Masterful. Musically beautiful and inventive from start to finish. Lyrically very clever.

Probably the only anthemic pop song I will ever choose to listen to. Was drawn to it the first time I heard it, as a piece of chart music at the end of the 1990s.

The first two chords of the verse are audacious, most unusual in pop music, and are what makes the song for me. Without them, or with conventional choices, the song would lose its tension and power. The lyric can be considered cheesy, but it kind of aims high in searching out some kind of universal truth, and it works. When in the right mood, it is even elevating. The last part is lyrically very pathetic, a lame series of insulting name drops. But it probably got the record heard - this was their first single.

I recently read that this song was much admired by U2, and I'm not surprised as I can hear them striving for something like this. But they never get anywhere even slightly close.