The Alternative Number Ones: Bush’s “Swallowed”

In The Alternative Number Ones, I’m reviewing every #1 single in the history of the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks/Alternative Songs, starting with the moment that the chart launched in 1988. This column is a companion piece to The Number Ones. The column is now biweekly, alternating with The Number Ones on Mondays.

Did you watch the Bush Tiny Desk Concert? I watched it. It was what I was expected. A couple of weeks ago, Gavin Rossdale parked himself in the NPR offices. He brought along three guys who were not in Bush in the '90s, and they played artfully arranged versions of ultra-familiar '90s songs like "Glycerine," as well as one newer song that, I swear to god, is called "I Beat Loneliness." Rossdale wore a T-shirt that looked expensively moth-eaten, if that makes any sense. He is 60 years old now, and he remains way more stupidly handsome than any just god would allow. If he's had work done, it's that good work — none of that Mar-A-Lago face for our boy. He is no Goo Goo Doll. It's probably easier to beat loneliness if you still look like that.