Swallowed

"Swallowed" is a song by British alternative rock band Bush, released on 15 October 1996 as the lead single from the band's 1996 album, Razorblade Suitcase (their most popular album, reaching #1 on the US Billboard 200 chart). It was later included on the remix album Deconstructed, the live album Zen X Four, and the Bush greatest hits compilation. The release of "Swallowed" followed the fifth and final single off of the band's 1994 debut album Sixteen Stone, "Machinehead", by only six months. Critical reception British magazine Music Week rated the song four out of five, adding that "the successful British exports look set for their first big UK hit with this melodic cut." David Sinclair from The Times described it as "an undeniably catchy tune, once you get past the meaningless lyric and self-conscious Nirvana-isms." Commercial performance "Swallowed" was released as the lead single from the follow-up to their massively successful debut album, Sixteen Stone, which was released two years prior. Upon release, the song topped the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart for seven consecutive weeks, and peaked at #27 on the mainstream Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart. This is the longest Bush ever stayed at #1, on any chart. It was also Bush's biggest hit in their native Britain, where it peaked at #7 on the UK Singles Chart. It was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 1998 Grammy Awards, but lost to the Smashing Pumpkins' "The End Is the Beginning Is the End". This was the band's third crossover hit to Top 40 radio after "Comedown" and "Glycerine". Composition A power ballad, the song is in A-flat major.