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7 INCH VS-723:
LOUISE - 7 INCH EDIT (4.54)/THE
SIGN - EXTENDED REMIX - (VERSION)(5.10)
7 INCH PICTURE DISC VSY-723:
LOUISE - 7 INCH EDIT (4.54)/THE
SIGN - EXTENDED REMIX - (VERSION)(5.10)
12 INCH VS-723-12 (SOME
COPIES WITH FREE POSTER): LOUISE
- 7 INCH EDIT (4.54)/THE SIGN - EXTENDED REMIX - (VERSION)(5.10)
Louise
(Part 2)
Trivia:
(1) The canal boat in the
Steve Baron promotional video was Richard Branson's own. Despite
holding a grudge against Branson for the deal that he negotiated
with A&M in America, there is no evidence that Oakey arranged
for the boat to meet with an "accident". Perhaps
the car was Branson's too...?
 (2)
The video rammed home the song's title at every
available opportunity - the canalboat is called "THE
LOUISE", the bus carries bus-side advertisements for
the song, and first Catherall and then Wright are seen reading
a hardback book entitled...yes, you guessed it.
A video explicity marketing its productlike this was a bit
of an early 80's thang (pretentious but fun
- see also Love Action's absolutely shameless Dare plug and
Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams" appearing as Annie Lennox's
bedtime reading).
Lyrics:
 When
he saw her getting off the bus
It seemed to wipe away the years
Her face was older, just a little rough
But her eyes were still so clear
He drank his coffee and he hurried out
Across before she walked away
Then he approached her like a little child
Too scared for what he had to say:
"Hello Louise
Remember me?
Now should we part or stay awhile
As if we were still lovers?"
 She
took a moment just to recognise
The man she'd known so well before
And as he started to apologise
Lose any bitterness she bore
She gently put her finger on his lips
To let him know she understood
And with her suitcase standing on the floor
Embraced him like a lover would
He told Louise:
"You look so good
It's just, you see, you make me feel
As if we were still lovers"
 (It's
not always true that time heals all wounds
There are wounds that you don't want to heal
The memories of something really good, something
truly real
That you've never found again)
As if they
were still lovers...
And though
they talked for just a little time
Before she said she had to go
He saw the meeting as a tiny sign
That told him all he had to know
And so Louise
Waved from the bus
And as she left she gave that smile
As if they were still lovers
B-side:
 The
Sign (Burden/Callis/Oakey)
One of the
standout tracks on Hysteria, marred only by an overused straight
verse-chorus-verse-chorus-instrumental-chorus structure, and
some erm...unusually-pitched vocals from Joanne and Susan
("everything will be fine!" wince!), is given a
new lease of life by an intelligent remixer who solves both
of these problems (oh you clever man, Nigel Walker) to produce
a classic 12" b-side.
Don't listen to the version
edited for the 7", it's
frankly a bit of a mess (not so clever, Nigel Walker).
 But
what is the song about? Nothing at all, I assumed, until I
heard (care of The Secrets Forum) that it was about the government's
plans in the event of a nuclear attack amounting to nothing
more helpful than sounding the 3 minute warning (the "sign"
of the title?). In view of this, the "everything will
be fine" is clearly ironic. It also suggests that the
re-use of shared "call and response" vocals (previously
employed in Fascination) is in emulation of Prince's 1999,
with which it shares its apocalyptic subject matter, rather
than simply being an attempt to
repeat the success of the earlier Human League song.
The 12"
version gets a Secrets Online Score of 8/10.
Being kind,
I shall refrain from scoring the 7".
Lyrics:
 Around
the nation, around the world
What's been going down?
A million voices: one question hurled
Heard in every town
From all the people, one simple plea:
"What will happen now?"
Asked in concern for their destiny
Got to know somehow
They say:
They say:
 "Everything
will be fine
Everything will be fine
Everything will be fine
I saw the sign"
So if you want to know what's
going on
Going round and round
You'd better ask before your world is gone
Gone without a sound
They say:
They say:
"Everything will be fine
Everything will be fine
Everything will be fine
I saw the sign"
All lyrics are property and copyright of their owners and
are provided for non-profit purposes only.
Review © Angus Tindle 2002
- screen grabs kindly provided by Tony B
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