Neil Hannon, Originally from Derry, has been the only ever-present member of the band, being its founder in 1989 when he was joined by John McCullagh and Kevin Traynor. Their first album, the heavily R.E.M.-influenced and now-deleted Fanfare for the Comic Muse, enjoyed little success though. A couple of equally unsuccessful EPs - Timewatch (1991); Europop (1992) - were to follow, with newly-recruited member John Allen handling lead vocals on some tracks. After the commercial failure of the latter EP, this line-up soon fell apart.
Hannon, however, was not deterred in his efforts and re-appeared in 1993 with Liberation. Featuring a fairly diverse musical outlook that goes from the tongue-in-cheek synth pop of Europop(nearly unrecognisable from the previously-released version) to the classical stylings of Timewatching.
Indeed, it was only some minor success in France that really enabled Hannon to proceed to his second effort Promenade. Released in 1994, this was heavily driven by classical influences, with Michael Nyman's stylings clearly an influence. Hannon himself acknowledged this when he apparently sent a copy of his new album to the composer, jokingly asking him not to sue. Essentially a concept album about a day spent by two lovers, it also received similar critical acclaim to that which Liberation was afforded. Commercial success, though, was not forthcoming.
At around the same time, Hannon also wrote and performed the theme music for the TV sitcom Father Ted (which would subsequently be incorporated into the song Songs of Love on the album Casanova), and later wrote the music for the deliberately bad mock-Eurovision song My Lovely Horse for one episode. Hannon resisted widespread requests from fans to release the track as a single for the Christmas market, but it was eventually released in 1999 as the third track on the CD-single Gin Soaked Boy. This would not be the only time they would be responsible for a TV theme, as In Pursuit Of Happiness was also used by the BBC science and technology show, Tomorrow's World. Hannon also recently composed the music for the comedy series "The IT Crowd".
The album Casanova (1996), and in particular the single Something for the Weekend led to the band's first major successes, with Neil Hannon becoming a distinctive, albeit unlikely, popstar in an immaculate suit, and always appearing the elegant dandy. At the height of their commercial success, the band put out A Short Album About Love (a reference to the Krzysztof Kieślowski movie A Short Film About Love), recorded live at soundcheck with the Brunel Ensemble in preparation for a concert at the Shepherd's Bush Empire, from which several songs were released as b-sides. It was aptly released on Valentine's Day in 1997. Subsequently, the band contributed a reworking of Noel Coward's I've Been to a Marvellous Party to a compilation of covers of the writer's songs, with Hannon affecting a Cowardesque lilt (albeit interspersed with an aggressive electronic musical backing).
The foppish image, but not the suit, was ditched for the more sombre album Fin De Siècle in 1998, although its biggest hit, the jaunty National Express, a song about the national coach operators, belied its more intimate, soul-searching tone. Maintaining the balance between these poles, 1999's Secret History - the Best of The Divine Comedy included a re-recording of Liberation track The Pop Singer's Fear of the Pollen Count and two new songs (Gin-Soaked Boy and Too Young to Die) alongside the band's main hits. In the same year, the band also collaborated with Tom Jones on a cover version of Portishead's All Mine, featured on his album Reload.
A serious side to the band was also in evidence in 2000's collaboration with Ute Lemper on her album Punishing Kiss, most of which featured The Divine Comedy as Lemper's backing band.
The 2001 album Regeneration attempted to remove the band still further from its association with comedy. Hannon hired famous producer Nigel Godrich to "remake" the band. Neil ditched the suit and donned the Britrock band image. However, the album was a greater critical than commercial success, and soon after its release it was announced that The Divine Comedy were splitting up. However within a year Hannon was touring again with a revised band line-up, playing a series of joint-headline gigs in the USA, UK and Ireland featuring both The Divine Comedy and Ben Folds, who would cover The Divine Comedy's Songs of Love on his Sunny 16 EP.
Eventually a new album surfaced in the form of 2004's Absent Friends. Striking a balance between the occasionally earnest sound of the band's later material and the lighter tone of the more popular releases, it encapsulated the essence of The Divine Comedy. 2004 saw two dates of particularly acclaimed performances, one at the London Palladium (which was later released as a live DVD) and one at the Royal Albert Hall.
In January 2005, Hannon announced that he had acquired the worldwide copyrights to all of his recorded output with his former record label, Setanta Records. He declared on the band's official website that he would be launching his own record label Divine Comedy Records in order to re-release his 1990s output.
Hannon's ninth album under the Divine Comedy moniker, Victory for the Comic Muse (a reference to his debut), was released in June 2006. It is suggested by fans to be less personal and more free-approach in tone than his most recent albums. The bulk of the record was recorded in just two weeks, hence the more spontaneous sound, and features appearances from Travis bass player Dougie Payne.
Hannon collaborated with Thomas Walsh of Pugwash to create an album themed around the sport of cricket. Released under the alias The Duckworth Lewis Method, the self-titled album was released in 2009 to critical acclaim.
The following year saw the tenth Divine Comedy album and first on his own label, Bang Goes the Knighthood.
Bath
The Divine Comedy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
They fly, forgotten, as a dream dies at the op'ning day.
Rub-a-dub-dub
It's time for a scrub
So through clouds of steam
To a cracked and faded cream
Bath-tub wanders frail
Pink and white
She is naked as sin
Wearing nothing but a grin
And a pin in her hair
Will she be drowned?
Found
With her hair tied behind
Shoulders back
And head inclined
To the sound of music
Playing above
Bathing her in love
But darkness and fear
Will disappear like the soap
When she opens her eyes.
She throws back her dormer windows
Morning light shows Ophelia raised
From her watery grave in a brave new world.
The verse that opens “Bath” is a clear meditation on the passage of time and its effects on everything living. The metaphor of time as a flowing river is commonplace, but the finality of the line “they fly, forgotten, as a dream dies at the op’ning day.” takes that metaphor a bit further than usual. While this theme of death and the transience of existence could potentially cast a somber cloud over the song, The Divine Comedy jettisons it for a more playful approach. Our protagonist Aphrodite is having a bath! She’s wandering in like an old relative, through steam and on unsteady legs, and bearing a pin in her hair. The imagery of her undressing and stepping into the bath is cheeky and erotic, amplified when she is described as “naked as sin/wearing nothing but a grin”.
The chorus of “Bath” is straightforward enough. The steam, bubbles and warmth of the water make everything else just melt away. The “sound of music” providing Bath’s soundtrack is bathed in a light of love and serenity. The transformation from darkness and fear to tranquility and contentment is expressed by the soap disappearing, like water, drifts of steam or the passing of time. In the closing verse, we see Aphrodite’s bath-time bliss complete as she “throws back her dormer windows” and the morning light reveals herself like the character of Ophelia in John Everett Millais’s famous painting.
* The Divine Comedy is the stage name for Neil Hannon, a singer-songwriter from Northern Ireland.
* “Bath” is the tenth track from their 1994 album, “Promenade”.
* This song was never officially released as single, however, in 1995 the album 'Promenade' was reissued with bonus tracks which included the lead single, 'Your Daddy's Car'.
* The song has an animated music video that showed Aphrodite taking a bath.
* In an interview, Hannon had revealed that the lyrics of Bath were inspired by the piano melodies and his personal experiences of 'having a bath'.
* The song has also been used in the background of an episode in the popular American medical drama tv series, Grey's Anatomy.
* In the line “Morning light shows Ophelia raised/From her watery grave in a brave new world”, Hannon references the painting 'Ophelia' painted by John Everett Millais.
* This song is also featured in the 2015 British Theatre Adaption of “Swallows and Amazons”.
* The Divine Comedy performed the song live on television in 1994 on MTV Europe's "Most Wanted".
* “Bath” is widely considered as one of the most iconic tracks by The Divine Comedy.
Chords progression: D A Bm G A D.
Line by Line Meaning
Time, like an ever-rolling stream, bears all its sons away;
Time is an ongoing motion that flows without ceasing, taking along every human life that it comes across, leaving them forgotten and unrecognized, like a dream that fades away quickly as the morning shows up.
They fly, forgotten, as a dream dies at the op'ning day.
Humans are easily forgotten like the memories of a dream when the morning light illuminates.
Rub-a-dub-dub
A playful expression made while taking a bath.
It's time for a scrub
It's time to clean oneself from dirt and sweat.
So through clouds of steam
Moving through the dense hot water vapor.
To a cracked and faded cream
Toward the dirty and old bathtub which looks worn out and obsolete, resembling the color of a cream that is diluted with impurities.
Bath-tub wanders frail
The bathtub seems weak and rundown.
Aphrodite, so pale
The woman in the bathtub resembles the goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite, who symbolizes desire, passion, and sexuality. She looks a bit pale since she is exposed to steam.
Pink and white
The woman's skin color looks pinkish under the steam and her bathtub is colored white.
She is naked as sin
The woman is totally undressed, revealing her nudity, which is considered sinful according to traditional beliefs.
Wearing nothing but a grin
She smiles contentedly, not caring about revealing her body to others who might see her nakedness.
And a pin in her hair
The woman has a hairpin to hold her hair in place while taking a bath.
Will she be drowned?
A question raised regarding the woman's safety in the bathtub, as she is alone and unattended.
Found
Discovered, if she becomes unresponsive and incapable of sustaining life while taking a bath.
With her hair tied behind
The woman most likely tied her hair back to prevent it from becoming wet and heavy in the water while bathing.
Shoulders back
The woman is sitting up with her shoulders straight, displaying her body posture.
And head inclined
Her head is slightly tilted in a relaxed manner.
To the sound of music
There might be music playing in the background while she is taking a bath, adding to the soothing environment.
Playing above
The music is coming from another room above where she is having a bath.
Bathing her in love
The music instills a sense of relaxation and peace, making her feel loved and pampered.
But darkness and fear
The woman might feel scared and anxious while taking a bath since it is dark and she is alone.
Will disappear like the soap
The fear and darkness will go away just like the soap lather that gets washed off quickly.
When she opens her eyes.
The woman will experience a sense of relief and calmness when she opens her eyes and realizes nothing bad has happened to her.
She throws back her dormer windows
She opens the windows in the roof of her house.
Morning light shows Ophelia raised
The morning light reveals the scene of a woman from a Shakespearean play 'Ophelia' who drowned herself in a river following her father's murder. The woman in the tub resembles her in the way she is exposed to the water.
From her watery grave in a brave new world.
The woman in the tub is submerged under water, like Ophelia in her tragic ending in death. Their worlds are different, yet the woman in the tub feels she's transforming into a new, refreshed version of herself.
Lyrics © DOMINO PUBLISHING COMPANY, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: NEIL HANNON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind