Real meaning behind The Verve's Sonnet and why it almost wasn't released

Richard Ashcroft is providing the music for this year's John Lewis Christmas advert - but The Verve's Sonnet almost wasn't released to the public

The song is always at the heart of every John Lewis Christmas advert and The Verve's Sonnet brings the 90s nostalgia we all know and love.

Focusing on the special bond between two sisters, this year's ad - The Gifting Hour - follows Sally as she desperately tries to find the perfect gift for her sister Lauren. As she's searching through a dress rack, she tumbles through it - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe-style, into her memories of their life together.

With Richard Ashcroft supporting Oasis on tour next year, the choice of song couldn't come at a better time for John Lewis - but it was chosen very early on by the team due to its lyrics, which worked well with the message of their ad.

"We actually decided on the Verve track quite early on because the lyric 'Looking through her red box of memories/ Faded I'm sure' absolutely hits it," Charlotte Lock, John Lewis Customer Director, says. "It felt like that early 90s rock. It's one of those, it's a moving one so hopefully it will hit the spot."

The Verve nearly didn't release their song Sonnet back in 1997 because they were releuctant to over-release from their popular album Urban Hymns. After some insistence from their label, Hut, they eventually agreed but only on the condition that it was part of a limited edition of 5,000 copies that would make it ineligible for chart recognition.

There has been much speculation over the meaning of Sonnet, particularly surrounding the line of the "red box of memories". Quizzed back in 2018 by unofficial American fansite The Verve Live, he was asked whether there was a specific "red box of memories" that triggered the song.

"Yes, yeah there was. We even took a picture of it, actually. In England it came on an Urban Hymns deluxe thing at some point and I remember photographing the actual box for the sleeve," he said.

The interpretation of the song is up for debate, but it explores themes of longing, love and nostalgia. In the past, Richard has been deliberately vague regarding the specific meaning of his songs, leaving it up to listeners to come up with their own thoughts. A sonnet is a Shakespearan form of poetry and tend to be platonic traditional love poems of 14 lines.

Unlike other years, the original track plays in the ad - however, there will be a very unique cover playing on Christmas Day. The retailer is offering aspiring musicians the chance to send in their own covers of the song as part of a nationwide talent search from November 15 on TikTok. The winner - chosen by Richard Ashcroft and a panel of judges - will record their own version of Sonnet, which will be featured in the ad on December 25. Their cover single will also be released by BMG, with proceeds donated to the Building Happier Futures charity, and will be awarded a £3,000 John Lewis shopping spree and tickets to a Richard Ashcroft headline show in 2025.

"It's definitely speaking to our customers and lots of people - 90s is getting a bit of nostalgia," she continues. "y kids - who are in their 20s - love 90s music. They've got Green Day, Oasis and the Verve on their walls so it's definitely getting that moment but we wanted to have the music match the memory. But in doing the cover version we can modernise it as well, that's the intent. And music is a huge thing. Every year there's a lot of speculation and often the song will go to number 1. We're hoping that it does with our cover because it all goes to charity."

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