In The Beautiful South, Heaton shared the lead singer's role with Hemingway and female singer Briana Corrigan to create a trio of lead vocalists. This set-up helped to characterise the bittersweet kitchen sink dramas played out in Heaton's often-barbed songs.
The band's music might sound like bubbly, catchy, lightweight pop but Heaton's sour, savage and amusing worldview on everything and anything (alcoholism, religion, sex, politics and, mostly, the down side of relationships) is always lurking beneath the surface of the quirky melodies. The tastes and smells of the local pub are never far away either, with the band gaining a reputation for boozing. The band's first album was Welcome to the Beautiful South (1989) and spawned the hits Song For Whoever and You Keep It All In. The release of 1990's Choke album saw the band claim its only Number 1 hit to date, A Little Time. 0898 followed in 1992, with hits including Old Red Eyes Is Back.
In 1994, after Corrigan quit the band when she saw Paul's lyrics for the forthcoming album Miaow, St Helens supermarket shelf-stacker, Jacqui Abbott, was brought on board to fill in. Heaton had heard her sing at an after show party in St Helens and remembered her vocal talents.
Jacqui's first album with the band was Miaow in 1994. Hits included Good as Gold (Stupid as Mud) and a cover of Fred Neil's Everybody's Talking, previously popularised by Harry Nilsson. The end of that year saw the release of Carry on up the Charts, a "best of" compilation consisting of the singles to date plus new track One Last Love Song. The album was massively successful and it is said that 1 in 7 homes in the UK owns a copy.
Blue Is the Colour (1996), Quench (1998) and Painting It Red (2000) followed with varying success. Jacqui also quit the band in 2000. After a second Greatest Hits album Solid Bronze in 2001, they recorded Gaze in 2003 with yet another female vocalist, Alison 'Lady' Wheeler. Wheeler was still in place for 2004's Golddiggas, Headnodders and Pholk Songs, an album of unusually arranged cover versions including Livin' Thing, You're The One That I Want, Don't Fear The Reaper and I'm Stone In Love With You. In 2006 the band released their tenth studio album, Superbi.
The band broke up in January 2007, releasing the statement: "The Beautiful South have split up due to musical similarities. The band would like to thank everyone for their 19 wonderful years in music."
Former members of the group have since played Beautiful South songs together as 'New Beautiful South' and more recently 'The South'.
In 2007, Mercury Records released Soup: The Best of The Housemartins and The Beautiful South, a compilation album containing 7 hit singles by The Housemartins ("The Housemartins Condensed") and 15 tracks The Beautiful South ("Cream of The Beautiful South").
A Little Time
The Beautiful South Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I need a little space just on my own
I need a little time to find my freedom
I need a little
Funny how quick the milk turns sour, isn't it, isn't it?
Your face has been looking like that for hours, hasn't it, hasn't it?
Promises, promises turn to dust
Wedding bells just turn to rust
Trust into mistrust
I need a little room to find myself
I need a little space to work it out
I need a little room all alone
I need a little
You need a little room for your big head, don't you, don't you?
You need a little space for a thousand beds, won't you, won't you?
Lips that promise, fear the worst
Tongue so sharp, the bubble burst
Just into unjust
I've had a little time to find the truth
Now I've had a little room to check what's wrong
I've had a little time, and I still love you
I've had a little
You had a little time and you had a little fun, didn't ya, didn't you?
While you had yours, do you think I had none, do you, do ya?
The freedom that you wanted bad
Is yours for good, I hope you're glad
Sad into unsad
I had a little time to think it over
Had a little room to work it out
I found a little courage to call it off
I've had a little time
I've had a little time
I've had a little time
I've had a little time
The Beautiful South's song "A Little Time" is about needing time and space to reflect on a relationship and find one's own freedom. The song's lyrics express a longing for personal space and time to assess the health of a relationship that may have turned sour. The singer of the song is seeking room to breathe and search for their own identity outside of the relationship.
The song's verses allude to the promise and trust that have turned to mistrust and unjust. The singer's partner, who seemingly had used them, had their fun while they bore the burden of their relationship's upkeep. There was dishonesty in the relationship, evident from the lyrics: "Lips that promise/fear the worst/Tongue so sharp, the bubble burst."
The song's chorus is repeating "I've had a little time" which is a reflection of the need for time, solitude, and freedom from a relationship burden. The song's lyrics describe the singer's journey to finding out the truth about this relationship and ultimately being able to walk away from it with a newfound strength.
Line by Line Meaning
I need a little time to think it over
I require some time to consider the situation thoroughly.
I need a little space just on my own
I require some personal space to work through things.
I need a little time to find my freedom
I require some time to find my independence.
Funny how quick the milk turns sour, isn't it, isn't it?
It's interesting how easily something that was once good can turn bad.
Your face has been looking like that for hours, hasn't it, hasn't it?
Your facial expression has remained the same for a long time.
Promises, promises turn to dust
Assurances often do not come to fruition.
Wedding bells just turn to rust
Even a marriage can fall apart over time.
Trust into mistrust
Believing in someone can turn into doubting their intentions.
I need a little room to find myself
I require some space to explore and develop my identity.
I need a little space to work it out
I require some room to solve my problems.
You need a little room for your big head, don't you, don't you?
You require some space to accommodate your ego.
You need a little space for a thousand beds, won't you, won't you?
You require plenty of space to pursue your many romantic interests.
Lips that promise, fear the worst
Those who make grand pledges may have hidden motives or deceitful intentions.
Tongue so sharp, the bubble burst
Your words were so cutting that our bond was destroyed.
Just into unjust
Our relationship has turned from equitable to inequitable.
I've had a little time to find the truth
I had space to understand what really happened.
Now I've had a little room to check what's wrong
I have space to examine what went awry.
I've had a little time, and I still love you
I have had some time to reflect, and my love for you has not faded.
You had a little time and you had a little fun, didn't ya, didn't you?
You had some time to yourself, and you used it to enjoy yourself.
While you had yours, do you think I had none, do you, do ya?
While you were doing your own thing, do you think I was just sitting around with nothing to do?
The freedom that you wanted bad
The independence you desired so greatly
Is yours for good, I hope you're glad
You now have the freedom you craved; I hope it makes you happy.
Sad into unsad
My sadness has been replaced with something more positive.
I had a little time to think it over
I had a chance to reflect on our relationship.
Had a little room to work it out
I had space to solve our problems.
I found a little courage to call it off
I found the strength to end our relationship.
I've had a little time
I've had the space and time I need to sort things out.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Dave Rotheray, Paul Heaton
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Rod Taylor
This video always cracks me up. And it proves the Beautiful South don't always need Paul Heaton to make them great. So over the top but I think it's perfect for the sentiment and the story. Love the irony of it all.
Strong Passion
Her voice is Amazing ♥ ♥ ♥ Great song ♥ ♥ ♥
BalthasarDenner
It just wasn't the same after she left.
Orlando Gutierrez
Beautiful singing.
lene k
thankyou for uploading-still a great song,the lass has a gorgeous voice...wow where do the years go?by i suppose:).
Joan Cuthill
Thank you to Mary, who gave me a share. Wonderful. God Bless you both.☺
Chris Ellis
This video is awesome :)
Skye Reynolds
I'm going out with someone finally after five years of loving him :( then he says evey word of this song to me ( in a diffrent way ) Iv had a little courage to call it off that hope my head speak not my heart
Richard Rouse
I guess the producers wanted to make the most of those excellent sets, but it feels like the video would've followed the message of the song more clearly if the 3rd verse and chorus were played out in a location like a restaurant, with Briana getting up from the table and walking away during her final chorus. 🤔
J. Ry
1991 Brit Award winner for British Video of the Year