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").
Look What I Found In My Beer
The Beautiful South Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A couple of dancing ladies and a ticket out of here
Look what I found in my beer
A start to being lonely and an end to my career
Look what he found in his gin
Lights' looking lively when love's looking dim
Look what he found in his gin
Look what I found in the drum
A lifelong beat and a replacement to the rum
Look what I found in the guitar
Another fellow thinker and a chauffeur to my heart
Look what I found in the mic
An end to screwed-up drinking and a Paul I actually like
Look what I found in my beer
A free test drive for a heart I cannot steer
Look what I found in my beer
Look what I found in my drink
A brain without a plughole and a sink without a think
Look what I found in my drink
A "love you" to the barmaid and a too-familiar wink
Look what we found in his booze
The reflection of him and his children without shoes
Look what we found in his booze
This mornings jigsaw in a hill of last nights clues
Look what I found in the drum
A lifelong beat and a replacement to the rum
Look what I found in the guitar
Another fellow thinker and a chauffeur to my heart
Look what I found in the mic
An end to screwed-up drinking and a Paul I actually like
Look what I found in my beer
A free test drive for a heart I cannot steer
Look what I found in my beer
Look what we found in the dance
Look what I've found in the song
Low expectations in a large pile of cans
It makes the drink seem weak,
the friendship strong
The lyrics of The Beautiful South's song "Look What I Found In My Beer" are about the different things one can find in their drink and how they can change a person's perspective. The first stanza talks about finding a couple of dancing ladies and a ticket out of here, representing the potential for excitement and escape from a lonely or unfulfilling life. The second stanza mentions finding solace in gin, where one can let loose and forget about their problems. The third and fourth stanzas mention finding a lifelong beat and a fellow thinker in the drum and guitar, respectively, representing a new passion and a supportive partner in one's life. The fifth stanza talks about finding an end to screwed-up drinking and a "Paul" one can actually like on the mic, representing a transformative experience where one can become sober and connect with others in a meaningful way.
The song highlights the various emotions, experiences, and inspirations that can be found through drinking, whether it be escape, solace, or creative expression. However, it also acknowledges the potential pitfalls of excessive drinking, such as forgetting one's problems, alienating oneself from loved ones, and losing control of one's life. The song ultimately suggests that while alcohol can provide temporary highs, it's ultimately friendship and connection that give one lasting happiness and fulfillment.
Line by Line Meaning
Look what I found in my beer
I discovered some unexpected things while drinking my beer
A couple of dancing ladies and a ticket out of here
I found a way to escape from my loneliness and problems through the playful company of women and the means to leave this place
A start to being lonely and an end to my career
Drinking beer provides me with temporary relief from loneliness but causes damage to my career prospects
Look what he found in his gin
He discovered something surprising while drinking his gin
Lights' looking lively when love's looking dim
Drinking gin can make the environment appear more cheerful when one is feeling downhearted about love
Souls look heavy when personality's thin
The weight of one's soul increases when their character is deficient
Look what I found in the drum
I discovered something special about playing the drums
A lifelong beat and a replacement to the rum
Drumming provides me with a lifelong passion and an alternative to drinking rum
Look what I found in the guitar
I discovered a new perspective by playing my guitar
Another fellow thinker and a chauffeur to my heart
Playing guitar with someone else who understands my thoughts and feelings takes me to a place of comfort and ease
Look what I found in the mic
I found something that changed me while singing into the microphone
An end to screwed-up drinking and a Paul I actually like
I'm done with my problematic drinking after finding a new version of myself that I like
A free test drive for a heart I cannot steer
My heart goes where it wants to and I can only live with the consequences of that, regardless of my tests and trials
Look what I found in my drink
I discovered something surprising while drinking my beverage
A brain without a plughole and a sink without a think
Drinking has caused me to shut off my mind and ruined my ability to think critically
A "love you" to the barmaid and a too-familiar wink
I engage in inappropriate behavior with the barmaid and give her familiar looks even though I don't know her well
Look what we found in his booze
We discovered something together while drinking his alcohol
The reflection of him and his children without shoes
We see the harsh reality of his situation, where he can't even provide his children with shoes, reflected in his drinking
This morning's jigsaw in a hill of last night's clues
The puzzles of today are found within the mess that was made last night
Look what we found in the dance
We experienced something remarkable while dancing
Look what I've found in the song
I found something meaningful in the music
Low expectations in a large pile of cans
When you have low expectations you can drink a lot without suffering the consequences
It makes the drink seem weak, The friendship strong
Having a strong bond with someone makes even a weak drink seem more enjoyable
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Tony Lait
What an album, Heaton is a genius
A123cov45678
Not one bad song on this whole album I used to listen to the CD over and over all the time nice music
Kingi Carpenter
a 'free test drive for a heart I can't steer'.... my life. love this song
YouCook
Proof that music really is the most addictive substance
Shaun Pierce
What a fucking brilliant song, Paul Heaton can do no wrong in my eyes.
Silvo Brecelj
LOOK, LOOK.
callum mchardy
Just throwing it out there: this album was recorded in Toldeo, Spain. The normal English word is not slide, that is the American, rather chute, which in Spanish is the equivalent to "fix" in the drug sense: for me it's about addiction.
Thomas Watt
Its about paul giving up drink