A beautiful guitar pop track, with superbly recorded 12 string and electric guitars, and an immaculately serious, yet shy vocal. Hearing it now, I'm amazed at how well this track has aged. To me, the beauty of the song lies more in the intricacy of its guitar parts than any musical or lyrical innovation. The guitar playing recalls the best indie guitar music of the 80s, particularly Johnny Marr. I remember seeing the band not long after this record came out. The guitarist seemed very shy, and faced the side of the stage, staring into his Rickenbacker. To cap all of this brilliance, this song features a superb fake ending, after which the instrumental refrain comes back in for a final few glorious moments.
from So Said Kay (Sarah Records SARAH 38) available on CD - Where'd You Learn To Kiss That Way? (Shinkansen Recordings)
10 Jun 04 ·farawayfriend: The field mice are one of the great unknown pop bands... a truly gorgeous song by an amazing artist.
Surprised to see nothing by the Pet Shop Boys on Musical Taste. Now the only remaining intelligent British pop act, the Pet Shop Boys have consistently mixed dramtic chord changes with pathos-loaded lyrics. Being Boring is possibly their finest moment - reflective, sad and beautiful.
from Behaviour
15 Mar 04 ·Mike: Totally agree re the worth of the PSBs output and the dramatic and very distinctive use of harmony therein. Several of their songs would be in my all-time favourites list if I ever made one.
A terrific debut single, this song strikes me as having what psychiatrists would call a mixed manic-depressive state. The mania is in the pace, which is fairly quick, and the vocals, which never seem to stop, while the depression is in the guitars which are rather poignant, what with minor seventh chords and so on. There are a number of good songs on the LP, although none quite like this, and the second LP "I've Seen Everything" is pretty good too, particularly the single "Hay Fever". It's all basically guitar pop but with a few twists and turns along the way.
Only Paddy McAloon has would have the audacity to open a song with a spoken section saying "Hi, this is God here". The song that follows is not a joke, but an enormously beautiful and spiritual melodic tune. Since then he probably has quite consciously avoided releasing stuff with almost religious overtones as in this one.
What happens when a record company dusts off an old obscure folk song from 1970 and hands it over to a British electronica band? Greatness! With an irresistable dancy beat and a great bass line, the Happy Mondays put a great spin on this old "sandals-and-granola meets Billy Jack" relic without insulting or demeaning the original song. The 1991 remix is sure to twist your melon... and the colored girls sing, "he's gonna step on you again!"
from Pills, Thrills, And Bellyaches, available on CD