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").
You've Done Nothing Wrong
The Beautiful South Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Turned out this way.
You never thought there'd come a time,
When you would go away.
But you stayed right here beside me,
Even when the love was gone.
And just because I'm hurting,
That don't mean that you've done something wrong.
Well, you said that you were sorry,
And you'd take all the blame.
But we both shared the gamble,
So let's both share the pain.
Like a breeze that blew across us,
Love just moved along.
And just because I'm hurting,
That don't mean that you've done something wrong.
We were happy for awhile dear,
But that's all over now.
I'll pick up the pieces,
And I'll get along somehow.
But it all came back too clearly,
In my bed, alone, tonight, as I was,
Lying here just waiting for,
Oh, that early morning light.
Now you've gone so far away, dear,
And these words I cannot say.
I cursed at you for leaving,
Slammed the door and ran away.
In your face, I saw the sadness,
But I've waited, now, too long,
To tell you: "I still love you,
"And you've done nothing wrong."
'Cause we were happy for awhile dear,
But that's all over now.
I'll pick up the pieces,
And I'll get along somehow.
But it all came back too clearly,
In my bed, alone, tonight, as I was,
Lying here just waiting for,
Oh, that early morning lit.
The Beautiful South's "You've Done Nothing Wrong" is a poignant song about love and loss. It is a song about a relationship that has come to an end, yet one of the parties involved is left feeling guilty - as if they have done something wrong. The song talks about how the two lovers have shared the pain of their failed relationship, but even then, one of them remains haunted by the memory of what used to be. The song ends with the realization that, despite the hurt and pain, the love that once existed between the two prevails.
The first verse of the song talks about how the person who is left behind is hurting, and how their partner, who has left them, never thought that things would turn out this way. However, the person who is left behind acknowledges that their partner stayed beside them even when the love was gone. The second verse explores the idea of shared guilt and shares that both parties are equally to blame for the relationship's failure. It then goes on to describe how love just moved along, much like a breeze that blows across us, and hurt doesn't imply that someone has done something wrong. The third verse talks about how the person left behind is struggling to move on and pick up the pieces but keeps seeing the memories of the past relationship come back to them. It then ends with the realization that they still love their partner and that they did nothing to deserve the treatment they received.
Line by Line Meaning
Well, you told me that you wished that things had not
You expressed regret for the way things turned out
Turned out this way.
The situation became unfavorable
You never thought there'd come a time,
You never imagined a future eventuality
When you would go away.
When you would leave my side
But you stayed right here beside me,
You remained loyal and supportive
Even when the love was gone.
Despite the absence of love or affection
And just because I'm hurting,
My emotional pain should not be attributed to you
That don't mean that you've done something wrong.
You are not responsible for how I feel
Well, you said that you were sorry,
You apologized for your role in the situation
And you'd take all the blame.
You were willing to accept responsibility
But we both shared the gamble,
We both took a risk
So let's both share the pain.
We should both shoulder the emotional burden
Like a breeze that blew across us,
Our love was fleeting and insubstantial
Love just moved along.
Love came and went
We were happy for awhile dear,
We were content for a time
But that's all over now.
That period has ended
I'll pick up the pieces,
I will try to recover from this
And I'll get along somehow.
I will find a way to cope
But it all came back too clearly,
The memories returned painfully
In my bed, alone, tonight, as I was,
As I lay in bed, lonely and isolated
Lying here just waiting for,
Anticipating
Oh, that early morning light.
Dawn or a new beginning
Now you've gone so far away, dear,
You have distanced yourself
And these words I cannot say.
I am unable to voice my feelings
I cursed at you for leaving,
I directed anger towards you for going
Slammed the door and ran away.
I left abruptly
In your face, I saw the sadness,
I perceived your emotional pain
But I've waited, now, too long,
I delayed expressing my true emotions
To tell you: "I still love you,
My feelings for you have not changed
And you've done nothing wrong."
You are blameless in all of this
Contributed by Jayden K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
redtick79
This woman is "killing it" on Iris's song . Awesome job by her.
Phil & Gill Martin
Beautiful harmonies. Wow. My favourite (current) love song. I need to find more songs like this for my healing.
john battrick
Beautiful song Jacqueline’s voice is so good!! Love the beautiful south!!
Seán Ó Domhnaill
What a voice, what a performance!
Twistedsister Pettipas
I must of watched this a thousand times...I love it so much ❤️😊
Phil & Gill Martin
I’m with you - a most beautiful love song.
LeMans
Beautiful, soulful version.
Michael Byrnee
How amazing it must have been to have Iris signing backup...
famousgrouse1966
Such emotion in Jacquis voice and eyes. Beautiful.
Davey R
Would love to have been there to see Jaqui and Iris doing this fab duet.