MSM 90s: Bitter Sweet Symphony, Mitch Mann
8/27/26
By Monica Collier
The Muscle Shoals Meets annual philanthropic concerts sure are good for our souls, friends. Time is such a funny thing. Mostly, time seems to fly by but the time between MSM events feels way too long. Then, the MSM festivities seem to come and go in just the blink of an eye. We always have a great time, though, right?
I've thought about this a lot and I'm pretty sure the 1990s were the last decade where our music was also very visual. Think about it. In the 90s, we still had MTV and a good amount of full-scale, elaborate, narrative-style of videos accompanied our favorite singles. I know videos are still around now, but I think it’s safe to say the 90s were the last heyday for great music videos.
Ahhh. I can't hear The Verve's "Bitter Sweet Symphony" without “seeing” two things: 1) The opening scene of the music video. You know, the one where Richard Ashcroft is on the street walking toward us? And 2) The movie "Cruel Intentions.” Yep. I miss the 90s, y’all.
Now, thanks to this edition of Muscle Shoals Meets, I will forever “see” a third thing when I hear “Bitter Sweet Symphony” -- Mitch Mann’s beautiful MSM 90s performance. I really enjoyed Mitch sharing this song’s poignant truths of life with me that Saturday night in my hometown. It’s always nice having our Trick Fiddle front and center with his acoustic guitar singing us his heart, friends, and “Bitter Sweet Symphony” really suited him and his voice.
This second performance of the night was a grand showing. Not only was Mitch all cool and deep and angsty, but our beloved Shoals Strings were also phenomenal. Kate Taylor wrote all the strings arrangements for this year’s Muscle Shoals Meets main show with Carleigh Pickard, Cade Garcia, Christina Volz Stomachin, Kate Francis, and Rachel Gregory gracing us with their skills. Absolutely stunning performance!
Never forget … “Bitter Sweet Symphony” is somewhat famous (infamous?) because of copyright infringement lawsuits. Remember back in the day how the Verve's sampling of the Rolling Stones was called out in a court of law. It's remarkable how "Bitter Sweet Symphony" endured legal issues and emerged with its own identity. It's a great song, y'all, and now it’s famous with me because of the Fiddleworms and friends’ performance during Muscle Shoals Meets the 90s.
BTW, I was today years old when I learned that the word "bittersweet" is stylized as two words in this song's title for poetic emphasis. Well, how about that?
Stay tuned. More to come.
Dig Worms.
Photo by Devona Hawkins
