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").
Frank and Delores
The Beautiful South Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Big open skies
Played an old concertina
Singing loola lullabies
Frank loved an angel
With black Spanish eyes
And a smile to remind him of heaven
Scared of his shadow he's bleached to the bone
Washed in the tears for a love that lays dying
Wings have a habit of flying
Singer and waitress he worked in saloons
Between big red sunsets big yellow moons
Tears in his eyes stones in his shoes
Howling Wolf in his blues
Frank's been missing since Delores telephoned
Scared of his shadow he's bleached to the bone
Washed in the tears for a love that lays dying
Wings have a habit of flying
Oooh tears in his eyes stones in his shoes
Howling Wolf in his blues
The Beautiful South's song "Frank and Delores" tells the story of a man named Frank who is deeply in love with a woman named Delores. Frank is a musician who sings "loola lullabies" while playing the concertina and is passionate about the big open blue skies. He is also smitten with Delores, whose "black Spanish eyes" and "smile to remind him of heaven" capture his heart. However, this love story takes a tragic turn when Frank goes missing after a phone call from Delores. The weight of his love for Delores, coupled with the struggles of his life as a musician have taken a toll on his psyche. He is "scared of his shadow" and is "washed in tears for a love that lays dying". The haunting chorus, "wings have a habit of flying" implies that Frank has flown away, possibly even taken his own life.
The verses offer further insight into Frank's life as a musician, working in saloons and howling like the blues singer Howling Wolf. Despite his passion for music, Frank is struggling with his relationship with Delores and the challenges that life has thrown his way, his tears and the stones in his shoes being physical manifestations of these difficulties. The repeated lines, "Frank's been missing since Delores telephoned" give the sense of waiting and not knowing whether Frank will return or what tragic event may have befallen him. The song's story is one of love, passion, heartbreak, and loss.
Line by Line Meaning
Frank loved the blue
Frank loved the blue skies and vast expanse that they provided
Big open skies
Frank enjoyed the vast, open nature of the blue skies above him
Played an old concertina
Frank was a musician who played an old-fashioned musical instrument called a concertina
Singing loola lullabies
Frank sang peaceful songs, reminiscent of lullabies, on his concertina
Frank loved an angel
Frank was in love with a woman who was pure and beautiful, like an angel
With black Spanish eyes
The woman Frank loved had striking, dark eyes of Spanish origin
And a smile to remind him of heaven
Her smile was so beautiful and pure that it reminded Frank of the peacefulness of heaven
Frank's been missing since Delores telephoned
Frank disappeared after receiving a phone call from Delores
Scared of his shadow he's bleached to the bone
Frank has been so scared and anxious that he has become extremely pale and thin
Washed in the tears for a love that lays dying
Frank has been crying so much that it appears as if he has been washed by his tears. His love for the woman is fading away
Wings have a habit of flying
The woman Frank loves is slipping away and leaving him, like a bird taking flight
Singer and waitress he worked in saloons
Frank worked as a singer in bars and restaurants, while his love interest worked as a waitress in the same establishment
Between big red sunsets big yellow moons
Frank worked through the late hours between the sunset and the moonrise
Tears in his eyes stones in his shoes
Frank was deeply upset and often felt like he was carrying a heavy burden or obstacle with him on his journey
Howling Wolf in his blues
Frank's music was inspired by the blues, and he was influenced by the legendary blues musician Howling Wolf
Contributed by Stella E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@mattymusic73
Frank loved the blue
Big open skies
Played an old concertina
Singing loola lullabies
Frank loved an angel
With black Spanish eyes
And a smile to remind him of heaven
Frank's been missing since Delores telephoned
Scared of his shadow he's bleached to the bone
Washed in the tears for a love that lays dying
Wings have a habit of flying
Singer and waitress he worked in saloons
Between big red sunsets big yellow moons
Tears in his eyes stones in his shoes
Howling Wolf in his blues
Frank's been missing since Delores telephoned
Scared of his shadow he's bleached to the bone
Washed in the tears for a love that lays dying
Wings have a habit of flying
Oooh tears in his eyes stones in his shoes
Howling Wolf in his blues
@mattymusic73
Frank loved the blue
Big open skies
Played an old concertina
Singing loola lullabies
Frank loved an angel
With black Spanish eyes
And a smile to remind him of heaven
Frank's been missing since Delores telephoned
Scared of his shadow he's bleached to the bone
Washed in the tears for a love that lays dying
Wings have a habit of flying
Singer and waitress he worked in saloons
Between big red sunsets big yellow moons
Tears in his eyes stones in his shoes
Howling Wolf in his blues
Frank's been missing since Delores telephoned
Scared of his shadow he's bleached to the bone
Washed in the tears for a love that lays dying
Wings have a habit of flying
Oooh tears in his eyes stones in his shoes
Howling Wolf in his blues
@mattymusic73
Frank loved the blue
Big open skies
Played an old concertina
Singing loola lullabies
Frank loved an angel
With black Spanish eyes
And a smile to remind him of heaven
Frank's been missing since Delores telephoned
Scared of his shadow he's bleached to the bone
Washed in the tears for a love that lays dying
Wings have a habit of flying
Singer and waitress he worked in saloons
Between big red sunsets big yellow moons
Tears in his eyes stones in his shoes
Howling Wolf in his blues
Frank's been missing since Delores telephoned
Scared of his shadow he's bleached to the bone
Washed in the tears for a love that lays dying
Wings have a habit of flying
Oooh tears in his eyes stones in his shoes
Howling Wolf in his blues
@Win-xl7no
Cracking song - Jacqui so strong. Sickens me why tunes like this never make it big
@mattymusic73
Frank loved the blue
Big open skies
Played an old concertina
Singing loola lullabies
Frank loved an angel
With black Spanish eyes
And a smile to remind him of heaven
Frank's been missing since Delores telephoned
Scared of his shadow he's bleached to the bone
Washed in the tears for a love that lays dying
Wings have a habit of flying
Singer and waitress he worked in saloons
Between big red sunsets big yellow moons
Tears in his eyes stones in his shoes
Howling Wolf in his blues
Frank's been missing since Delores telephoned
Scared of his shadow he's bleached to the bone
Washed in the tears for a love that lays dying
Wings have a habit of flying
Oooh tears in his eyes stones in his shoes
Howling Wolf in his blues
@colinpitcher6586
This is my favorite track from all beautiful souths music, truly beautiful
@ritzyhull
love this song, one of my favs
@rysdaleryan01
beautiful song from a beautiful band
@robertclayton6289
B-Sides were as good if not better than the singles they were released on This band were masters of classic B-Sides with a little help from their friends Every single they released had a awesome B-Side even from day 1🙂. But most people don’t / wouldn’t know that. Brilliant Band So glad they got the success they deserved Heaton and Rotherway up there with Davies/Davies Marriott/Lane Lennon/ McCartney Jagger/Richards....Jones Plant/Page....Jones
@paulmullins9743
Jacqui Abbott's voice at its finest :)
@jmjones1060
Memories from the 90's - my favorite song from B sides of Miaow.Â
@carlbellwood1015
Should have been a single
@chrisstenton7629
BEST SONG EVER