Anyway, back to the main business of today, scoring My Lovely Horse! I mean, it really is a tricky one. Did it make me roar with laughter the first time I watched the show? Of course. Was I happy it finally got included as a B-side? Undoubtedly! Do I need to listen to it again out of context from the episode? Nah. Do I want to stand next to someone "hilarious" at a gig ever again, shouting for it? Hells no! I'm going to give it a 3 because it does exactly what it's supposed to do -but the only song from the "proper" TDC catalogue we've rated so far that I would less like to listen to again right now is "Timewatching".
There is a Light That Never Goes Out Never been a fan of the Smiths and/or Morrissey and not a huge fan of this cover either. Sorry for sounding so negative! Neil’s version has some sort of, er... goth vibe to it? It’s slooow. Nothing wrong with that but it doesn’t really hold my attention. I’ll be kind and give it a 3/5.
The Father Ted stuff I don't ever need to hear outside of the show, and certainly wouldn't listen to above virtually anything on the actual albums. I won't bother voting for the b-sides of the previous couple days, aside from noting I don't especially share Neil's affinity for the Magnetic Fields (Merritt's Eeyore the donkey voice and often ramshackle sound turn me off a lot of the time, and 69 Love Songs was about 55 too many), and I rather like the Smiths cover. I love the Smiths, but not with the fanatical devotion of many diehards. Seeing Johnny Marr live in 2019 and singing the chorus to "There is a Light..." with a roomful of other Smiths fans during the encore was as close as I'll get to that, though. As for Morrissey, like a friend says, I like to pretend he died after Kill Uncle and was replaced by an impostor.
I can't really rate any of it, but of all the comedy ephemera I enjoyed The Miracle is Mine and the new emergency number from the IT Crowd the most. I'm sorta neutral on My Lovely Horse - vaguely amusing at first but has probably worn out it's welcome.
For me, both The Smiths heyday and Morrisey's latter day behaviour somehow passed me by! I tried very hard to like the music at one point as it seemed something I probably 'should' like, but like @LivingForever I never made it past the hits and then gave up and haven't listened to anything in years.
I not sure seen the Frog Princess Single Cover (unless its Neil being kissed on the cheek by the woman in a green dress from the video?), but yes I think you're right. Having written that Neil had said the cover was a joke, I then thought that means it was probably covering up being serious, covering up the fact he thought it was all vaguely ridiculous, covering up his desire to be taken seriously and found attractive by women, covering up who knows what... Going by later single covers (I'm thinking Gin Soaked Boy) it did seem he was trying to look 'sexy' (which inexplicably made me feel uncomfortable at the time!), and he kept putting his face on the covers of albums for many years so guess he never really felt self conscious or why do that? Anyway, don't know, will never know! The music is more interesting anyway!
Hopefully all these “odds and ends” between albums aren’t putting people off the thread. Personally I find it interesting to place them in context chronologically, plus some people are coming across things they hadn’t seen/heard before, so that’s nice. Also, it gives everyone a few days’ respite from having to think/write too much.
Other Father Ted songs I was surprised by both of these, as although I remember them from the series I didn't realise it was Neil singing, doh! (Haven't seen those episodes for at least 15 years...) The Miracle is Mine is so over the top its virtually an Elvis impersonation! This and My Lovely Mayo Mammy are both very well done and suitable for their intended use, but its hard to score them relative to other TDC songs, even more so than My Lovely Horse! Perhaps our scores here could be 'just for fun' (although its all for fun of course!) and these songs be excluded from the final rankings? (I really like the IT Crowd phone number!)
I actually don’t think it is Neil singing “The Miracle is Mine” in the episode. I found a terrible video of it which someone had recorded with their phone pointed at the TV earlier, and I think it’s actually the guy playing Dick Byrne doing it. Although it was a little hard to tell...
Absolutely keep doing the "odd and ends" between albums! I may not like all of the songs, but I still like reading the discussion. Plus, there are plenty coming up that I do actually love. I also love the history lessons between the albums. Lots of stuff I didn't know.
Is it?! I had thought it was the actor, and remember thinking 'I wish they had got TDC to do this one too', but its been so long..! (I think all the Ted episodes are available to watch on Channel 4 On Demand, so might have to revisit it!)
I completely agree, thanks for the link. I'm going to post the best bit from Nick Cave's answer, which gives me an excuse to mention Roland Barthes again as it's basically his literary theory of "the death of the author" and "the birth of the reader" transferred to popular music: I think perhaps it would be helpful to you if you saw the proprietorship of a song in a different way. Personally, when I write a song and release it to the public, I feel it stops being my song. It has been offered up to my audience and they, if they care to, take possession of that song and become its custodian. The integrity of the song now rests not with the artist, but with the listener. When I listen to a beloved song – Neil Young’s ‘On the Beach’, for instance – I feel, at my very core, that that song is speaking to me and to me alone, that I have taken possession of that song exclusively. I feel, beyond all rationality, that the song has been written with me in mind and, as it weaves itself into the fabric of my life, I become its steward, understanding it better than anybody else ever could. I think we all can relate to this feeling of owning a song. This is the singular beauty of music. Perhaps it doesn’t matter what Neil Young’s personal conduct may be like therefore, or Morrissey’s, as they have handed over ownership of the songs to their audience. Their views and behaviour are separate issues – Morrissey’s political opinion becomes irrelevant. Whatever inanities he may postulate, we cannot overlook the fact that he has written a vast and extraordinary catalogue, which has enhanced the lives of his many fans beyond recognition. This is no small thing. He has created original and distinctive works of unparalleled beauty, that will long outlast his offending political alliances.
It's a nice solution, but it does beg the question of whether there's a line that can ever be crossed. For me, if I'm honest, it depends on the attachment to the artist I have already have. It would take a lot for me to stop listening to an artist I love, but it takes far less for me choose not to delve deeper into an artist I'm more ambivalent about. Admittedly, that's a double standard, but there we are.
My Lovely Horse: 3.5? (Would be better without the sax solo!) I was very happy to see it finally released on the Ginsoakedboy single back in the day though! And I don't know if I've made it up, but I seem to think that Neil Hannon was one of the four priests in the Car Raffle episode of Father Ted, on stage performing Ghost Town (I think). Could be completely incorrect though, as they are pretty much just four silhouettes of priests.
Also, the subject matter of this song clearly inspired another ridiculous lyric for "If...": If you were a horse/I'd clean the crap out of your stable and the rest of that verse. Good observation. And I think that Regeneration with its first non-Neil cover since the pre-Liberation days was also a reaction against that. Both of these are really well done, especially with the sappy spoken-word bits. The ballad is frighteningly close to the real Eurovision stuff. Sadly, this style is also a precursor of the abominable chorus of "Too Young To Die". It's a shame that the theme isn't on one of the bonus discs (preferably as an extended version): it's such a great track and already shows that Neil also has a knack for electronic pop music. It works perfectly as a theme for the sitcom but also on its own (far better than "My Lovely Horse") even though it's not a song. My Lovely Horse: 4/5 (IT Crowd Theme: 5/5) I second everything here. Well, I'm afraid I have to disappoint you because the Flan has only written about official TDC releases in chronological order, which is why there is no "My Lovely Horse" (I guess that would be covered as part of the A Secret History era because it was released as a B-side at that time) and also no The Smiths cover as far as I know. However, I came acrosse the Flan's assessment of the French version of "Becoming More Like Alfie" and could post that if anyone is interested. Neil's Iron Maiden-referencing charity performance of "My Lovely Horse" was fun to watch. Great bonus riffs from "Run To You" and "The Chain" there at the beginning, too.
Because it’s been mentioned several times, and I will surely forget to post it when it gets to the time, here’s the IT Crowd theme tune. All 30 seconds of it! Shame there’s not a longer version available...
Interestingly I keep finding “collaborations” Neil did in the post-Victory era where he seems to have been trying to do just that. Random co-writes with up-and coming artists on their debut albums; I’ve found two of those just in the last few weeks... We’ll come to them when we get there!
@Vagabone is on point. I get that some people request My Lovely Horse ironically and sometimes Neil might be annoyed about it - perhaps during the "I wish people took me more seriously" Secret History / Regeneration phase? I actually can't find an interview where he's narked about it, though haven't looked very hard; there's this, presumably the source of the Christmas 1996 rumour: “They fancy the idea of it being… a Christmas single,” Neil mumbles. “I have to re-record it and it won’t come out as The Divine Comedy. I’ll sing it, and they’ll… be it. It’s not that I generally disown my work, but ‘My Lovely ****ing Horse’?” Volume December 1996 But maybe, just maybe, a lot of people request My Lovely Horse because My Lovely Horse is a legit great song that brings joy to all who hear it. And not "a great comedy song", as if comedy songs aren't as good as "proper" songs, or as if writing them is easy. I've read Neil making excuses for it, "oh, it only took me 20 minutes to write", as if that makes it less of an achievement. There are a hundred ways this could have failed; instead it's one of the highlights of 90s British comedy, which means 90s British culture (and maybe we could remove the '90s'). We have hard data that it's Neil's best known song: YouTube views for National Express, 551k views; Something For The Weekend, 1.3m views, My Lovely Horse, 2.7m views. (Some upload time variation there but the point would stand.) But for me, it's happily Neil's best known song (and I'm glad to see he seems to have accepted this in recent years too). I would easily prefer listen to this than most of Liberation. Don't get me wrong, I like Liberation! But honestly, I get more pleasure out of this. I completely understand if this isn't people's cup of tea - maybe there's a lot of British/Irish context needed to really make it work. (Out of the blue, I remembered Dave Angel Eco Warrior last night and had to explain to my Canadian wife why I was laughing; that did not go well.) But it hits me right where I grew up, and I don't seem to get tired of it. After I read a few people here saying they had no desire to hear it again, I put it on again and creased up as soon as the falsetto backing vocals came in. "Running around with a man on your back like a train in the night". The lyrics are fine, there's no problem there. 4.5/5 (Worth having a look at the Swarbriggs Ireland Eurovision 1975 entry That's What Friends Are For, which inspired the video (including the swimming pool!). Yes please! I guess it will have to wait for the "Composed by Neil Hannon" box with Swallows & Amazons, To Our Fathers In Distress etc (Father Ted was credited to The Divine Comedy so it's definitely canon!).
Did we ever discuss that version? I re-listened to it the other day and must say I, well... hate is a strong word but seems most accurate in this case. It's like a really poor karaoke version with the vocals too loud in the mix, just pasted upon an existing backing track. I'll give that one a 0.5/5. My Lovely Horse I've never seen Father Ted, except a few clips here and there, so I've never experienced this song (or the others on the box set) in context. Still, it's a well-executed, good song -- and above all, a FUN song. 3/5.
Apparently (I say that as I'm not sure where I got this from unless its in the box set notes?) Neil tried to team up with Guy Chambers - Robbie Williams' co-writer - to write hit songs for other people in the early 2000s but, perhaps fortunately for his career overall, no one wanted them...
I second that. I love the films of Polanski and saw a lot of them before knowing anything about his personal life. I will continue to enjoy his films but you'll never see me add a Gary Glitter record to my collection. On the other hand, I do enjoy the odd Burzum tune now and then. It's all very inconsistent. Double standards - it's part of human nature.
