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").
Tonight I Fancy Myself
The Beautiful South Lyrics
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He'd brought the tea
They'd both brought along a sick-bag just in case
The plate of chicken sandwiches
Were lovely they agreed
And I watched him spit the bits into her face
'I love you twice as much' she replies
They were on the train to Venice, where else?
I think tonight I fancy myself
I'd rather drink that toast to my own health
I think tonight I'd rather love myself
And if you drink that drink to your own health
I think tonight I'd rather love myself
Later in the evening
The sun came rolling down
And they talked about their fantasies and fears
Between the heavy breathing
And those lighter licking sounds
I heard him whisper this question in her ear
'Would you still love me if I lost my legs?'
'I'd see that you were loved and you were fed'
'I end up in a car crash almost dead'
'For richer and for partly severed head'
I'd rather drink that toast to my own health
I think tonight I'd rather love myself
And if you drink that drink to your own health
I think tonight I'd rather love myself
The neighbours ask them out but they flatly refuse
'We're saving up for a world-wide cruise'
With a choice between loneliness and love-sick QE2's
Well tonight I choose - self-abuse
A four-pack in the fridge
A good book on the shelf
I think tonight I'd rather love myself
The Beautiful South’s song “Tonight I Fancy Myself” tells a story of a couple on a train ride to Venice with the singer as a third-party observer. The couple seems to have lost the spark in their relationship as they have come prepared with a sick bag, and the man spits chicken sandwich into the woman's face. As the train journey continues, the couple's conversation turns more depressing, with the man questioning the woman's love for him, and even asking whether she would still love him if he lost his legs. The woman's response is that she would take care of him.
The singer, meanwhile, seems to have lost interest in their conversation, instead choosing to celebrate their loneliness by indulging in self-love with a four-pack of beer and a good book. The lyrics suggest a sense of disillusionment with love and relationships and the idea that being alone may be a preferable option.
In many ways, the song encapsulates the cynicism and dry humor that defined The Beautiful South's music. It speaks to the idea that relationships are complicated, and even when things seem idyllic on the surface, there may be underlying issues that people choose to ignore or avoid.
Line by Line Meaning
She'd brought along the oranges
She brought oranges with her.
He'd brought the tea
He brought tea with him.
They'd both brought along a sick-bag just in case
They brought a sick-bag with them, just in case.
The plate of chicken sandwiches
The plate had chicken sandwiches.
Were lovely they agreed
They both agreed that the chicken sandwiches were good.
And I watched him spit the bits into her face
He spat bits of the sandwich into her face.
'Do you love me like you used to' he sighs
He sighs and asks her if she still loves him like she used to.
'I love you twice as much' she replies
She replies that she loves him twice as much.
They were on the train to Venice, where else?
They were on a train going to Venice.
I think tonight I fancy myself
Tonight, I am attracted to myself.
I'd rather drink that toast to my own health
I prefer to drink a toast to my own health.
I think tonight I'd rather love myself
Tonight, I would rather love myself.
And if you drink that drink to your own health
If you drink a toast to your own health.
Later in the evening
Later that evening.
The sun came rolling down
The sun began to set.
And they talked about their fantasies and fears
They discussed their fantasies and fears.
Between the heavy breathing
While they were breathing heavily.
And those lighter licking sounds
And making lighter licking sounds.
I heard him whisper this question in her ear
He whispered a question in her ear.
'Would you still love me if I lost my legs?'
He asked her if she would still love him if he lost his legs.
'I'd see that you were loved and you were fed'
She replied that she would make sure he was loved and fed.
'I end up in a car crash almost dead'
He imagines being in a car crash and almost dying.
'For richer and for partly severed head'
A play on the traditional wedding vows, suggesting that she would stay with him even if he lost part of his head.
The neighbours ask them out but they flatly refuse
Their neighbors invite them out, but they refuse.
'We're saving up for a world-wide cruise'
They say they are saving up for a worldwide cruise.
With a choice between loneliness and love-sick QE2's
Choosing between being alone or being on a love-sick cruise ship (the QE2).
Well tonight I choose - self-abuse
Tonight, I choose to indulge myself.
A four-pack in the fridge
There is a four-pack of something in the refrigerator.
A good book on the shelf
There is a good book on the shelf.
I think tonight I'd rather love myself
Tonight, I would rather love myself.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DAVE ROTHERAY, PAUL HEATON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind