Although the song's lyrics were written by Verve vocalist Richard Ashcroft, it has been credited to Keith Richards and Mick Jagger because the song uses the Andrew Oldham Orchestra recording of The Rolling Stones' 1965 song "The Last Time" as its foundation.
Originally, The Verve had negotiated a license to use a sample from the Oldham recording, but it was successfully argued that the Verve had used 'too much' of the sample.[4] Despite having original lyrics, the music of "Bitter Sweet Symphony" is largely based on the Oldham track (the song uses the sample as its foundation and then builds upon, though the continuous riff is Ashcroft's creation), which led to a lawsuit with ABKCO Records, Allen Klein's company that owns the rights to the Rolling Stones material of the 1960s. The matter was eventually settled, with copyright of the song reverting to ABKCO and songwriting credits to Jagger and Richards.
“ "We were told it was going to be a 50/50 split, and then they saw how well the record was doing," says band member Simon Jones. "They rung up and said 'we want 100 per cent or take it out of the shops', you don't have much choice."[5] ”
After losing the composer credits to the song, Richard Ashcroft commented, "This is the best song Jagger and Richards have written in 20 years."
The song was later used, against the will of the band, by Nike in a shoe commercial. As a result, it was on the Illegal Art CD from the magazine Stay Free!. The song was also used in a Vauxhall Motors commercial, prompting Ashcroft to declare onstage, "Don't buy Vauxhall cars, they're shite." However, the band was able to stop further use of the song by employing the European legal concept of moral rights.
Ashcroft and the band's reaction to the loss of control and financial rewards from what was their most popular song was not positive; and it has been argued that the issue contributed to Ashcroft's depression and the band's later split.
On Ashcroft's return to touring, the song traditionally ended the set list. Ashcroft also reworked the single for 'VH2 Live' for the music channel VH1, stripping the song of its strings. Ashcroft is quoted as saying during the show: "Despite all the legal angles and the bullshite, strip down to the chords and the lyrics and the melody and you realize there is such a good song there."
He also dedicated the song to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards at a gig at the Sage Gateshead in Gateshead. After an audience member booed, Ashcroft exclaimed, "Don't boo, man. As long as I can play this song I'm happy to pay a few of those guys' bills."
In a Cash For Questions interview with Q magazine in 1998, Keith Richards was asked if he thought it was harsh taking all The Verve's royalties from Bitter Sweet Symphony to which he replied, "I'm out of wack here, this is serious lawyer shite. If The Verve can write a better song, they can keep the money."
