Everything Zen

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"Everything Zen"
EverythingZenBush.jpg
Single by Bush
from the album Sixteen Stone
Released28 January 1995 (1995-01-28)
Recorded1994
Genre
Length
  • 4:38 (album version)
  • 4:02 (edit)
Label
Songwriter(s)Gavin Rossdale
Producer(s)
Bush singles chronology
"Bomb"
(1994) 		"Everything Zen"
(1995) 		"Little Things"
(1995)
Music video
"Everything Zen" on YouTube

"Everything Zen" is a single by British alternative rock band Bush. Released on 28 January 1995, it was the band's first single released under the name "Bush",[2] and their second overall. The single comes from their 1994 debut album, Sixteen Stone.

Lyrics[]

The title of the song may reference the poem Howl by Allen Ginsberg which includes the phrase "who vanished into nowhere Zen New Jersey." The lyrics "Mickey Mouse has grown up a cow" are taken from David Bowie's 1971 song "Life on Mars?". Other references in the song include Tom Waits[3] ("Rain Dogs howl for the century"), Jane's Addiction's "Ted, Just Admit It..." ("there's no sex in your violence"), Alice in Chains' "Would?" ("try to see it once my way"), and the Elvis Presley sighting conspiracy theory ("I don't believe that Elvis is dead").

Music video[]

The video was the first video Bush had ever made. The video was directed by Matt Mahurin, who also makes an appearance in the video wearing a mask, and was shot on 12 and 13 November 1994. Scenes from the video were recreated in the opening credits of the TV series Millennium.

Gavin Rossdale on the making of the video:

"I hadn't even seen that many videos before making this because I never had MTV. I just remember that it felt weird miming with all those people standing around, but you soon get over that. Obviously, this video was hugely important in breaking us in America."[4]

Parody[]

The song was parodied on Bill Nye the Science Guy in the episode "Animal Locomotion".

Commercial performance[]

Although it did not achieve immediate success, it eventually reached number two on the Billboard Modern Rock Chart,[5] number 5 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks and Canadian Rock/Alternative chart, and number 40 on the Hot 100 Airplay. It failed to hit the Hot 100 that year.

In popular culture[]

A July 2017 episode of the BBC current affairs program Newsnight featured "Everything Zen",[6] during an interview with Sixteen Stone's producer Clive Langer.

"Everything Zen" was mentioned in the 2019 Netflix movie Wine Country.[7]

The song was also featured in a strip club scene in the film My Dinner with Hervé.[citation needed]

Track listing[]

European CD single (6544-95794-2) and 12-inch vinyl (A8196T)

  1. "Everything Zen" (radio edit)
  2. "Bud"
  3. "Monkey"
  4. "Everything Zen"

Charts[]

Chart (1995) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[8] 41
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[9] 45
UK Singles (OCC)[10] 84
UK Rock and Metal (OCC)[11] 2
US Radio Songs (Billboard)[12] 40
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[13] 2
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[14] 5

References[]

  1. ^ Piccoli, Sean (22 March 1997). "Bush: America's Band". Sun Sentiel. Sun Senitel. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  2. ^ Nine, Jennifer (1999). Bush: Twenty-seventh Letter : the Official History. Virgin. ISBN 9780753501894. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  3. ^ "Everything Zen by Bush - Songfacts". www.songfacts.com. Lead singer Gavin Rossdale made reference to two of his favorite people in one of the lyrics: Tom Waits and Allen Ginsberg. The line, "Rain Dogs howl for the century" refers to the Waits album Rain Dogs (also a "song), and the Ginsberg poem Howl.
  4. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 4 March 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ^ "Alternative Airplay Chart for the week of March 4, 1995". Billboard. Eldridge Industries. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  6. ^ "Bush – New songs, Playlists & Latest News". BBC Music. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  7. ^ "Wine Country (2019) Movie Script". Springfield! Springfield". Missing or empty |url= (help)
  8. ^ "Australian-charts.com – Bush – Everything Zen". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  9. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Bush – Everything Zen" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  10. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  11. ^ "Official Rock & Metal Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  12. ^ "Bush Chart History (Radio Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  13. ^ "Bush Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  14. ^ "Bush Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
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