Manchester - The Beautiful South

The Beautiful South are a group that produced songs that fell right into my favorite genre. I love songs with catchy tunes but more crucially, lyrics that are witty. Several of my favorite groups fall into this category; Barenaked Ladies, Fountains of Wayne, Bowling For Soup and Squeeze to name a few.

"Manchester" is the song that stood out most to me from their most recent and final album "Superbi". The band broke up earlier this year, disbanding due to "musical similarities" (The best reason a band has ever given).

The song is driven by a distinctive and prominent bass line as well as some brilliant guitar licks. As with all Beautiful South songs, the production is spot on allowing all instruments can be heard distinctively.

The Englishness of the song is what really sells it to me. The theme of the song is that it always rains in Manchester, which in turn makes it great. Here are some of the wonderful lyrics:

"And whilst that deckchair in the garden it makes no sense
It doesn't spoil the view or cause offence
Those Floridas, Bavarias and Kents
Make gentlemen wear shorts but don’t make gents"

"So convertible stay garage-bound
Save after-sun for later"

"As you dry your clothes once again
Upon the radiator"

"And as winter turns reluctantly to spring
For the clouds above the city there's one last fling"

I'm really disappointed I never got to see them play live. Hopefully there will be a reunion or a equally good new band formed from the ashes.

If you can't see the player <a href='http://www.dur.ac.uk/michael.smith/blog/music.html'>Click Here</a> to listen to the song.

- from Squeeze-box Blog.