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").
Loving Arms
The Beautiful South Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The one who said that
She'd rather roam
The one who said
She'd rather be alone
If you could only hear me now
If I could hold you now
Just for a while turn back the hands of time
If I could only hold you now
Cause I've been too long
In the wind
And too long in the rain
Taking any comfort that I can
Looking back and hoping for
The freedom of my chains
And lying in your loving arms again
If you could see me now
Singing somewhere through the lonely night
And dreaming of the love that held me tight
If you could only see me now
Cause I've been too long in the wind
And too long in the rain
Taking any comfort that I can
Looking back and hoping for
The freedom of my chains
And lying in your loving arms again
I can almost feel your loving arms again
I can almost feel your loving arms again
The Beautiful South’s song Loving Arms is about longing for the comfort of a past relationship. The song speaks to the hope that the singer’s ex-lover can hear them and feel the longing emanating from the lyrics. The opening verse is about the singer’s ex-lover, who once said they’d rather roam and be alone, indicating a desire to be free from attachment. However, the singer still wishes to hold them close and make them theirs, if only for a moment, to turn back the hands of time.
In the second verse, the singer hopes that their ex-lover can see them singing through the lonely night, dreaming of the love that once held them tight. However, they acknowledge that they have been alone for too long, taking any comfort they can find in hopes of being free from the chains of the past and reuniting with their ex-lover once more. The repeated chorus emphasizes the longing to be held again in the loving arms of the past relationship.
Overall, the song captures the struggle of moving on after a past love, while still yearning for the comfort and security of that love.
Line by Line Meaning
If you could hear me now
If only you could listen to me at this moment
The one who said that
The individual who proclaimed
She'd rather roam
Stated their preferences to wander
The one who said
The person who expressed
She'd rather be alone
Would rather spend time in solitude
If you could only hear me now
If you could comprehend the emotions I'm expressing
If I could hold you now
If only I was capable of embracing you
Just for a moment I could really make you mine
Even if it was brief, I could possess you entirely
Just for a while turn back the hands of time
Momentarily reversing past events
If I could only hold you now
If I could just clasp you in my arms at this moment
Cause I've been too long
Because I have existed for too great of a duration
In the wind
Subjected to the elements prematurely
And too long in the rain
Exposed to hardship for a prolonged period
Taking any comfort that I can
Seeking solace in whatever form available
Looking back and hoping for
Reflecting and desiring
The freedom of my chains
Release from the shackles that bind me
And lying in your loving arms again
Recalling the sensation of resting in your affectionate embrace
If you could see me now
If you could observe me at present
Singing somewhere through the lonely night
Singing in an unknown location throughout the desolate night
And dreaming of the love that held me tight
Imagining a past love that embraced me tightly
Cause I've been too long in the wind
Because I have existed for too great of a duration, exposed to the elements
And too long in the rain
Been struggling for far too long in difficulty
Taking any comfort that I can
Attempting to find comfort or relief in any way possible
Looking back and hoping for
Reflective and longing for something
The freedom of my chains
Release from the confinement that's currently holding me back
And lying in your loving arms again
Looking forward to being held in a loving embrace once more
I can almost feel your loving arms again
Expressing the near sensation of being in a loving embrace
I can almost feel your loving arms again
Expressing a similar emotion as before, but repeating it for emphasis
Contributed by Gabriella V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Carl Bovis
One of the most incredible performances of the 90s!
Jacqui Abbott singing like an angel and looking gorgeous, backed by a fantastic gospel choir! Still sends shivers down my spine!
Calvin Tristen
@Landyn London Yea, been using instaflixxer for years myself :)
Landyn London
dunno if you guys gives a damn but if you are stoned like me atm then you can stream all the new movies on Instaflixxer. I've been binge watching with my girlfriend for the last couple of months xD
Hen Smithers
Spell binding
colin clydesdale
couldn't agree more, quite stunning
Elaine Ferrie
@Carl Bovis She has a soul Gospel voice... she can sing anything !!!
colin clydesdale
beautiful lady, beautiful song, beautiful voice
Elaine Ferrie
I have this on VCR... how many times have I watched it??? Love Jacqui singing this...and the choir... BEAUTIFUL.... Not the same when she left... glad she is back performing !!! xxx
Jackie Negus
What a performance, Jacqui Abbott's beautiful voice backed by a fantastic choir, just love this, seen The Beautiful South perform with this choir, they add something more to already great music.
redrob67
One of my funeral songs. Sort it out, if I've just pegged it and you're reading this!
I prefer this version to the official single/video of the song with the brass band.