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").
Livin' Thing
The Beautiful South Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's like magic
Rollin' and ridin' and slippin' & slidin'
It's magic
And you, and your sweet desire,
You took me,
higher and higher, baby
It's a terrible thing to lose
It's a given thing
What a terrible thing to lose.
Making believe this is what you've conceived
From your worst day,(im taking a dive)
Moving in line when you look back in time
To your first day (im taking im taking)
And you, and your sweet desire,
You took me,
higher and higher baby
It's a livin' thing,
It's a terrible thing to lose
It's a given thing
What a terrible thing to lose.
Takin' a dive 'cos you can't halt the slide
Floating downstream, (im taking a dive)
So let her go don't start spoiling the show
It's a bad dream (im taking im taking)
And you, and your sweet desire,
You took me,
higher and higher baby
It's a livin' thing,
It's a terrible thing to lose
It's a given thing
What a terrible thing to lose.
The song Livin' Thing by The Beautiful South is a cover of the Electric Light Orchestra's song of the same name. The lyrics describe a feeling of being taken away by a momentous force, like being on the crest of a wave. The singer is being swept away by their own desires and impulses, and they're not sure if it's a good or a bad thing. The repetition of the line "It's a livin' thing, It's a terrible thing to lose" emphasizes the idea that these intense experiences are fleeting and can slip away at any moment.
The singer goes on to say that they're "Making believe this is what you've conceived from your worst day" and "Moving in line when you look back in time to your first day." These lines suggest a theme of nostalgia and regret, as the singer reflects on past experiences and how they've led them to where they are now. The imagery of "taking a dive" and "floating downstream" reinforces the idea of being carried away by something beyond one's control.
Line by Line Meaning
Sailin' away on the crest of a wave
Feeling carefree and happy on top of the world
It's like magic
It's amazing and surprising
Rollin' and ridin' and slippin' & slidin'
Feeling the ups and downs of life
And you, and your sweet desire, You took me, higher and higher, baby
You and your love lifted me up to new heights
It's a livin' thing, It's a terrible thing to lose
Love is a precious thing that hurts to lose
It's a given thing What a terrible thing to lose.
Losing love is a common thing but still so painful
Making believe this is what you've conceived From your worst day
Pretending that your life is going according to plan even when it's not
Moving in line when you look back in time To your first day
Reflecting on your past and how far you've come
Takin' a dive 'cos you can't halt the slide Floating downstream
Giving up and going with the flow when things are out of your control
So let her go don't start spoiling the show It's a bad dream
Don't ruin the good times by dwelling on a disappointment
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Jés Neves
Essa música é divina. Literalmente. Parece uma oração que me conecta com Deus. Não sei o que ela tem, é uma magia. Qd ouço me dá uma paz, uma vontade de sair dançando :) :)
Reinaldo Aparecido
Concordo plenamente com vc colega
Fernanda Prates
Essa música é linda! Com esse arranjo então, ficou ainda melhor.
Ida Camargo
Pessoal, ninguém no mundo, só nós estamos ouvindo essa música rsrsrs somos especiais rsrsrs
Jackie Hyland
I Love you this song😊
Jeanne Cruz
Somos especiais! Lembro de uma face maravilhosa da minha vida. Esta versão é linda. Conheci com ELO.❤️
John Herbert
Com certeza porque ela é linda, é isso só nos faz especiais….2022………..❤️
Cleber De Melo sousa
música mágica. maravilhosa.
Eduardo rocha
Alguém curtindo esse som lindo em 2020 !!!!!
Edição 55
2022