A Small Victory
1992 single by Faith No More
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"A Small Victory" is the 10th track and the second single from American rock band Faith No More's fourth studio album, Angel Dust (1992), released as a single on August 3, 1992 by Slash and Reprise Records. The song was later remixed by Youth of Killing Joke and released later the same month. It was their last single to chart on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, peaking at number 11, and reached the top 30 in Finland and the United Kingdom.
| "A Small Victory" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Faith No More | ||||
| from the album Angel Dust | ||||
| B-side |
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| Released | August 3, 1992 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 4:58 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriter | Faith No More | |||
| Producer | Matt Wallace | |||
| Faith No More singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
When asked about the song's meaning, Mike Patton said:
It's kind of about, well my dad was a coach, so I grew up and I always wanted to win. And well, I found out that I just can't win every game… darn it.[3]
Artwork
The cover features a World War II photograph of a soldier loading shells, which originally featured on the cover of Life in September 1939.[4]
Music video
At the time it was described as their "most radio-friendly song"[5] and stylistically more of a "dance song" than their other works.[6] For this reason the band wanted a music video "visual to complement it."[6]
The video was directed by Marcus Nispel, known for his work with C+C Music Factory. On September 2, 1993, the music video was nominated for the MTV Video Music Awards for Best Art Direction, but lost to Madonna's song "Rain" off her album Erotica.[7]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "A Small Victory" (Video edit) | Patton | Bordin, Bottum, Gould, Patton | 4:23 |
| 2. | "A Small Victory" | Patton | Bordin, Bottum, Gould, Patton | 4:58 |
| 3. | "Let's Lynch the Landlord" | Biafra | Biafra | 2:58 |
| 4. | "Malpractice" | Patton | Patton | 4:03 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "A Small Victory" | 4:58 |
| 2. | "A Small Victory" (R-evolution 23 (Full Moon) Mix) | 7:21 |
| 3. | "Malpractice" | 4:03 |
| 4. | "A Small Victory" (Sundown Mix) | 5:27 |
| 5. | "A Small Victory" (Sundown Instrumental) | 6:05 |
| 6. | "A Small Victory" (R-evolution 23 Edit) | 3:53 |
Personnel
- Mike Patton – vocals
- Jim Martin – guitars
- Billy Gould – bass
- Roddy Bottum – keyboards
- Mike Bordin – drums
- Martin Glover – remixes
- John Brough – engineer on remixed tracks
- Green Ink – sleeve artwork
- Ross Halfin – band photo
Charts
| Chart (1992–1993) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[8] | 84 |
| Finland (The Official Finnish Charts)[9] | 17 |
| UK Singles (OCC)[10] | 29 |
| UK Airplay (Music Week)[11] | 42 |
| US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[12] | 11 |
Release history
| Region | Version | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref(s). |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | Original | August 3, 1992 |
|
[13][14] | |
| Europe | [13] | ||||
| United Kingdom | August 17, 1992 | 12-inch vinyl | [15] | ||
| Japan | August 19, 1992 | Mini-CD | [13][16] | ||
| Australia | August 24, 1992 |
|
|
[17] | |
| United Kingdom | Youth remix | August 31, 1992 |
|
|
[13][18] |
| Europe | September 1, 1992 | [13] | |||
| United States | October 29, 1992 |
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