Mrs. Potter's Lullaby

2000 single by Counting Crows

"Mrs. Potter's Lullaby"

Single by Counting Crows

from the album This Desert Life

B-side

"All My Friends"^[1]

Released

April 3, 2000 (2000-04-03)

Length

7:46

Label

DGC

Songwriter(s)

David Bryson, Adam Duritz, Charlie Gillingham, Matt Malley, Ben Mize, Dan Vickrey

Producer(s)

David Lowery, Dennis Herring

Counting Crows singles chronology

"Hanginaround"
(1999)

"Mrs. Potter's Lullaby"
(2000)

"All My Friends"
(2000)

"Mrs. Potter's Lullaby" is a single by American rock band Counting Crows. It is the second track on their third album, This Desert Life (1999). The song reached number three on the US Billboard Adult Alternative Songs chart and number 16 on the Canadian RPM Top 30 Rock Report. In April 2022, American Songwriter ranked the song at number three on their list of "The Top 10 Counting Crows Songs".^[2]

Background

The band's frontman, Adam Duritz, has stated that the song was written about actress Monica Potter.^[3] Duritz, who has based other songs on real people, explained that this song was influenced by an imaginary version of the actress, based on seeing her onscreen in Con Air (1997) and Patch Adams (1998).^[4] They ended up meeting for the first time at dinner with entertainment industry friends on the day the band was recording the song, and Potter returned to the studio with Duritz to watch them work.^[4] At the end of the session, a production assistant gave Potter a recording of one of the takes.^[4] Afterwards, Duritz told Potter the song was being dropped because over production after the recording session had ruined it.^[4] She gave him her copy, which was the fourth of eight takes that had been recorded while she was in the studio.^[4] This version was subsequently added to the album.^[3]

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2000)	Peak position
Canada Rock/Alternative (RPM)^[5]	16
US Adult Alternative Songs (Billboard)^[6]	3
US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)^[7]	40

Year-end charts

Chart (2000)	Position
US Triple-A (Billboard)^[8]	11

Release history

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label(s)	Ref(s).
United States	April 3, 2000	Adult contemporary hot adult contemporary modern adult contemporary radio	DGC	^[9]^[10]
United States	April 18, 2000	Contemporary hit radio	DGC	^[11]

References

^ Mrs. Potter's Lullaby (US 7-inch single vinyl disc). Counting Crows. DGC Records. 2000. 069497411-7.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^ Uitti, Jacob (April 29, 2022). "The Top 10 Counting Crows Songs". American Songwriter. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
^ ^a ^b Furness, Dyllan (July 19, 2016). "The Serendipitous Events Behind "Mrs. Potter's Lullaby"". New Times Broward-Palm Beach. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Cronin, Brian (June 28, 2021). "How Did Monica Potter Save the Counting Crows' Song, "Mrs. Potter's Lullaby"?". Entertainment Legends Revealed.
^ "Top RPM Rock/Alternative Tracks: Issue 7219." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
^ "Counting Crows Chart History (Adult Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
^ "Counting Crows Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
^ "The Best of 2000: Most Played Triple-A Songs". Airplay Monitor. Vol. 8, no. 51. December 22, 2000. p. 44.
^ "Going for Adds". Radio & Records. No. 1344. March 31, 2000. pp. 74, 78.
^ "Gavin AC/Hot AC: Impact Dates". Gavin Report. No. 2298. March 31, 2000. p. 32.
^ "Gavin Top 40/Rhythm Crossover: Impact Dates". Gavin Report. No. 2300. April 14, 2000. p. 7.