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").
Woman In The Wall
The Beautiful South Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
He enjoyed a pint or two or three or four
She was just a silent thinker, silent every night
He'd enjoy the thought of killing her before
Well he was very rarely drunk but very rarely sober
And he didn't think the problem was his drink
But he only knew his problem when he knocked her over
Cry freedom for the woman in the wall
Cry freedom for she has no voice at all
I hear her cry all day, all night
I hear her voice from deep within the wall
Made a cross from knitting needles
Made a grave from hoover bags
Especially for the woman in the wall
She'd knitted him a jumper with dominoes on
So he wore it everyday in every week
Pretended to himself that she hadn't really gone
Pretended that he thought he heard her speak
Then at last it seemed that he was really winning
He felt that he had some sort of grip
But all of his new life was sent a-spinning
When the rotting wall began to drip
The Beautiful South's song "Woman In The Wall" tells a story of a man who is a social drinker and a woman who is a silent thinker. The man enjoys drinking and often has multiple pints every night. The woman, on the other hand, is reserved and quiet each night. Despite his love for drinking, the man also enjoys the thought of killing his partner before. He is rarely drunk, but he is also rarely sober. He doesn't think that there's a problem with his drinking habits, but everything changes when he ends up killing the woman.
He only realizes that he has a problem when he knocks her over, and the rotting flesh begins to stink. The singer of the song can hear the woman's voice cry for freedom all day and night, and they can hear her voice deep within the wall. As the song progresses, the man continues to pretend that the woman hasn't left him. He wears the jumper that she had knitted for him with dominoes on it every day and convinced himself that he can hear her speak. However, he soon realizes that all of his new life is sent a-spinning when the rotting wall begins to drip.
Line by Line Meaning
He was just a social drinker but social every night
He drank often, but only socially
He enjoyed a pint or two or three or four
He often drank multiple pints
She was just a silent thinker, silent every night
She never spoke
He'd enjoy the thought of killing her before
He had violent thoughts about her
Well he was very rarely drunk but very rarely sober
He was never fully drunk or sober
And he didn't think the problem was his drink
He didn't see his drinking as a problem
But he only knew his problem when he knocked her over
He only realized his problem when he hurt her
And when the rotting flesh began to stink
He didn't take care of her and she decayed
Cry freedom for the woman in the wall
The woman in the wall needs to be freed
Cry freedom for she has no voice at all
She cannot speak for herself
I hear her cry all day, all night
The singer hears her cries constantly
I hear her voice from deep within the wall
Her voice comes from within the wall
Made a cross from knitting needles
He created a makeshift cross from knitting needles
Made a grave from hoover bags
He used vacuum cleaner bags to make a grave
Especially for the woman in the wall
The makeshift grave was for the woman in the wall
She'd knitted him a jumper with dominoes on
She had made him a sweater with a domino pattern
So he wore it everyday in every week
He wore the sweater often
Pretended to himself that she hadn't really gone
He tried to convince himself that she was still around
Pretended that he thought he heard her speak
He imagined that he heard her voice
Then at last it seemed that he was really winning
He felt like he was doing well without her
He felt that he had some sort of grip
He thought he had control over his life
But all of his new life was sent a-spinning
His life completely changed
When the rotting wall began to drip
The wall started to leak due to the rotting flesh
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DAVE ROTHERAY, PAUL HEATON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind