Glory Box

"Glory Box" is a song by English electronic band Portishead. It was released on 2 January 1995, as the third and final single from their 1994 debut album Dummy. The song samples "Ike's Rap II" by Isaac Hayes and the bassline from the Wallace Collection song "Daydream".

"Glory Box"
Single by Portishead
from the album Dummy
B-side"Toy Box"
Released2 January 1995
Recorded1994
GenreTrip hop[1]
Length5:06
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Portishead singles chronology
"Sour Times"
(1994)
"Glory Box"
(1995)
"All Mine"
(1997)

Music video

The music video is set in the 1950s, featuring lead singer Beth Gibbons as a jazz singer at a club while various office workers watch her perform. Sexual tension begins to rise between certain characters, as eventually, all of the workers, as separate couples, attend the club where Beth is performing. Apart from the band members, the entire cast of the video appears in drag.

The song can be heard in several films, such as Stealing Beauty, When the Cat's Away, The Craft, B. Monkey, Tout pour plaire, Lord of War, Claudine's Return and Wild. The song has also been used in a variety of TV shows, such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ("Chaos Theory") Daria ("Pinch Sitter"), Rescue Me ("Thaw"), Numb3rs ("And The Winner Is..." ), Ringer ("If You Ever Want a French Lesson"), American Horror Story (“Could it be....Satan?), Trigger Happy TV, Lucifer ("O, Ye of Little Faith, Father"), and The Vice ("Into The Night"). The song also features in one of the episodes of the third season of the Italian TV series "1992".

The song featured in a Levi's jeans advertisement, and a French TV advertisement for Candia milk in the early 2000s.

In 1998, British folk and blues musician John Martyn adapted the song for his covers album The Church with One Bell. The instrumental backbone of the original song has since been sampled in Alessia Cara's 2015 song "Here".

It was covered by Oscar-winning actress Olivia Colman for a 2019 Children in Need charity album titled Got It Covered.

In 2020, musician Leo Moracchioli created a metal version of the song.[3]

Track listings

CD single

  1. "Glory Box" (edit)
  2. "Toy Box"

CD maxi

  1. "Glory Box" (edit)
  2. "Toy Box"
  3. "Scorn"
  4. "Sheared Box"

12" Side one

  1. "Glory Box"
  2. "Scorn"
  3. "Sheared Box"

Side two

  1. "Strangers"
  2. "Wandering Star"

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1995) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[4][5] 96
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[6] 36
Canada Rock/Alternative (RPM)[7] 10
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[8] 41
France (SNEP)[9] 12
Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)[10] 7
Ireland (IRMA)[11] 12
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[12] 31
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[13] 25
Scotland (OCC)[14] 17
UK Singles (OCC)[15] 13

Year-end charts

Chart (1995) Position
Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)[16] 57
Chart (2019) Position
Portugal (AFP)[17] 2867

References

  1. Nyre, Lars (2009). Sound Media: From Live Journalism to Music Recording. Routledge. p. 57. ISBN 1135253773.
  2. ASCAP entry for song
  3. https://youtube.com/watch?v=CTlDz-deTJo
  4. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988-2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  5. "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 04 Jun 1995". ARIA. Retrieved 2 June 2016 via Imgur.
  6. "Ultratop.be – Portishead – Glory Box" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  7. "Top RPM Rock/Alternative Tracks: Issue 9238." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  8. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 11 no. 5. 4 February 1995. p. 36. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  9. "Lescharts.com – Portishead – Glory Box" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  10. "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (18.2 '95 – 25.2 '95)". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 18 February 1995. p. 24. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  11. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Glory Box". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  12. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 11, 1995" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  13. "Dutchcharts.nl – Portishead – Glory Box" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  14. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  15. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  16. "Árslistinn 1995". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 2 January 1996. p. 25. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  17. "Top AFP - Audiogest - Top 3000 Singles + EPs Digitais" (PDF) (in Portuguese). Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
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