# The Changingman > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/The_Changingman > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/The_Changingman.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Changingman > Source revision: 1300366803 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|1995 single by Paul Weller}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}} {{Infobox song | name = The Changingman | cover = The Changingman cover.jpg | caption = Promotional single cover | alt = | type = single | artist = [Paul Weller](/source/Paul_Weller) | album = [Stanley Road](/source/Stanley_Road) | released = {{start date|1995|4|24|df=y}} | recorded = | studio = | venue = | genre = * [Britpop](/source/Britpop) * [psychedelic rock](/source/psychedelic_rock) * [blues rock](/source/blues_rock) | length = {{Duration|m=4|s=2}} | label = [Go! Discs](/source/Go!_Discs) | writer = * [Brendan Lynch](/source/Brendan_Lynch_(music_producer)) * Paul Weller | producer = * Brendan Lynch * Paul Weller | prev_title = [Out of the Sinking](/source/Out_of_the_Sinking) | prev_year = 1994 | next_title = [You Do Something to Me](/source/You_Do_Something_to_Me_(Paul_Weller_song)) | next_year = 1995 }} "'''The Changingman'''" is a song by British singer-songwriter [Paul Weller](/source/Paul_Weller), released in April 1995 by [Go! Discs](/source/Go!_Discs) as the lead single from his third solo album, ''[Stanley Road](/source/Stanley_Road)'' (1995).{{Cite book|last=Fujiwara|first=Chris|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z-2-CQAAQBAJ&dq=The+Cardinal+Preminger+Ring+Lardner&pg=PA301|title=The World and Its Double: The Life and Work of Otto Preminger|date=14 July 2015|publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux|isbn=978-1-4668-9423-5}} The song charted at number seven on the [UK Singles Chart](/source/UK_Singles_Chart).{{Cite web |title=ShieldSquare Block |url=https://validate.perfdrive.com/?ssa=840dba6b-c8a4-47d1-9e55-072c52efcd42&ssb=32127312576&ssc=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.songfacts.com%2Ffacts%2Fpaul-weller%2Fthe-changingman&ssi=e3093466-89ae-cee4-25ee-f80f72f3d3bc&ssk=support@shieldsquare.com&ssm=81579001603942834104451213620942&ssn=d4547252d3478cf19f008d0fd7f64eece3e4b710d0fb-ae8e-4fab-a2e456&sso=23833f27-977960d6221f381703caaa85b16e797343ed19e95ea61772&ssp=22246195311672898690167285463145820&ssq=79226565936469043534559364410211246015378&ssr=MjA4LjgwLjE1NC4yOQ==&sst=ZoteroTranslationServer/WMF%20(mailto:noc@wikimedia.org)&ssv=bm91c2VyaWQ=&ssw= |access-date=4 January 2023 |website=validate.perfdrive.com}} ==Background== "The Changingman" was co-written by [Brendan Lynch](/source/Brendan_Lynch_(music_producer)), and performed, written and produced by [Paul Weller](/source/Paul_Weller), who sings and plays guitar, piano and shakers on the record. [Carleen Anderson](/source/Carleen_Anderson) provides back-up vocals, as does [Steve Cradock](/source/Steve_Cradock) and [Dr. Robert](/source/The_Blow_Monkeys), who also play the guitar and bass guitar respectively. In addition, [Steve White](/source/Steve_White_(drummer)) plays drums and Lynch played the Cyremin.{{cite AV media notes|title=Stanley Road|others=[Paul Weller](/source/Paul_Weller)|publisher=[Go! Discs](/source/Go!_Discs)}}{{cite book|title=Paul Weller: My Ever Changing Moods|page=422|first=John|last=Reed|publisher=Omnibus Press|date=5 November 2009}} Weller claimed that the song's title came from the name his daughter Leah gave to one of her dolls, although at the time his friend Terry Rawlings managed a band called that. The song expresses Weller's mantra of breaking things up if they are getting too comfortable; the previous year, he had divorced his wife, [Dee C. Lee](/source/Dee_C._Lee), breaking up what appeared to the public to be a happy marriage. In an interview with [''Mojo''](/source/Mojo_(magazine)) in 2010, he expressed that this was because there were senses "that things were going too well, we were too happy, too comfortable, everything seemed too nice [and] that for me as a writer and an artist I might lose my edge. I had to break the shape up, re-arrange things", noting that said turmoil supplanted the lyrics of the entire [parent album](/source/Stanley_Road) and stated that the lyric 'numbed by the effect, aware of the muse, too in touch with myself, I light the fuse' "was about the process of causing chaos around you".{{cite web|url=http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=9227|title=The Changingman by Paul Weller|publisher=Songfacts}} The main riff is an interpolation of "[10538 Overture](/source/10538_Overture)" by [Electric Light Orchestra](/source/Electric_Light_Orchestra).{{Cite book |last=Hewitt |first=Paolo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OkQU2L_iAQ0C&pg=PA284 |title=Paul Weller: The Changing Man |date=2008 |publisher=Corgi |isbn=978-0-552-15609-7 |language=en}} ==Chart performance== The song peaked at number seven on the [UK Singles Chart](/source/UK_Singles_Chart), spending four weeks on the chart and becoming Weller's first solo top-10 hit.{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/11609/paul-weller/|title=Paul Weller {{!}} full Official Chart History|publisher=[The Official Charts Company](/source/The_Official_Charts_Company)}} ==Critical reception== [John Robb](/source/John_Robb_(musician)) from ''[Melody Maker](/source/Melody_Maker)'' wrote, "'The Changing Man' is not a godlike record but, in some ways, it's reassuring to hear one of the old fellas from the late Seventies still cut some action."{{cite magazine|first=John|last=Robb|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/nothingelseon/53446889061/|title=Singles|magazine=[Melody Maker](/source/Melody_Maker)|date=29 April 1995|page=34|access-date=12 January 2024|author-link=John Robb (musician)}} Another ''Melody Maker'' editor, [David Stubbs](/source/David_Stubbs), remarked "the classic mid-period [Who](/source/The_Who) chimes" of the song.{{cite magazine|first=David|last=Stubbs|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/nothingelseon/53459679056/|title=Albums|magazine=[Melody Maker](/source/Melody_Maker)|date=13 May 1995|page=36|access-date=13 January 2024|author-link=David Stubbs}} Ted Kessler from ''[NME](/source/New_Musical_Express)'' praised it as a "well-crafted" single, describing it as "churning, darkly introspective".{{cite magazine|first=Ted|last=Kessler|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/nothingelseon/53466044311/|title=Long Play|magazine=[NME](/source/New_Musical_Express)|date=20 May 1995|page=44|access-date=26 January 2024}} [Boy George](/source/Boy_George) reviewed the song for ''[Select](/source/Select_(magazine))'' saying, "He's turning into early [Eric Clapton](/source/Eric_Clapton) in some ways..which is no bad thing. It's just very passionate, and that's something I go for in my heroes."{{cite magazine|first=Boy|last=George|url=https://selectmagazinescans.monkeon.co.uk/showpage.php?file=wp-content/uploads/2011/06/boygeorge.jpg|title=New Singles|magazine=[Select](/source/Select_(magazine))|date=June 1995|page=|access-date=13 December 2024|author-link=Boy George}} ==Music video== A music video was produced for the song. It alternates between clips of Weller singing and playing guitar, shots of model Anjela Lauren Smith dancing, and assorted symbols.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v9WhRpQw8E|title=Paul Weller – The Changingman|date=8 October 2009 |publisher=[YouTube](/source/YouTube)}} ==Certifications== {{Certification Table Top}} {{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Paul Weller|title=The Changingman|award=Silver|relyear=1995|certyear=2021|id=17185-614-1|access-date=23 April 2021}} {{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|noshipments=true|streaming=true}} ==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 |24 April 1995 |{{hlist|7-inch vinyl|CD|cassette}} |[Go! Discs](/source/Go!_Discs) |{{cite magazine|title=New Releases: Singles|magazine=[Music Week](/source/Music_Week)|page=43|date=22 April 1995}} |- !scope="row"|United States |12 June 1995 |{{hlist|[Progressive rock](/source/Progressive_rock_(radio_format))|[alternative radio](/source/alternative_radio)}} |{{hlist|Go! Discs|[London](/source/London_Records)}} |{{cite magazine|title=New Music for June|magazine=[Radio & Records](/source/Radio_%26_Records)|issue=1096|pages=78, 83|date=26 May 1995}} |} ==References== {{Reflist}} {{Paul Weller}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Changingman}} Category:1995 singles Category:1995 songs Category:Go! Discs singles Category:London Records singles Category:Song recordings produced by Brendan Lynch (music producer) Category:Songs written by Paul Weller Category:Paul Weller songs --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [The Changingman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Changingman) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Changingman?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.