"Comedown" is a song by British rock band Bush, released on 26 September 1995 as the third single from their debut album, Sixteen Stone.
Composition
Gavin Rossdale wrote the song about an ex-girlfriend, stating, "It was written in the context of half regret, half celebration and just being objective about the situation of coming down from that high and dealing with those intense emotions." In 2017 he added:
I liked the idea of euphoria. But having that euphoria has a comedown. It's inside your brain and just says, 'I'm having the greatest time, and I don't want to stop.' But most of the time, people lose that zone and it changes and you're like, 'No, I didn't want this.' And that's such a common feeling. I watched it being sung every night - it's one of the songs where I can step back and let the people sing. It's the best feeling in the world as a songwriter.[4]
Drummer Robin Goodridge told music publication Modern Drummer that the bass line and drum grooves in "Comedown" were borrowed from a song by English band Massive Attack.[5]
Of the 12 songs featured on Sixteen Stone, "Comedown" was the first to be written, and remains unchanged lyrically from its original form.[6]
Music video
The music video was directed by Jake Scott in Los Angeles. Scott used a special "fish eye" lens to film some of the scenes, to give a distorted view as if looking through a peep hole.[7]
Commercial performance
"Comedown" remains one of the band's most commercially successful songs, reaching number one on the BillboardAlternative Songs chart and number two on the BillboardMainstream Rock Tracks chart in late 1995. The song also gave Bush their first American top 40 hit, reaching number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 4 November 1995.
Along with "Machinehead", "Comedown" appears in the 1996 film Fear. It can be heard over Nicole's second date with David, after he picks her up from school to play billiards.
^"There's no point in being a clever bastard, because all you'll end up doing is sounding like someone is falling into the drum kit while everyone else is playing the song". Modern Drummer. 1996.
