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Cover of Urban Hymns by The Verve — Cover: Urban Hymns

Song · The Verve

“Sonnet” by The Verve

From the album Urban Hymns (1997)

“Sonnet” by The Verve appears on 20 radio countdowns from 4 stations between 1998 and 2025. It was first released in 1997 on the album Urban Hymns. Its best result is #8 on the Virgin Radio Top 10 Songs of 1998. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #242 alternative song of 1998 and #1,964 alternative song of all time.

20countdowns

4stations

#8best position

0#1 finishes

1top 10 finishes

1998–2025years charted

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The Verve - Sonnet

Video from YouTube (TheVerveVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Sonnet" was the last single pulled from Urban Hymns, the Verve's third album, landing on 2 March 1998, and it's the record's tenderest moment: a ballad Richard Ashcroft wrote alone, dressed like "The Drugs Don't Work", acoustic and electric guitars cushioned by strings heavy on violins. The Verve produced it with Youth, and Chris Potter recorded it and added production and mixing touches; the result swells and sighs without ever turning syrupy.

Its run in Britain was a strange one: the single was ruled ineligible for the UK Singles Chart, though an imported copy still reached 74, and it charted in Australia, Iceland, Italy and New Zealand. Ashcroft cut it again for his 2021 album Acoustic Hymns Vol 1, and that version soundtracked the 2024 John Lewis & Partners Christmas advert.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
1998	66	91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana	91X Top 91 Songs of 1998	91
1998	8	Virgin Radio United Kingdom	Virgin Radio Top 10 Songs of 1998	10

All-time and decade countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
1999	1755	CD101	CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)	2000
2000	1755	CD101	CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)	2001
2001	1755	CD101	CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)	2002
2001	390	Virgin Radio	Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)	500
2002	1744	CD101	CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)	2003
2003	1727	CD101	CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)	2004
2003	67	Virgin Radio	Virgin Radio VR10x10 (April 2003)	100
2004	1727	CD101	CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)	2005
2004	431	Virgin Radio	Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)	500
2005	1729	CD101	CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)	1994
2007	948	CD101	CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)	2008
2008	983	CD101	CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)	2009
2009	1004	CD101	CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)	2010
2010	1041	CD101	CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)	2011
2011	1077	CD101	CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)	2011
2013	1135	CD101	CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)	2012
2014	1194	CD101	CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)	2013
2025	69	Absolute Radio	Absolute Radio 100 Ultimate Britpop Anthems	100

Charting alongside it in 1998

Best songs of 1998 →

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