{{Short description|1995 single by Paul Weller}} {{Infobox song | name = Broken Stones | cover = Broken Stones cover.jpg | alt = | type = single | artist = Paul Weller | album = Stanley Road | B-side = Steam | released = {{start date|1995|9|18|df=y}} | recorded = | studio = | venue = | length = {{Duration|m=03|s=16}} | label = Go! Discs | writer = Paul Weller | producer = * Brendan Lynch * Paul Weller | prev_title = You Do Something to Me | prev_year = 1995 | next_title = Out of the Sinking | next_year = 1996 }}
"'''Broken Stones'''" is a song by English singer-songwriter Paul Weller, released in September 1995 by Go! Discs as the fourth single from his third solo album, ''Stanley Road'' (1995). It was written by Weller and co-produced by him with Brendan Lynch. The song reached {{abbr|No.|Number}} 20 on the UK Singles Chart the same month. Weller was inspired to write the track after a conversation he had with his son at the beach, with the idea that people were like a broken stone trying to become whole again.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.songfacts.com/facts/paul-weller/broken-stones|title=Broken Stones|publisher=Songfacts|access-date=28 March 2020}}</ref>
==Critical reception== Pan-European magazine ''Music & Media'' wrote, "Mid-tempo scorchers like 'Broken Stones' with its Memphis-soul-meets-New-Orleans feeling keep the rhythmic tension at cooking level."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/90s/1995/MM-1995-05-27.pdf|title=New Releases: Albums|magazine=Music & Media|volume=12|issue=21|date=27 May 1995|page=17|access-date=14 March 2025}}</ref> Ted Kessler from ''NME'' named the song a "soul ballad" and "a distant and healthy cousin of The Jam's 'Ghosts{{'"}}.<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Ted|last=Kessler|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/nothingelseon/53466044311/|title=Long Play|work=NME|date=20 May 1995|page=44|access-date=26 January 2024}}</ref>
==Charts== {|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" !Chart (1995) !Peak<br/>position |- !scope="row"|Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Eurochart Hot 100 Singles|magazine=Music & Media|volume=12|issue=40|page=22|date=7 October 1995}}</ref> |81 |- {{single chart|Scotland|11|date=19950930|rowheader=true|access-date=14 June 2023}} |- {{single chart|UK|20|date=19950930|rowheader=true|access-date=14 June 2023}} |}
==Release history== {|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" !scope="col"|Region !scope="col"|Date !scope="col"|Format(s) !scope="col"|Label(s) !scope="col"|{{abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |- !scope="row"|United Kingdom |18 September 1995 |{{hlist|7-inch vinyl|CD|cassette}} |rowspan="2"|Go! Discs |<ref>{{cite magazine|title=New Releases: Singles|magazine=Music Week|page=49|date=16 September 1995}}</ref> |- !scope="row"|Australia |30 October 1995 |{{hlist|CD|cassette}} |<ref>{{cite magazine|title=New Releases – Product Available from : 30/10/95: Singles|magazine=The ARIA Report|issue=298|page=21|date=29 October 1995}}</ref> |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Paul Weller}} {{Authority control}}
Category:1995 singles Category:1995 songs Category:Go! Discs singles Category:Song recordings produced by Brendan Lynch (music producer) Category:Songs written by Paul Weller Category:Paul Weller songs
{{1990s-UK-single-stub}}