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").
Losing Things
The Beautiful South Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That's what old-fashioned love brings
Lost the key to the house
The feeling in my mouth
I'm losing things
I'm forgetting things
That's what old-fashioned love brings
The shoes on your feet
I'm forgetting things
'Cause I've a limited capacity in my brain
When my brain is filled with you
Like they've impaired the ability
I had to know just what was true
And it's a real Greek Tragedy I know
But so much of me don't care
I've forgotten every name in my life
But I still remember her
Well I've lost belief
But I've found if you turn that stone,
there's love underneath
And when I had belief
I spent all my time
Cleaning the grime from my holy teeth
I'm losing things
I'm losing things
And it's a real Greek Tragedy I know
But so much of me don't care
I've forgotten every name in my life
But I still remember her
Yes, I'm losing things
Yes, yes yes I'm losing things
And it's a real Greek Tragedy I know
But so much of me don't care
I've forgotten every name in my life
But I still remember her
That's why I'm losing things
I'm losing things
The Beautiful South's song "Losing Things" is a poignant representation of the aspects of love that remain unnoticed until it is lost. The lyrics highlight how the loss of love brings forgetfulness and a sense of loss of control. The song draws upon the regretful feelings associated with losing little things, like keys, and uses these as a metaphor for losing the bigger and more significant aspects of love.
The lyrics speak to themes that are universal to anyone who has experienced heartbreak. The singer forgets something as essential as the number of the street where the loved one lived, but he cannot forget the love he had for her. In fact, before this love came into his life, he had space in his brain for other things, but once he was in love, the focus became one-track, leaving him unable to attend to other details.
The song reminds us that love may come at a cost, and although it may seem insignificant to forget little things, it can still have a significant impact on our lives. The singer knows that he's losing things and that the love he has has transformed him, leaving him with a fragmented memory, yet he concludes that love is still worth it.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm losing things
I'm misplacing and losing things that are hard to replace, because that's what love does to me.
That's what old-fashioned love brings
This is the cost of old-fashioned romantic love, which is supposed to be deeper and more committed than modern love.
Lost the key to the house
I've misplaced the key to my house, which is an essential item I need for my daily life.
The feeling in my mouth
This could represent the words I want to say to my loved one, or even a literal loss of sensation in my mouth due to stress or anxiety.
I'm forgetting things
I'm having trouble remembering simple things, because that's what love does to me.
Forgot the number of the street
I can't remember something as basic as the number of the street, probably because my thoughts are consumed with thoughts of my loved one.
The shoes on your feet
This line could refer to my own forgetfulness of details about my loved one, or perhaps their own changing sense of style that I can't keep up with due to my absent-mindedness.
When my brain is filled with you
My mind is so preoccupied with thoughts of my loved one that I don't have much mental space left for anything else.
Like they've impaired the ability
This line suggests that my mental faculties have been compromised in some way by the intensity of my emotions, making it harder for me to think clearly.
I had to know just what was true
In the past, I was driven by a desire to know the truth about everything, but my love for my partner has made me more willing to overlook certain things.
And it's a real Greek Tragedy I know
My situation has a tragic irony to it, perhaps because I'm losing things that are important to me, or because I'm losing my sense of self to the demands of love.
But so much of me don't care
Despite the negative consequences of my love, I still feel deeply attached to my partner and don't want to give them up.
I've forgotten every name in my life
This exaggeration suggests that my love for my partner has made all other people and things in my life seem less important than they used to be.
But I still remember her
Despite everything else I may forget, I will always remember my partner and what they mean to me.
Well I've lost belief
I no longer have faith or confidence in something, perhaps my own abilities or the future of my relationship.
But I've found if you turn that stone, there's love underneath
Despite my loss of faith, I've discovered that there's still love to be found if I'm willing to look for it.
And when I had belief
In the past, I had a strong sense of faith or conviction in something, perhaps the potential of my relationship with my partner.
I spent all my time cleaning the grime from my holy teeth
This metaphor suggests that I was overly focused on minor or insignificant details of my life or relationship, instead of focusing on the bigger picture.
Yes, I'm losing things
I'm continuing to misplace and lose things, which is becoming a troubling pattern in my life and my relationship.
And it's a real Greek Tragedy I know
This tragedy is becoming a recurring theme or motif in my life, perhaps because of the negative impact that love is having on my ability to function.
That's why I'm losing things
My loss of things and mental faculties is directly tied to the intensity of my love for my partner.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DAVE ROTHERAY, PAUL HEATON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind