The Beautiful South are a UK band, formed by Paul Heaton after his previous band - The Housemartins - split up. In the last decade, they have been responsible for creating songs such as "Old red eyes is back", "Good as Gold", "Don't Marry Her", "Perfect 10", and - more recently - "Closer Than Most". In fact, their "Carry On Up The Charts" album has sold 3 million copies (and rising) in the UK - this is equivalent to one in seven households having a copy of the album.

Who are The Beautiful South?

Paul Heaton (Vocalist and songwriter)
Jacqueline Abbot (Vocalist)
Dave Hemmingway (Vocalist)
David Rotheray (Guitarist and songwriter)
Sean Welch (Bass)
David Stead (Drums)

Briana Corrigan was the group's original female vocalist, but left after the third album was released¹ - she was then replaced by Jacqueline.

Discography - Albums

To date, the band have released seven albums, and one "best of" album. These are listed below in order of release.

Welcome to the Beautiful South (1989): Song for Whoever, Have you Ever Been Away?, From Under The Covers, I'll Sail This Ship Alone, Girlfriend, Straight in at 37, You Keep It All In, Woman In The Wall, Oh Blackpool, Love Is..., I Love You (But You're Boring)

Choke (1990):Tonight I Fancy Myself, My Book, Let Love Speak Up Itself, Should've Kept My Eyes Shut, I've Come For My Award, Lips, I Think The Answer's Yes, A Little Time, Mother's Pride, I Hate You (But You're Interesting), The Rising Of Grafton Street

0898² (1992): Old Red Eyes Is Back, We Are Each Other, The Rocking Chair, We'll Deal With You Later, Domino Man, 36D, Here It Is Again, Something That You Said, I'm Your No.1 Fan, Bell-Bottomed Tear, You'll Play Glockenspiel I'll Play Drums, When I'm 84

Miaow (1994): Hold On To What?, Good As Gold (Stupid As Mud), Especially For You, Everybody's Talkin', Prettiest Eyes, Worthless Lie, Hooligans Don't Fall In Love, Hidden Jukebox, Hold Me Close (Underground), Tattoo, Mini-Correct, Poppy

Carry on Up The Charts³ (1994): Song For Whoever, You Keep It All In, I'll Sail This Ship Alone, A Little Time, My Book, Let Love Speak Up Itself, Old Red Eyes Is Back, We Are Each Other, Bell Bottomed Tear, 36D, Good As Gold (Stupid As Mud), Everybody's Talkin' Prettiest Eyes, One Last Love Song

Blue Is The Colour (1996): Don't Marry Her, Little Blue, Mirror, Blackbird On The Wire, The Sound Of North America, Have Fun, Liars' Bar, Rotterdam (Or Anywhere), Foundations, Artificial Flowers, One God, Alone

Quench (1998): How Long's A Tear Take To Dry?, The Lure Of The Sea, Big Coin, Dumb, Perfect 10, The Slide, Look What I found In My Beer, The Table, Window Shopping For Blinds, Pockets, I May Be Ugly, Losing Things, Your Father And I

Painting it Red⁴ (2000): Who's Gonna Tell?, Closer Than Most, Just Checkin', Hit Parade, Masculine Eclipse, 'Til You Can't Tuck It In, If We Crawl, Tupperware Queen, Half-Hearted Get (Is Second Best), White Teeth⁵, The River, Baby Please Go, You Can Call Me Leisure, Final Spark, 10000 Feet, Hot On The Heels OF Heartbreak, The Mediterranean, A Little Piece of Advice, Property Quiz, Chicken Wings

Top Ten Singles

A Deeper Meaning?

When you first hear a song by The Beautiful South, you generally think it's really catchy, and will keep singing it. Nothing unusual there... However, there'll come a point when you actually think about the words, and realise that they can have a deeper meaning. Take "Big Coin", for instance: it's a catchy little tune. Think about the words a little more, and it could be a remark of how most people are unaware of poverty. Here's an extract from "Big Coin"⁶:

"Big coin that you toss for heads or tails

Big coin that you let slip down the drain

Big coin didn't find where it landed

Big coin, big coin


Big coin that you dropped in the river

Little raft that took you across

Little hand that pulled it from the gutter

Big coin, big coin"

Where to find more information

The best sourse for more information about the band is the Official Beautiful South homepage. This site contains (amongst other things) audio/video clips and full lyrics for all songs, Q&As with the band members, tour dates, and (interestingly) the meaning behind the albums' cover images.