Song · Paul Weller
“Broken Stones” by Paul Weller
From the album Stanley Road (1995)
“Broken Stones” by Paul Weller appears on 5 radio countdowns from 1 station between 2001 and 2006. It was first released in 1995 on the album Stanley Road. Its best result is #43 on the Virgin Radio Top 100 Brit Songs of All-Time (May 2005). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #3,420 alternative song of all time.
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"Broken Stones" is the soul-man heart of Paul Weller's Stanley Road, his third solo album, from 1995, and the fourth single Go! Discs pulled from it. The idea came from a talk with his son on a beach: people as broken stones, knocking about and trying to fit themselves back into something whole.
Weller produced it with Brendan Lynch, who also mixed it and added tambourine and accordion, and the band cooks low and slow: Mick Talbot's Rhodes glowing, Steve White and bassist Marco Nelson keeping a patient, simmering groove, and Carleen Anderson's backing vocals lifting it toward church. Critics heard Memphis soul and New Orleans in it, and NME called it a soul ballad with a family resemblance to the Jam's "Ghosts". It made number 20 in the UK.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 250 | Virgin Radio | Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) | 500 |
| 2004 | 450 | Virgin Radio | Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) | 500 |
| 2005 | 259 | Virgin Radio | Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) | 500 |
| 2005 | 43 | Virgin Radio | Virgin Radio Top 100 Brit Songs of All-Time (May 2005) | 100 |
| 2006 | 226 | Virgin Radio | Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2006) | 500 |
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