Listen...Do You Want To Know A Secret? (A Secret History - Divine Comedy)

Member Name: blackjane

Product:	A Secret History - Divine Comedy
Date:	08/11/01 (102 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A great 'Best Of' collection, Definitely a grower, Give it a chance

Disadvantages: Not everyone's cup of tea - but there again, what is?

I am a sucker for 'Best Of' collections - I admit it. I begrudge paying full CD album prices, even at the bargain £8.99 (including P&P) offered by the likes of CD-Wow. However, I am slightly less reticent about parting with my cash for 'Best Of' compilations, as they tend to be packed with the very best an artist or group has to offer, rather than three singles and nine fillers.

The Divine Comedy are a group that I have enjoyed from a distance for some time now. Apart from a couple of bargain CD singles, I had never taken the plunge and purchased one of their albums - until now. This collection boasts seventeen tracks and comes in at just over an hour and ten minutes, which is great value for money, and the musical content doesn't let you down either.


The CD kicks off with 'National Express' - is it an ode to the coach firm or the NHS - no-one really knows! This track sets the tone, managing to sound upbeat and melancholy at the same time, combined with satirical lyrics. Neil Hannon is a much underrated songwriter and performer and it's good to see his work with the Divine Comedy now getting some much deserved recognition at last.

Top lyric: 'But it's hard to get by when your arse is the size of a small country.'


Next up is 'Something For The Weekend' which was probably one of the first Divine Comedy tracks that I noticed (back in 1996.) Pioneered by Chris Evans on his TFI Friday show, it marked a step up for the band and the wider recognition that they so richly deserved.

Top lyric: 'I'll go all the way with you, if you'll only do the same for me - go and see. If it's nothing like you say, then you can have your wicked way with me.'


'Everybody Knows' is yet another archetypal Divine Comedy ballad with its yearning lyric and unmistakeable Hannon vocal.

Top lyric: 'I told all of my friends again and again a
nd again. I drove them round the bend so now you're my only friend.'


'Generation Sex' is one of the Divine Comedy's better known tracks and is signifantly more upbeat, with quasi Beach Boys harmonies to smooth it along.

Top lyric: 'Generation sex respects the rights of girls who want to take their clothes off, as long as we can all watch, that's okay.'


Many casual music fans will already have been aware of the first four tracks, although the next few may be slightly less familiar. 'Becoming More Like Alfie' is another track with a yearning lyric but matched with quite an upbeat feel musically.

Top lyric: 'Oh come on! Everybody knows that 'No' means 'Yes', just like glasses come free on the NHS.'


'The Summerhouse' slows things down again with a 'Let It Be'-like piano backing track, and is a beautiful song that Hannon wrote about his childhood.

Top lyric: 'Do you remember Sunday lunch on the lawn? Daring escapes at midnight, and costumeless bathes at dawn.'


'Your Daddy's Car' is a strange ode to a past relationship and was one of the tracks taken from the earlier days of the Divine Comedy. It is not out of place on this collection, and is probably one track that didn't get the recognition that it deserved at the time.

Top lyric: 'We took your daddy's car and wrapped it round a tree. We didn't know what for - we didn't feel like driving any more.'


One of the more recent singles by the group was 'The Pop Singer's Fear Of The Pollen Count.' Harking back to the sixties with some of the arrangements, but still managing not to sound out of context in the modern day charts, this track is classic Divine Comedy.

Top lyric: 'Laugh at the tears you're crying, smile while your head explodes.'


'The Frog
Princess' recounts regrets that can occur in relationships and reflects on what might have been.

Top lyric: 'You don't really love me and I don't really mind, 'cause I don't love anybody. I come and go through people's love lives - your place or mine?'


'Gin Soaked Boy' has more of a 'folky' feel to it than many of the other tracks on this album with it's guitar based backing track.

Top lyric: 'I'm the twinkle in her eye, I'm the Jeff Goldblum in 'The Fly.''


'Lucy' brings us back into indie territory musically speaking, although in fact this track is actually an adaptation of a poem by Wordsworth.


'Song Of Love' is a moving melodic ode with almost a mediaeval feel to it with the backing track.

Top lyric: 'But while they search for a mate, my type hibernate in bedrooms above, composing their songs of love.'


The strange thing about the song 'In The Pursuit Of Happiness' is that it sounds very familiar. That is probably because the 'Tomorrow's World' theme tune is taken from the instrumental section in the middle of the song. Otherwise, this is one of the least exciting tracks on this album.

Top lyric: 'Hey! Don't be suprised if millions die in plague and murder. True happiness lies beyond your fries and Happy Burger.'

'I've Been To Marvellous Party' is an irreverent cover version of a track by Noel Coward. The choice of song could be considered ironic, as Neil Hannon has often been compared with Noel Coward. The thumping beats in between the sedate intro and other mock spoken sections are more Underworld or Pet Shop Boys than Pulp, but strangely it works on a certain level.


'The Certainty Of Chance' takes a slightly different approach to many of Hannon's other songs with a more serious feel than som
e of his other lyrics. The feel of the music seems to match the sombre mood of the lyrics and includes a great orchestral instrumental section at the end with an eerie spoken outro.

Top lyric: 'A schoolboy yawns, sits back and hits return while round the world computers crash and burn.'


In 'Too Young To Die', Hannon takes a more melancholy approach once again with a self-pitying lyric. The result appears to be quite profound but is also relatively dull and soulless.

Top lyric: 'Now I'm twenty eight, but I'm still in my teens.'


Completing the set is the much more upbeat 'Tonight We Fly' with its driving piano and violin backing track and wonderful harmonies.

Top lyric: 'And when we die - oh, will we be that disappointed or sad? If heaven doesn't exist what will we have missed?'


It's amazing how many of these songs you will know, even though an initial glance at the tracklisting might suggest otherwise. This collection marked the separation of the Divine Comedy from their record label, Setanta. They are now signed with Parlophone, so it will be interesting to see if they can continue their success of recent years, or if they go the same way as other bands like Pulp, about which many comparisons have been made.

{An original Dooyoo opinion
© Blackjane 2001}

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