If I Ever Feel Better Explained

If I Ever Feel Better
Cover:	Phoenix - If I Ever Feel Better.png
Type:	single
Artist:	Phoenix
Album:	United
Genre:	Indie pop, pop rock
Length:	3:42
Label:	Virgin
Producer:	Phoenix Philippe Zdar
Prev Title:	Too Young
Prev Year:	1999
Next Title:	Everything Is Everything
Next Year:	2004

"If I Ever Feel Better" is a song by French band Phoenix, released on 1 June 2000 as the third single from their debut studio album, United. It contains a sample of Japanese jazz musician Toshiyuki Honda's 1979 track "Lament", which was written by Chikara Ueda.^[1] The song remains Phoenix's highest charting in both France and internationally, reaching top-10 positions in Belgium, Italy and Spain, as well as number 12 in France. It was certified gold in Italy by FIMI in 2017.

Critical reception

In a review for the band's album It's Never Been Like That, Rob Mitchum of Pitchfork referred to the song and "Everything Is Everything" as "brilliant" with "production as crisp as a Frito and singer Thomas Mars' mercury croon" that "could slot into the playlists of hipsters and receptionists alike".^[2] In a review for Erlend Øye's DJ-Kicks album that includes a remix of the track, Nick Sylvester called the original version an "utterly catchy French house gem".^[3]

Track listing

1. "If I Ever Feel Better" (edit) – 3:42
2. "'If I Ever Feel Better, I'll Go to the Disco' Said the Buffalo Bunch" – 6:09
3. "On Fire" (Nash Kato version) – 2:05

Charts

Chart (2000–2001)!scope="col"

Peak position
Netherlands (Tipparade)^[4]	8

Notes and References

1. United. 2000. liner notes. Virgin Records. 7243 8 488532 8.
2. Web site: Phoenix: It's Never Been Like That Album Review. Pitchfork. Mitchum. Rob. 24 May 2006. 11 January 2023.
3. Web site: Erlend Øye: DJ Kicks Album Review. Pitchfork. Sylvester. Nick. 7 May 2004. 11 January 2023.
4. Web site: Phoenix – If I Ever Feel Better. Dutch Top 40. nl. 11 January 2023.