View source for Cold Contagious

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2014}}
{{Infobox song
| name       = Cold Contagious
| cover      = bush_cold_contagious.png
| alt        =
| type       = single
| artist     = [[Bush (British band)|Bush]]
| album      = [[Razorblade Suitcase]]
| released   = 20 December 1997 (Australia)
| recorded   =
| studio     =
| venue      =
| genre      = [[Post-grunge]]
| length     = 6:00 (Album version) <br> 3:55 (Radio edit)
| label      = [[Trauma Records|Trauma]]/[[Interscope Records|Interscope]]
| writer     = [[Gavin Rossdale]]
| producer   = [[Steve Albini]]
| prev_title = [[Bonedriven]]
| prev_year  = 1997
| next_title = [[Mouth (Bush song)|Mouth (The Stingray Mix)]]
| next_year  = 1998
}}

"'''Cold Contagious'''" is the fourth and final single from the band [[Bush (British band)|Bush]]'s second studio album, ''[[Razorblade Suitcase]]'' (1996). Along with "Bonedriven", "Cold Contagious" is the only Bush single from 1994-1999 not to be included on the band's 2005 greatest hits compilation, ''[[The Best of '94–'99]]''.

==Style and lyrics==
"Cold Contagious" features a sharp distorted sound, wailing guitar solo and a heavy, dark drumbeat.  The lyrics seem to be about a relationship breaking up, accompanied by a desire for revenge.  "Cold Contagious" is unusually long among Bush songs—at about six minutes, it is the longest track Bush ever released, except for the song "Distant Voices," also on ''Razorblade Suitcase'', and "Alien" on ''[[Sixteen Stone]]'', which is the same length musically but has about thirty seconds of silence at the end. "Distant Voices" contains two hidden tracks. The radio edit of "Cold Contagious" is much shorter.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

Steve Morse of ''[[Tampa Bay Times]]'' opined "Cold Contagious" displays a "[[Neil Young]] influence".<ref name="tbt">{{cite news |last1=Morse |first1=Steve |title=Bush Heartthrob taking a beating |url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1996/11/22/bush-heartthrob-taking-a-beating/ |accessdate=31 August 2020 |work=Tampa Bay Times |date=17 September 2005}}</ref>

==Music video==
Directed by Mark Lebon in March and April 1997, the video was shot in [[West Palm Beach, Florida]] at the Days Inn Hotel (Hotel room used was 211), [[East Rutherford, New Jersey]] and in [[Madison Square Garden]] in [[New York City|New York]]. [[Dave Parsons]]' girlfriend is also in the video.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://onesecondbush.com/bush/media/videos/ |title=Music Video History at OneSecondBush.com - A Comprehensive Fan Site for the Band Bush |accessdate=2011-11-01 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220231659/http://onesecondbush.com/bush/media/videos |archivedate=20 February 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

==Chart performance==
While ''Razorblade Suitcase'' initially reached the top spot on the U.S. [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]], its sound proved not to be as radio-friendly as that of Bush's debut album, ''[[Sixteen Stone]]''. "Cold Contagious" was not a big hit, peaking at No. 18 on the [[Mainstream Rock Tracks]] chart and No. 23 on the [[Modern Rock Tracks]] chart, although it was more successful than the third single from the album, "[[Bonedriven]]", which failed to chart at all in the U.S.

The single reached No. 4 on Canada's alternative rock chart.

==Track listing==
*'''AUS CD Single''' <small>IND95548 (Digipak)</small>
*#"Cold Contagious (Radio Edit)" - 3:55
*#"[[Swallowed (song)|Swallowed]] ([[Goldie]] Remix)" - 5:50
*#"Synapse (My Ghost in the Bush of Life Remix)" - 6:29
*#"In a Lonely Place" - 6:00

==Charts==
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
!Chart (1997)
!Peak<br>position
|-
!scope="row"|Australia ([[ARIA Charts|ARIA]])<ref>{{cite book|last=Ryan|first=Gavin|title=Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010|year=2011|publisher=Moonlight Publishing|location=Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia}}</ref>
|align="center"|75
|-
{{single chart|Canadatopsingles|57|artist=Bush|chartid=3252|rowheader=true|access-date=14 May 2021}}
|-
{{single chart|Canadarock|4|artist=Bush|chartid= 3223|rowheader=true|access-date=14 May 2021}}
|-
{{single chart|Billboardalternativesongs|23|artist=Bush|rowheader=true|access-date=11 March 2017}}
|-
{{single chart|Billboardmainstreamrock|18|artist=Bush|rowheader=true|access-date=11 March 2017}}
|}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*{{youtube|6WU6F5-5Lko|"Cold Contagious" Official music video}}

{{Bush}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:1996 songs]]
[[Category:1997 singles]]
[[Category:Bush (British band) songs]]
[[Category:Song recordings produced by Steve Albini]]
[[Category:Songs written by Gavin Rossdale]]
[[Category:Interscope Records singles]]
[[Category:Trauma Records singles]]
[[Category:Grunge songs]]


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