Dirty vegas: how a broken heart became the song of the summer

Songs with plaintive lyrics don't usually get used to sell cars. But there is good reason why "Days Go By," by the Brit trio Dirty Vegas, was snatched up by Mitsubishi for a U.S. commercial after it had already been a Top 20 hit across Europe. There's hardly a human being with a pulse who could not relate to the tune's obsessive, heart-bruised lyrics. "Days go by and still I think of you," intones singer Steve Smith, with a zombie-like air of disbelief that lets you know this is nonfiction songwriting. Of course, despite the song's emotional truth, about five people would be humming it today (as opposed to the tens of thousands who can't get it out of their heads) had it remained in its original form-an acoustic ditty Smith wrote on the Spanish island of Ibiza, where he went to recover from a breakup.

Working by night as a percussionist at the famed London nightclub Ministry of Sound, Smith got the idea to marry his mournful folk-rock song to the club's monolithic, bass-heavy acid house music. "I was hearing all these wicked tracks at Ministry of Sound," says Smith. "And I thought, Why does it have to be just anonymous beats and percussion? A song could fit on the backdrop of that kind of music."

Joining forces with DJ Paul Harris and producer Ben Harris (no relation), Smith soon had a band and, after two days in a London studio, a demo. The result: Immediate radio play on Britain's Radio 1, a self-titled hit CD (Capitol Records) and the closest thing to overnight success real life has to offer.

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