Richard Ashcroft of the Verve was not a happy man before the release of Urban Hymns, or a very rich one. He had to share a house with a Bulgarian called Milov. He had little money and the house they shared was broken down and decaying. One day, Richard decided to go shopping. It was a greyish day, with little dots of sunlight pricking through the sky. He wanted to get some replacement mats for his landing in the house, as the ones they had were mouldy. He went to the nearest shop, but they didn't have any nylon mats, only ones made out of thread. So, he took the bus into town. He went to a big shop called Shagpile. He thought "Well, if they don't have them in here, they won't have them anywhere." He went up to the assistant and asked "Do you have any nylon mats?" But the assistant said no. "They do have some up the road, but its about a miles walk." He added. So Richard went down the road, past the river and past the place where once he had shared a house with a German friend. He eventually got to another branch of Shagpile, and went inside. As she went in, a girl walked past with a nylon carpet. Richard thought he was an assistant. But the girl said "Oh no, this is mine. I think its the last one in the shop." And indeed, the shop had sold out of mats. Richard walked home, feeling sad and dejected. As he walked past the river, he saw a brown sack. He walked to the embankment and fished it out with a stick. Inside, to his surprise, he found a small furry animal. "Ahhh, how could someone do this to such a sweet thing?" He said. Then he remembered that his Bulgarian room mate had said he wanted a pet. So, he picked it up and began the long walk home. When he finally got home, he saw that Milov had fallen over on the carpet. It was a sad fact that Milov was actually blind. Often, Richard would play him his tunes, but Milov was also partially deaf. Richard could see the indentation left by Milov's face on the mat. "Urgh, that's disgusting!" He yelled. Milov came out of the kitchen. He said to Richard "So, did you get a carpet?" Richard said no, he hadn't been able to. "Oh, that's a shame. But you could have got a thread one. We've just been getting so much mould on this rug!" Richard was on the stairs now and he turned round and looked Milov straight in the eye and said.. "All this talk of getting mould, its getting me down, Milov. Like a cat in the bag, waiting to drown? This time, I'm coming down. And I know I'm on a losing streak. 'Cause I passed down my old street. And if you want to show, then just let me know and I'll sing in your ear again. But thread rugs don't work, they just make things worse and I know I'll see your face again." "Ready?" Said Milov. "No, Thread rugs don't work, they just make you worse and I know I'll see your face again."