Written by Roxy Music lead singer Bryan Ferry, "More Than This" explores the end of a relationship through a tone of existential despair. In an
interview with Vulture on August 16, 2022, Ferry explained why he believes the song endures.
"It uses very few words, but it seems to get them in the right order," he said. "It's introspective. It's great when that type of emotion strikes a chord with people. Some of the other songs that I've done with the band and on my solo records have been a bit more obscure, but 'More Than This' really appealed to people."
This song, alongside the rest of the
Avalon album, was written while Ferry was staying in Ireland, a place he says inspired the sound of the music. "People tended to like the overall mood of the album, which had a unique sound," Ferry told
The Mail on Sunday on June 28, 2009. "I like to think that some of the dark melancholy of the album comes from that place. After the record was finished I returned to the west coast of Ireland to photograph the album cover."
Ferry's vocal ends at 2:45, leaving the last 1:45 as a synth-driven instrumental. This is unusual for pop music, which thrives on vocal-heavy hooks and arrangements.
"Veronica Veronese" by the British artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti was chosen as the cover art for "More Than This." The 1872 painting shows Pre-Raphaelite model Alexa Wilding in deep thought while strumming a violin. A representation of "the artistic soul in the act of creation," "Veronica Veronese" matches the luxurious romanticism of Avalon.
The video for this song begins with Ferry singing beneath a neon cross. It then cuts to him sitting in a movie theater, with the cinema screen showing footage of Roxy Music performing the song on a stage lit with fire. Ferry commented to Vulture: "We made a music video for 'More Than This.' That was never my favorite thing, making videos. Being in the studio and making records was exciting for me and still is."
-
Roxy Music performed "More Than This" during the first three dates of the Avalon tour in Ireland in 1982. However, the band struggled with the live arrangement and dropped the song from the setlist. Eventually, "More Than This" was brought back for the Roxy Music reunion tour in 2001. They also performed it when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 29, 2019.
This song appears in the 2003 film
Lost in Translation, with Bill Murray's character, Bob Harris, singing it in a karaoke bar in Tokyo. According to director Sofia Coppola, Murray had no idea how high the notes went. She told
Esquire on June 22, 2017: "When Bill does the shot and says, 'This is hard,' before singing 'More Than This,' that was an ad-lib."
In the 2019 film
Knives Out, Toni Collette's character, Joni Thrombey, dances to the song. Director Rian Johnson said Collette chose the song.
Other films to use "More Than This" include
200 Cigarettes (1999),
Matchstick Men (2003), and
Book Club (2018). The song also makes several televised appearances in the likes of
Community (2014),
The Americans (2017), and
Pam & Tommy (2022).
The 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City includes this song on the radio station Emotion 98.3. Hosted by the recurring radio personality Fernando Martinez, Emotion 98.3 describes itself as "the station for laughter and sorrow, heartbreak and tears, and those post-therapy session blues."
The American alternative rock band 10,000 Maniacs covered "More Than This" on their 1997 album Love Among the Ruins. Mary Ramsey was their lead singer at this point, as previous frontwoman Natalie Merchant had recently left the group to pursue a solo career. The cover reached #25 in the US.
The British pop singer Emmie released a dance version of "More Than This" in 1999. Produced by Mark Hadfield and Adam Ryan Carter, the cover was a hit single throughout Europe, peaking at #5 in the UK.
Other artists who have covered the song include Norah Jones and Charlie Hunter (2001), Blondie (2006), and Susanna Hoffs and Matthew Sweet (2013).
The title is quite durable and instantly associated with the band. In 1995, Roxy Music released a compilation album named after the song. Featuring a mixture of Roxy Music and Ferry solo hits, More Than This went Platinum in the UK.
In 2008, the BBC aired a documentary called More Than This: The Story of Roxy Music. Directed by the Grammy Award-winning filmmaker Bob Smeaton, it includes interviews with all members of Roxy Music alongside the likes of Bono of U2, Nile Rodgers of Chic, and John Taylor of Duran Duran.
"More Than This" was the first single unveiled from Avalon. The single version, which features slightly different sound effects and guitar processing, was Roxy Music's last Top 10 hit in the UK, peaking at #6.
While it remains one of Roxy Music's most recognized songs in America, when "More Than This" was first released in the US, it had little impact on the charts, bubbling under at just #102. Many college radio stations played the song, but commercial stations stayed away for the most part.
Roxy Music occupied just a small niche in America, where they hit the Top 40 just once ("
Love Is the Drug" – #30 in 1975), but they were far more successful in the UK.
Avalon was Roxy Music's eighth and final album and their biggest seller, reaching #1 in several countries, including the UK, Canada, and Australia. The band started out as more of a glam-rock outfit, but they later turned to melancholy pop, with this song being the apotheosis of that sound. Ferry embarked on a successful solo career after Roxy Music broke up, but remained far more popular in the UK, where his 1985 album Boys and Girls went to #1.