Recorded in 1989, it was belatedly released in 1992 by the independent record label Fire, having already been released in France in 1991 on Rosebud Records. The songs on the second half of the album range between electronic synthpop and experimental acid house styles, while the first half contains songs more typical of Pulp's late 80s music.
The album was reissued and remastered by Fire in 2012 along with 1983's It and 1987's Freaks. This re-release took several delays as the first stated release date was 8 August 2011 while the albums finally came out on 13 February 2012. An announcement in the interim stated that the albums would be remastered with new bonus tracks to be added to the track listings as well as new artwork and liner notes from music journalist Everett True.
This re-release gives an opportunity to hear "Death Comes to Town" which was previously released in 2005 only on CD that accompanied Sheffield journalist Martin Lilleker's book Beats Working for a Living. This 22-song CD featured rare tracks from some of the bands featured in the book.
"Death Goes to the Disco" and "Is This House?" are remixes of "Death Comes To Town" and "This House Is Condemned" respectively.
The bonus track "Is This House?" on the 2012 edition is labelled incorrectly. This track is taken from "My Legendary Girlfriend" single, where two remixes of the song "This House Is Condemned" by Parrot & Winston can be found, but it is in fact the remix titled simply "This House Is Condemned (Remix)"
Personnel
Pulp
Jarvis Cocker – vocals, guitar
Steve Mackey – bass
Candida Doyle – keyboards
Nick Banks – drums
Russell Senior – guitar, violin, lead vocals on "This House Is Condemned"
Additional personnel
Alan Fisch – engineering
Martyn Broadhead – sleeve design basis
Alex Hornsby – layout, additional design
Love Is Blind
Pulp Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Give me the sea.
Give to me everything I need.
The future is shining like a giant metal beast.
It shines so bright tonight, with its legs open wide
And love is blind.
Falls in love with itself again, like it never should, the way it always can.
And she is mine, but the world is much bigger now
Oh tell me, should I hold her hand, and give her love,
or take her heart and throw it far away?
Oh now is the time, to jump into it all.
I'll just hold my nose, and try not to fall.
To seek and to find, instead of walking around with eyes glued to the sky
I turn them down to the ground.
Oh and I used to think that maybe one day,
I'd find the love of my life.
Oh but it's so far away.
Oh I don't know why.
Oh but I, I want it all tonight.
And love is blind.
Falls in love with itself again, like it never should, the way it always can.
Oh and she is mine, but the world is much bigger now
Oh tell me, should I hold her hand, and give her love,
or take her heart and throw it far away?
We held hands, and we looked out of the bedroom window.
We could see all the buildings collapsing around us, so we kissed.
And we laid on the bed, and we waited for the ceiling to fall in.
But it never did.
In the morning it was all still there.
The spilled milk and the dog-turd,
in that grey ashtray morning light.
I could hear thousands of people,
and they were all singing this song:
La lala lala
Hey butcher!
Oh, oh, oh hey butcher!
What's your name?
Oh hey butcher, what's your game?
Oh, you take all their love, and you suck out their eyes,
and then you rip out their hearts, and you eat their insides.
Yeah, then you just walk away, with a smile on your face.
Hey butcher, hey butcher, I've seen your face before
Lalalalalalala
And love is blind.
The song "Love Is Blind" by Pulp talks about the complexity of love and relationships. The song opens with the singer asking for everything he needs, the city, and the ocean, expressing his yearning for more in life. The future is presented as a shining metal beast, but love is blind to all of that. It falls love with itself over and over again, regardless of the situation.
The second verse presents a romantic scenario, where the singer debates whether to hold her hand and give her love, or to take her heart and throw it far away. But now is the time to jump into it all, to see the world and find love instead of being myopic, only looking at the sky but not the ground. The chorus repeats that love is blind, and it falls in love with itself again and again, even when it shouldn't.
The final stanza takes a sharp turn, describing a night where the couple held hands, watching buildings collapsing, only to realize in the morning, everything was still there. The lyrics then take a surreal twist, where the singer speaks of hearing thousands of people singing a song, addressing a butcher and questioning his actions of taking away love and ripping out people's hearts. The song then concludes with the chorus emphasizing that love is blind.
Overall, the song narrates the struggles of love and relationships, offering its reflection of love as something that's both scary and worthwhile.
Line by Line Meaning
Give me the city.
I want everything the city has to offer.
Give me the sea.
I want everything the sea has to offer.
Give to me everything I need.
I want all the things I need to be happy.
The future is shining like a giant metal beast.
The future looks promising and exciting.
It shines so bright tonight, with its legs open wide
It's a metaphor for something enticing and seductive.
And love is blind.
Love doesn't always see things clearly.
Falls in love with itself again, like it never should, the way it always can.
Love can be self-centered sometimes.
And she is mine, but the world is much bigger now
Being in love doesn't protect me from other things in the world.
Oh tell me, should I hold her hand, and give her love,
or take her heart and throw it far away?
I'm not sure if I should love her or break up with her.
Oh now is the time, to jump into it all.
I'll just hold my nose, and try not to fall.
It's time to face my fears and take risks.
To seek and to find, instead of walking around with eyes glued to the sky
I turn them down to the ground.
I need to be practical and focus on what's in front of me.
Oh and I used to think that maybe one day,
I'd find the love of my life.
Oh but it's so far away.
I thought I'd find true love one day but now I'm not so sure.
Oh I don't know why.
Oh but I, I want it all tonight.
And love is blind.
I'm conflicted about love but I want it all anyway.
We held hands, and we looked out of the bedroom window.
We could see all the buildings collapsing around us, so we kissed.
And we laid on the bed, and we waited for the ceiling to fall in.
But it never did.
In the morning it was all still there.
The spilled milk and the dog-turd,
in that grey ashtray morning light.
We thought everything was going to fall apart but it didn't so we appreciate the little things.
I could hear thousands of people,
and they were all singing this song:
La lala lala
Hey butcher!
Oh, oh, oh hey butcher!
What's your name?
Oh hey butcher, what's your game?
Oh, you take all their love, and you suck out their eyes,
and then you rip out their hearts, and you eat their insides.
Yeah, then you just walk away, with a smile on your face.
Hey butcher, hey butcher, I've seen your face before
Lalalalalalala
This is a story about a butcher who takes people's love, heart, and soul and destroys them.
And love is blind.
Love doesn't always see things clearly.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: CANDIDA DOYLE, JARVIS COCKER, NICHOLAS BANKS, RUSSELL SENIOR, STEPHEN MACKEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind