A Small Victory

"A Small Victory" is the 10th track and the second single from American rock band Faith No More's fourth studio album Angel Dust, released as a single on August 3, 1992. The song was later remixed by Youth of Killing Joke and released later the same month. It was their last single to chart on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, peaking at number 11, and reached the top 30 in Finland and the United Kingdom. When asked about the song's meaning, Mike Patton said:

It's kind of about, well my dad was a coach, so I grew up and I always wanted to win. And well, I found out that I just can't win every game… darn it.[1]

"A Small Victory"
Single by Faith No More
from the album Angel Dust
B-side
  • "Let's Lynch the Landlord"
  • "Malpractice"
ReleasedAugust 3, 1992 (1992-08-03)
StudioCoast Recorders, Brilliant (San Francisco, California)
Genre
Length4:57
Label
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
  • Mike Patton
Producer(s)Matt Wallace
Faith No More singles chronology
"Midlife Crisis"
(1992)		 "A Small Victory"
(1992)		 "Everything's Ruined"
(1992)

Artwork

The cover features a World War II photograph of a soldier loading shells, which originally featured on the cover of Life in September 1939.[2]

Music video

At the time it was described as their "most radio-friendly song"[3] and stylistically more of a "dance song" than their other works.[4] For this reason the band wanted a music video "visual to complement it."[4]

The video was directed by Marcus Nispel, known for his work with C+C Music Factory. On September 2, 1993, the music video was nominated for the MTV Video Music Awards for Best Art Direction, but lost to Madonna's song "Rain" off her album Erotica.[5]

Track lists
Standard track list
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."A Small Victory" (Video edit)PattonBordin, Bottum, Gould, Patton4:23
2."A Small Victory"PattonBordin, Bottum, Gould, Patton4:58
3."Let's Lynch The Landlord"BiafraBiafra2:58
4."Malpractice"PattonPatton4:03
Remix track list
No.TitleLength
1."A Small Victory"4:58
2."A Small Victory" (R-evolution 23 (Full Moon) Mix)7:21
3."Malpractice"4:03
4."A Small Victory" (Sundown Mix)5:27
5."A Small Victory" (Sundown Instrumental)6:05
6."A Small Victory" (R-evolution 23 Edit)3:53

Personnel

Charts
Chart (1992–1993) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[6] 84
Finland (The Official Finnish Charts)[7] 17
UK Singles (OCC)[8] 29
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[9] 11

Release history
Region Version Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref(s).
United Kingdom Original August 3, 1992
  • 7-inch vinyl
  • CD
  • cassette
[10][11]
Europe [10]
United Kingdom August 17, 1992 12-inch vinyl [12]
Japan August 19, 1992 Mini-CD [10][13]
United Kingdom Youth remix August 31, 1992
  • 12-inch vinyl
  • CD
  • cassette
 [10][14]
Europe September 1, 1992 [10]
United States October 29, 1992
  • CD
  • cassette

References
  1. fnm.com, FAQ page q30
  2. "LIFE Magazine September 18, 1939". Originallifemagazines.com. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  3. Nathan Ammons; Tim Newman (January 27, 1993). "Talking music and zoning with Roddy Bottom of Faith No More". Public News, Houston, Texas. Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved August 7, 2008.
  4. Marina Zogbi (1992). "Faith No More: The Long & Dusty Road". Archived from the original on April 15, 2013. Retrieved July 25, 2008.
  5. rockonthenet.com, page on the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards, retrieved on January 6, 2008
  6. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988-2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  7. Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
  8. "Faith No More: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
  9. "Faith No More Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
  10. "The fnm.com Faith No More Discography" (PDF). fnm.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 4, 2003. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
  11. "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. August 1, 1992. p. 19.
  12. "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. August 15, 1992. p. 21.
  13. "ア・スモール・ヴィクトリー | フェイス・ノー・モア" [A Small Victory | Faith No More] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  14. "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. August 29, 1992. p. 17.
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