Prefab Sprout are an English pop band from Witton Gilbert, County Durham fo… Read Full Bio ↴Prefab Sprout are an English pop band from Witton Gilbert, County Durham formed in 1976, who rose to fame during the 1980s. Though critically acclaimed, and considered by many to have released some of the best pop albums of the decade, the band never matched this acclaim with commercial success. The band's best known lineup comprised Paddy McAloon (vocals, guitar, keyboard), Wendy Smith (vocals, guitar, keyboard), Martin McAloon (bass), and Neil Conti (drums).

Their biggest commercial and critical success came with 1990's Jordan: The Comeback (one of two albums produced by Thomas Dolby), which was a hit in the UK and nominated for a BRIT award. The band also had a UK Top 10 hit with their 1988 song The King of Rock 'n' Roll.

Perhaps their finest album, Steve McQueen (originally released in June 1985) was re-released in August 2007 as a 2-CD deluxe edition, with a bonus disc of eight acoustic reinterpretations of some of the original tracks. Of the release, the record company said: "Digitally remastered by original producer Thomas Dolby, the album is sounding even better than ever. As if that weren't enough it is complemented here with a second disc containing eight sublime acoustic versions, which have been specially re-recorded for this release by Paddy McAloon."

Steve McQueen was released in the US under the title Two Wheels Good following pressure from the late actor's estate.

Prefab Sprout released Let's Change the World With Music - The Blueprint in 2009 on the Kitchenware Records label (website). See also Sprout Trivia below.

Discography:
Lions In My Own Garden (Exit Someone) / Radio Love - Feb 25, 1982 (their first record, released on their own label Candle)
The Devil Has All the Best Tunes / Walk On - Oct 1983 (Kitchenware) (feat. Wendy Smith and Fiona Attwood)
Swoon - Mar 1984
Steve McQueen aka Two Wheels Good (US) - Jun 1985
From Langley Park to Memphis - Mar 1988
Protest Songs - Jun 1989
Jordan: The Comeback - Aug 1990
The Best of Prefab Sprout: A Life of Surprises - Jul 1992 (compilation; exit Conti hereafter)
Andromeda Heights - May 1997
38 Carat Collection (disc 1) - Oct 1999 (compilation)
38 Carat Collection (disc 2) - Oct 1999 (compilation)
The Gunman And Other Stories - Jun 18, 2001 (sans Smith)

Chronology of Bandmembers:
Paddy McAloon (born Patrick Joseph McAloon, Jun 7, 1957, Durham); vocals / guitars / keyboards
Martin McAloon (born Jan 4, 1962, Durham); bass guitar
Michael Salmon; drums / percussion
Wendy Smith (born May 31, 1963, Middlesbrough); vocals / guitars / keyboards
Neil Conti (born Feb 12, 1959, Luton); drums / percussion
Fiona Attwood (Chester-le-Street); backing vocals

Sprout Trivia:

Paddy conceived the name "Prefab Sprout" when he was just 14 back in 1972, he revealed in an interview with French magazine BEST. It was his attempt at creating an unusual name like groups that were popular at the time (eg Tyrannosaurus Rex, Moby Grape, Grand Funk Railroad, etc.).

The band has had as many as 11 drummers (including Paddy McAloon himself on programmed percussion!) in its lineup. Of these, Conti was the most closely identified with the group. (source: http://www.browningmcintosh.com/plocktonwest/sproutfacts.html)

Paddy had apparently conceived of an album named Let's Change The World With Music (the working title of the band's forthcoming album, due February 2009) as far back as the early 1990's:

"I actually wrote a Gulf War album called Let's Change The World With Music, and I've got a couple of beauties, but there are right and wrong times to do things, and it came after another album I wrote which is much lighter... it's called Billy Midnight, very romantic. So the Gulf War album was a more serious response to that. I keep junking things all the time." - NME June 20, 1992 (source: http://www.browningmcintosh.com/plocktonwest/sprout_misc.html)
"And I have an album called Let's Change The World With Music; lots of songs about music, playing on that horrible thing where you listen to a song like "We Are The World" and the sentiment is great but it's such a cliché that it sticks in your throat. It plays on that edge between that kind of thing and real sincerity." - NME April 15, 1995 (source: http://www.browningmcintosh.com/plocktonwest/sprout_misc.html)
"Look, since 1990 I've written what I think of as my best music. You can hear some of it on Andromeda Heights. But I have also - in detailed demo form - an album called Let's Change The World With Music. It was written as the follow up to Jordan." - BEST magazine (France) July 1997 (source: http://www.browningmcintosh.com/plocktonwest/sprout_misc.html)

Angel Of Love
Prefab Sprout Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Spread your golden wings
and take me close to the divine,
be mine. Spread your golden wings,
and lift me up onto cloud nine,
be mine. Spread your golden wings, be mine.

Almost like Romeo and Juliet
lovers the day we met,

one day I'll lose you
to that I'm resigned.

Till then, angel...
Angel of love, oh
Angel of love, be mine.

Almost like Romeo and Juliet,
see how the stage is set.
Poison or dagger? Read the last line.

Till then, angel...
Angel of love, oh
Angel of love, be mine.

Angel of love, angel of love.
Till then, angel... (angel of love)
Angel of love, be mine.

Spread your golden wings
and take me close to the divine,
be mine. Spread your golden wings,
and lift me up onto cloud nine,
be mine. Spread your golden wings, be mine.

Almost like Romeo and Juliet -
almost, not quite, not yet.
Death waits to claim us
and frame us in pine.

Till then, angel...
Angel of love, oh
Angel of love, be mine.

Angel of love, angel of love.
Till then, angel...
Angel of love, be mine.

Angel of love.

Overall Meaning

The song "Angel of Love" by Prefab Sprout revolves around the theme of a passionate love affair between two people who are very much in love with each other. The singer longs for his lover and wishes to soar up to the divine together with her. He describes her as an angel, spreading her golden wings to take him close to her. The metaphorical language used throughout the lyrics brilliantly captures the intensity and depth of the lovers' feelings.

The song also alludes to the Shakespearean tale of Romeo and Juliet. The singer compares his love story to theirs, saying that just like them, they fell in love with each other the day they met. The subtext seems to suggest that their love may be doomed to a tragic end, much like Romeo and Juliet's story. The line, "Death waits to claim us and frame us in pine," hints at the eventual fate of their love, highlighting the brevity and transience of human life.

Overall, "Angel of Love" is a gorgeously written song that conveys the overwhelming emotions that come with being in love. It paints a vivid picture of two people who are deeply connected and are willing to risk everything for their love.

Line by Line Meaning

Spread your golden wings and take me close to the divine, be mine.
The singer asks the Angel of Love to take them to a heavenly place and be theirs.

Spread your golden wings and lift me up onto cloud nine, be mine.
The singer desires to be lifted up and experience pure joy with the Angel of Love.

Almost like Romeo and Juliet lovers the day we met, one day I'll lose you to that I'm resigned.
The love shared by the singer and the Angel of Love is as intense and inevitable as that of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, and the singer realizes that they will eventually have to part ways.

Till then, angel...Angel of love, oh Angel of love, be mine.
Until they have to part, the artist wants the Angel of Love to stay and continue to be theirs.

Almost like Romeo and Juliet, see how the stage is set. Poison or dagger? Read the last line.
Referencing the climactic scene in Romeo and Juliet, the artist wonders how their own tragic ending will play out and if it will be foretold in the next lines of the song.

Almost like Romeo and Juliet - almost, not quite, not yet. Death waits to claim us and frame us in pine.
Their love is not quite the same as Romeo and Juliet's, but the shadow of death looms over them and they will eventually be buried together.

Angel of love, angel of love. Till then, angel... (angel of love) Angel of love, be mine.
Repeating the desire for the Angel of Love to stay with them until the end.

Angel of love.
A final invocation of the object of the artist's affection.

Contributed by Anna D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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