Dj directory" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). p. 6. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  10. "Portishead: Sour Times, Nobody Loves Me". IMDb. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  11. "Portishead - Full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  12. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia’s Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 221.
  13. "Airbus Band - Airbus Reconstruction Portishead Nobody Loves Me, Sourtimes". www.christopherfielden.com.
  14. "Ekşisözlük adı nereden çıktı? – Etohum.com Blog". Retrieved 2020-06-14.
  15. Tufekci, Zeynep (16 May 2017). Twitter And Tear Gas : The Power And Fragility Of Networked Protest. New Haven. ISBN 978-0-300-22817-5. OCLC 984692647.
  16. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 9092." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  17. "Portishead – Sour Times" (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  18. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  19. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  20. "Official Dance Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  21. "Dance Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 13 August 1994. p. 26. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  22. "Portishead Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  23. "Portishead Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  24. "British single certifications – Portishead – Sour Times". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 5 August 2022.




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