Somebody to Shove

"Somebody to Shove"
Single by Soul Asylum
from the album Grave Dancers Union
B-side	"By the Way" (demo)
Released	May 5, 1992
Genre	Alternative rock garage rock hard rock post-grunge power pop
Length	3:15
Label	Columbia
Songwriter(s)	Dave Pirner
Producer(s)	Michael Beinhorn
Soul Asylum singles chronology
"Easy Street" (1990) "Somebody to Shove" (1992) "Black Gold" (1993)

"Somebody to Shove" is a song by American alternative rock band Soul Asylum, released in 1992. The song was written by Soul Asylum's lead singer, Dave Pirner. It was the first single from their sixth studio album, Grave Dancers Union (1992). It reached number one on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and number nine on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart. The music video for the song was directed by American filmmaker Zack Snyder, who also directed the "Black Gold" videoclip.

Style

Musically the song is an alternative rock,^[1][2] garage rock,^[2] hard rock,^[3] post-grunge,^[4] and power pop song.^[5]

Track listings

UK CD single

1. "Somebody to Shove"
2. "Somebody to Shove" (unplugged)
3. "Stranger" (unplugged)
4. "Without a Trace" (live)

UK 7-inch and cassette single

A. "Somebody to Shove" – 3:15

B. "By the Way" (demo) – 3:44

UK 12-inch single

1. "Somebody to Shove" – 3:15
2. "By the Way" (demo) – 3:45
3. "Somebody to Shove" (live version) – 3:17
4. "Runaway Train" (live version) – 4:11

Charts

Chart (1992–1994)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)[6]	123
Scotland (OCC)[7]	34
UK Singles (OCC)[8]	32
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[9]	1
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[10]	9

Release history

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label(s)	Ref.
United States	May 5, 1992	Radio	Columbia	^[citation needed]
United Kingdom	August 23, 1993	12-inch vinyl CD cassette		[11]

Other versions

An acoustic version of the song was include as a track on The Unplugged Collection, Volume One.^[12]

See also

• List of Billboard Modern Rock Tracks number ones of the 1990s

References

1. Cosores, Philip (July 4, 2017). "Ranking: Every Alternative Rock No. 1 Hit from Worst to Best". Consequence of Sound. p. 9. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
2. Gerard, Chris. "THE 100 GREATEST ALTERNATIVE SINGLES OF THE '90S: 100 – 81". PopMatters. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
3. Arnold, Gina (October 3, 1992). "Soul Asylum Is Back From the Brink : After a run of bad luck, the Minneapolis-based group is finally getting its act together". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
4. Unterberger, Andrew (August 6, 2004). "Top Ten Mediocre Post-Grunge / Alternative Bands". Stylus Magazine. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
5. Strauss, Neil (June 29, 1995). "Soul Asylum a Hard Dazed Night". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
6. "Soul Asylum ARIA Chart history (singles)". ARIA. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Imgur.com. N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart.
7. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
8. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
9. "Soul Asylum Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
10. "Soul Asylum Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
11. "Single Releases". Music Week. August 21, 1993. p. 23.
12. Sinclair, Tom (December 16, 1994). "The Unplugged Collection, Volume One". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 6, 2015.