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 Keep It All In
The Beautiful South Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You keep it all in
You know your problem
You keep it all in
That's right
The conversation we had last night
When all I wanted to do was knife you in the heart
You know your problem
You keep it all in
You know your problem
You keep it all in
Midnight, a husband getting ready to fight
A daughter sleeps alone with the light turned on, she hears
But keeps it all in
Just like that murder in '73
Just like that robbery in '62
With all these things that have happened to me
I've kept them all in
So why do you keep on telling me now?
You know your problem
You keep it all in
You know your problem
You keep it all in
That's sweet
That conversation we had last week
When you gagged and bound me up to my seat
You're right, I do
I keep it all in
Just like that murder in '73
Just like that robbery in '62
With all these things that have happened to me
I've kept them all in, I kept it all in
I kept it all in (ba badaba ba)
I kept it all in (ba badaba ba)
I kept it all in (ba badaba ba)
I kept it all in (ba badaba ba)
I kept it all in, now, now, now, people (ba badaba ba)
I kept it all in (ba badaba ba)
I kept it all in, now, now, now, people (ba badaba ba)
I kept it all in, alright (ba badaba ba)
The Beautiful South's song You Keep It All In tackles the theme of emotional repression and the damaging consequences of keeping things bottled up inside. The lyrics appear to be speaking from the perspective of someone who, like many of us, finds it difficult to express their innermost feelings and instead chooses to hold them in. At the same time, the song seems to be criticizing this behavior and its potential to create tension and pain in both personal relationships and society as a whole.
The song's first verse sets the tone by pointing out the problem of not expressing one's emotions, saying "You know your problem, you keep it all in." The singer acknowledges a recent conversation that they had with someone they wanted to hurt, but chose not to out of fear. The second verse shifts the focus to the story of a family whose unresolved conflicts are kept hidden, including a father potentially preparing for physical violence and a daughter who is left to deal with her fears alone. The chorus repeats the line "You know your problem, you keep it all in," emphasizing the importance of sharing one's feelings.
Towards the end of the song, the lyrics take on a slightly darker tone. The line "That conversation we had last week, when you gagged and bound me up to my seat" suggests a past event in which someone was kept silent against their will. As the song draws to a close, the lyrics circle back to the opening theme of holding things in and repeat the phrase "I kept it all in" several times.
Overall, The Beautiful South's You Keep It All In is a poignant commentary on the need for emotional openness and communication in all aspects of life.
Line by Line Meaning
You know your problem
You understand the root cause of your issues
You keep it all in
You internalize your problems and refuse to express or deal with them
That's right
Agreement with the idea of keeping emotions hidden
The conversation we had last night
Referencing a specific previous interaction
When all I wanted to do was knife you in the heart
Feelings of hostility in response to undisclosed situation
I kept it all in
The singer did not express their violent feelings
Midnight, a husband getting ready to fight
Painting a picture of a violent domestic conflict
A daughter sleeps alone with the light turned on, she hears
A vulnerable child is exposed to the traumatic event
But keeps it all in
The daughter does not vocalize or cope with the experience in a healthy way
Just like that murder in '73
Referencing a past traumatic event
Just like that robbery in '62
Referencing another past traumatic event
With all these things that have happened to me
The singer has experienced several traumatic events
I've kept them all in
The artist has not dealt with their traumas in a healthy way
So why do you keep on telling me now?
Questioning the need to discuss emotional issues when the artist has not done so themselves
That's sweet
Sarcastic agreement with the idea of disclosing emotions
That conversation we had last week
Referencing a specific previous interaction
When you gagged and bound me up to my seat
A reference to BDSM or other consensual role-playing activities
You're right, I do
Admitting to keeping emotions hidden
I keep it all in
Reiterating that the singer does not express their feelings
I kept it all in (ba badaba ba)
Repetition of the theme
I kept it all in, now, now, now, people (ba badaba ba)
Urging others to also keep their emotions hidden
I kept it all in, alright (ba badaba ba)
Final repetition of the theme
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Dave Rotheray, Paul David Heaton
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind