The Furs initially used Martin Hannett as a producer, but their initial self-titled album from 1980 was eventually produced by Steve Lillywhite. The LP quickly established the band on radio and was a top 20 hit in the UK. The album also found success in Germany, Italy, France, Spain and Australia. The US version of the album was re-sequenced, but failed to have as strong a commercial impact.
The Furs found success in the U.S. market with the 1981 release, titled 'Talk Talk Talk', which made its impact on the US album charts and received critical acclaim worldwide. In the UK, the album was a solid hit which spun off two charting singles, "Dumb Waiters" and the original version of "Pretty in Pink". The latter song served as inspiration for the 1986 John Hughes film of the same name, and was re-recorded for the platinum-selling soundtrack.
In 1982, the band was reduced to a four-piece with the departures of Morris and Kilburn. (Ex-Birthday Party drummer Phill Calvert would briefly join the group around this time.) The band's remaining members moved permanently to New York, where they recorded the album Forever Now with producer Todd Rundgren. This album contained "Love My Way", a breakthrough Top 40 hit in both the US and the UK. Ely left the band after this release, though he would return for the 1988 single "All That Money Wants" and the 1989 album Book of Days.
The Furs' 1984 release Mirror Moves was produced by Keith Forsey, and featured the songs "The Ghost in You" and "Heaven". Both charted in the UK, and "Heaven" became the band's highest charting UK hit at the time -- but inexplicably, "Heaven" was never released as a single in America. Instead, Columbia Records opted for "Here Come Cowboys", despite both international success and heavy MTV airplay on "Heaven." "Here Come Cowboys" failed to chart, but "The Ghost In You" was a hit on the US pop charts. The band had become popular in Canada as well, CFNY, Toronto's new wave radio station, listed Mirror Moves as the #1 LP of 1984.
By this time, the band had become somewhat of a staple on US college and modern rock radio stations. As well, they were building mainstream success, fairly consistently placing singles in the pop charts on both sides of the Atlantic, though they would "have more impact on future musicians than they ever did in the marketplace." In 1986, the band re-recorded a version of "Pretty in Pink", which was their biggest hit to that time in the US, and their biggest-ever UK hit.
Richard Butler later claimed that the success of "Pretty in Pink" caused the band to be pressured into entering the studio to record a follow-up release before they were ready. The result was Midnight to Midnight, an album which Butler characterized as "hollow, vapid and weak". A more overtly commercial effort than the Furs had ever recorded before, the album also featured the single "Heartbreak Beat", which was their highest charting top 40 US hit.
However, the Furs were dissatisfied with their new commercial direction, and subsequently returned to a rawer sound with "All That Money Wants", a 1988 track especially recorded for a 'best-of' collection. 1989's Book of Days saw a return to the old-school style and the temporary return of Vince Ely. 1991's World Outside was similarly more of a "back to basics" approach.
From 1988 on The Furs' chart success continued with three #1 hits on the US Modern Rock chart between 1988 and 1991.
The band splintered in 1991, with the Butler brothers going on to found Love Spit Love. After spending most of the decade apart, Butler, Butler and Ashton re-formed The Psychedelic Furs in 2000, and released a live album Beautiful Chaos: Greatest Hits Live, which also featured a new studio recording, "Alive (For Once In My Lifetime)." A DVD version of the performance included live versions of "Alive" and three other previously unreleased songs: "Anodyne (Better Days)," "Cigarette" and "Wrong Train."
Since then the Furs continue to tour the world along with former Love Spit Love drummer Frank Ferrer, ex-Information Society and World Party keyboardist Amanda Kramer and saxophonist Mars Williams who returned to the band after a stint in the late 1980s.
Showing the band's significant influence as a part of the new wave and post-punk movements, their songs have been covered by numerous other artists. Examples include Annie Lennox, Buffalo Tom, Icehouse, Powderfinger, Regenerator, and Robyn Hitchcock.
Wedding Song
The Psychedelic Furs Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A wedding song goes on and on
See the churches falling down
This is only in your mind
We're useless
We're useless
All their dresses stand so white
All the brides are all in white
A wedding song goes on and on
We're useless
We're useless
Walking on the paper ruins
Shoes and rice and one two three
Picking through the plastic ruins
Of my useless memory
Make a line of useless women
Make a line of useless men
Love me love me love me love
Again again again again
We're useless
We're useless
Completely
The Psychedelic Furs' song "Wedding Song" appears to be a bleak meditation on the futility of love and marriage. The singer repeats the refrain "we're useless" several times throughout the song, emphasizing a sense of purposelessness that seems to permeate both the institution of marriage and the individual lives of those who enter into it. Some of the lyrics suggest a sense of disillusionment with traditional wedding ceremonies: "See the churches falling down / This is only in your mind."
One interpretation of these lyrics is that they reflect a fear of commitment and a mistrust of societal expectations surrounding marriage. The repeated refrain "Play another wedding song / A wedding song goes on and on" suggests a sense of resignation or boredom with the rituals and traditions of marriage. The reference to "useless women" and "useless men" may reflect a sense of gendered powerlessness or the feeling that people are simply being swept along by societal expectations without truly understanding what they're doing or why.
Overall, "Wedding Song" is a thought-provoking meditation on love, commitment, and the many ways in which human relationships can be both hopeful and hopeless at once.
Line by Line Meaning
Play another wedding song
Request to play another song about a wedding
A wedding song goes on and on
Wedding songs seem to last forever
See the churches falling down
The idea of traditional weddings is fading away
This is only in your mind
The perception of weddings falling apart is a personal one
We're useless
The artist and/or society are purposeless
We're useless
The singer and/or society are purposeless
All their dresses stand so white
The purity and virginity associated with brides' dresses
All the brides are all in white
All brides are expected to wear white dresses
Play another wedding song
Request to play another song about a wedding
A wedding song goes on and on
Wedding songs seem to last forever
We're useless
The singer and/or society are purposeless
We're useless
The artist and/or society are purposeless
Walking on the paper ruins
Metaphor for the fragility of marriage
Shoes and rice and one two three
Traditional wedding customs
Picking through the plastic ruins
The modern, commercial aspect of weddings is being critiqued
Of my useless memory
Memories of weddings are meaningless when the marriages fail
Make a line of useless women
Women who depend on men for validation of their worth
Make a line of useless men
Men who are incapable of living up to societal ideals
Love me love me love me love
Desperation for validation through love
Again again again again
Repetition of the cycle
We're useless
The artist and/or society are purposeless
We're useless
The artist and/or society are purposeless
Completely
Reflective of the sad, hopeless tone of the song overall
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: DUNCAN KILBURN, JOHN ASHTON, RICHARD LOFTHOUSE BUTLER, ROGER MORRIS, TIMOTHY BUTLER, VINCENT DAVEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
PDMF
"Wedding Song" (Lyrics)
The Psychedelic Furs
Play another wedding song
A wedding song goes on and on
See the churches falling down
This is only in your mind
We're useless
We're useless
All their dresses stand so white
All the brides are all in white
Play another wedding song
A wedding song goes on and on
We're useless
We're useless
Walking on the paper ruins
Shoes and rice and one two three
Picking through the plastic ruins
Of my useless memory
Make a line of useless women
Make a line of useless men
Love me love me love me love
Again again again again
We're useless
We're useless
Completely
MarkSentMe
I wanted this played at my wedding. Unfortunately, my reception was at a church hall. No music! LOVE this song and when they sang this at the War memorial Auditorium in Nashville a few years ago, I LOST MY MIND!!
neil ryan
I like your thinking.
Uniblab
I put it on my wedding reception tape, unbeknownst to my bride. Don't think anyone noticed it.
PDMF
"Wedding Song" (Lyrics)
The Psychedelic Furs
Play another wedding song
A wedding song goes on and on
See the churches falling down
This is only in your mind
We're useless
We're useless
All their dresses stand so white
All the brides are all in white
Play another wedding song
A wedding song goes on and on
We're useless
We're useless
Walking on the paper ruins
Shoes and rice and one two three
Picking through the plastic ruins
Of my useless memory
Make a line of useless women
Make a line of useless men
Love me love me love me love
Again again again again
We're useless
We're useless
Completely
Andrea Stephens
One of their best from their best album
SteveP
Mind-numbinglly brilliant. A soundtrack for nearly anything.
starshadow8
Such an underrated jam. Has a great beat to it, will always be one of my favorites. 💜
John bLAND
So rocking!
Paddy Campbell
Brilliant!
Jane
Beautiful as he can be