"Low" is a song by American rock band Cracker. It was released in August 1993, as the lead single from their second studio album Kerosene Hat. The song became a sleeper hit, reaching number 64 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in May 1994. Its biggest success was on the rock charts, reaching number three on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart in November 1993 and number five on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart in March 1994. The music video, directed by Carlos Grasso, portrays lead singer David Lowery losing a boxing match with actress and comedian Sandra Bernhard.
In 2013, Lowery posted an essay on his website The Trichordist focused on "Low" in the era of streaming music. The headline was "My Song Got Played on Pandora 1 Million Times and All I Got Was $16.89, Less Than What I Make from a Single T-Shirt Sale!" The post went viral and has become a reference point in the debate over the economics of streaming music.
Background David Lowery has said that the band's label made him write a letter to radio stations denying that the song was about drugs, claiming that the repeated phrase "being stoned" was really "being stone." Lowery paraphrased a label executive as telling him, "I don't believe you and neither will anyone else, but there needs to be deniability and this is what we're gonna say."
Track listings UK CD single "Low" – 4:36 "I Ride My Bike" – 6:32 "Sunday Train" – 3:42 "Whole Lotta Trouble" – 2:26
US CD single "Low" – 4:35 "Sunday Train" – 3:42 "Whole Lotta Trouble" – 2:26 "I See the Light" – 5:13 "Steve's Hornpipe" – 2:13
Charts
Weekly charts Chart (1993–1994)PeakpositionAustralia (ARIA) 63UK Airplay (Music Week) 38US Billboard Hot 100 64US Album Rock Tracks (Billboard) 5US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard) 3
Year-end charts Chart (1993)PositionUS Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard) 17 Chart (1994)PositionUS Album Rock Tracks (Billboard) 19
Release history RegionDateFormat(s)Label(s)United StatesAugust 13, 1993Alternative rock radioVirginAustraliaMay 16, 1994CDUnited Kingdom
Cover versions In 2017, Lydia Lunch and Cypress Grove covered "Low" on their album Under the Covers.
In popular culture "Low" was featured in the film The Perks of Being a Wallflower and its accompanying soundtrack. In addition, it was used in The Wolverine and episodes of Hindsight and Rectify. The B-side track "Whole Lotta Trouble" was featured on the soundtrack of the 1995 film Empire Records.
References