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The Psychedelic Furs — Pretty In Pink
Album: All Of This And Nothing
Avg rating:
7.4

Your rating:
Total ratings: 1093









Released: 1988
Length: 3:57
Plays (last 30 days): 0
Caroline laughs, and it's raining all day
Loves to be one of the girls
She lives in the place in the side of our lives
Where nothing is ever put straight

She turns herself 'round
And she smiles and she says
"This is it, that's the end of the joke"
And loses herself in her
Dreaming and sleep, and her
Lovers walk through in their coats

Pretty in pink, isn't she?
Pretty in pink, isn't she?

All of her lovers all
Talk of her notes and the
Flowers that they never sent
And wasn't she easy, and
Isn't she pretty in pink?

The one who insists he was the
First in the line is the
Last to remember her name
He's walking around in this
Dress that she wore
She is gone, but the
Joke's the same

Pretty in pink, isn't she?
Pretty in pink, isn't she?

Caroline talks to you
Softly sometimes, she says,
"I love you" and "Too much"
She doesn't have anything
You want to steal
Well, nothing you can touch

She waves
She buttons your shirt
The traffic is waiting outside
She hands you this coat
She give you her clothes
These cars collide

Pretty in pink, isn't she?
Pretty in pink, isn't she?
Comments (149)add comment
 KurtfromLaQuinta wrote:
I prefer the version of this song without the sax solo in the middle off of the album "Talk, Talk, Talk".
I just sounds more raw.
I don't like Jazz in my New Wave classics. 
the sax is stellar, imho

'the one who insists he was first in the line is the last to remember her name' - they are so much fun and Talk Talk Talk was my favorite Furs album
I prefer the version of this song without the sax solo in the middle off of the album "Talk, Talk, Talk".
I just sounds more raw.
I don't like Jazz in my New Wave classics. 
 Cynaera wrote:
I think it's the beat. It's a good beat. I love the Furs, and I loved all of those "Brat-Pack" movies, and the soundtracks. It was a pretty fun era. Of course, we're paying for that cotton-candy time now, with the economy in shambles, the government eating up our rights in ways so insidious we mostly don't know we've lost them until we get busted for doing/saying something that only yesterday was allowable.

Color me rainbow. I will adore silly songs like this one, and "Don't Worry, Be Happy." If I don't cling to whimsical reminders of what the world used to be, I fear I'll go insane. And to horribly misquote The Incredible Hulk:  "Don't make me real.  You wouldn't like me when I'm real."

 
love the PsyFurs and the written wisdom of Cynaera  
Great live:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIT0_gPvFUI
This is a great track. I followed the Furs because The Cure pinched a couple of their band members over time and that was good enough for me :)

The b-side to this was Love My Way. An equally good song in my opinion.
Forget the movie, this is such a great track!   

I would like to hear more from Forever Now too, like President Gas, Sleep Comes Down, and the title track.

 
 rdo wrote:

John Hughes = Genius

I do not think any other screenwriter/director captured the 80s as well as he did.  

 
Quite the contrary, in my opinion. It is not a matter of "he capturing" any essence but rather "creating" one that, then, a large chunk of the world attempted to re-create... 
I love it !
 rdo wrote:

John Hughes = Genius

I do not think any other screenwriter/director captured the 80s as well as he did.  

 
And yet, how many of us lived in those giant Lake Forest, Ill. houses depicted in all his moves? 
 rdo wrote:

John Hughes = Genius

I do not think any other screenwriter/director captured the 80s as well as he did.  

 

Ditto.
Pure Pop Perfection
 ch83575 wrote:

When I hear this, I am... 4 again?  You guys are OLD!!!

 
I was 24 but who's counting! {#Bananasplit}
Richard Butler (in small doses) is God!!
{#Yes}{#Yes}{#Yes}   "OUTSTANDING" - Love it a lot
 df1489 wrote:

It's the amazing ensamble cast that still blows me away...Jon Cryer sliding across the floor to Otis Redding, Annie Potts as a new wave diva remembering her beehive days and Harry Dean Stanton as the most honest dad, worts and all, you have ever seen. I still love this movie and this song captures the 80's perfectly. (of course, in my humble opinion)


 
John Hughes = Genius

I do not think any other screenwriter/director captured the 80s as well as he did.  
"She doesn't have anything you want to steal. Well, nothing you can touch."
 
 sandyclaws wrote:
Holy smokes!

Psychedelic Furs - Pretty In Pink
Smashing Pumpkins - 1979
Cowboy Junkies - Sweet Jane
The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night

Thanks RP, for the late-afternoon pick-me-up on what has been a very tedious Monday at work! {#Dancingbanana}


 
With a minor alteration, pretty much the same set 2.75 years later. Still good.
Great song.  Great set. 

marvelous...  love it...
 
 gypsyman wrote:

When I hear this, I am 26 again! Yay!

 
When I hear this, I am... 4 again?  You guys are OLD!!!
 manonfortini wrote:
I listen to this and I am 16 again! {#Dancingbanana}
 
When I hear this, I am 26 again! Yay!
 sandyclaws wrote:
Holy smokes!

Psychedelic Furs - Pretty In Pink
Smashing Pumpkins - 1979
Cowboy Junkies - Sweet Jane
The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night

Thanks RP, for the late-afternoon pick-me-up on what has been a very tedious Monday at work! {#Dancingbanana}

  Hmmm...that's the same last four songs in a row (just now played - more than a year and a half later). Are Bill and Rebecca phoning it in? Preset playlists?


 NeuroGeek wrote:
There are much, much better cuts off of the Pretty In Pink Soundtrack.  This isn't the worst, but definitely not the best, either. 
 
They are not "much, much better" in my opinion, though there are some great tunes on that soundtrack.  This recording (from 1981) is not the one which was later recorded for the soundtrack to the movie from 1986.  To each his own, of course.
There are much, much better cuts off of the Pretty In Pink Soundtrack.  This isn't the worst, but definitely not the best, either. 
Like the first album best—I remember the first time I heard "India"like it was yesterday...
I listen to this and I am 16 again! {#Dancingbanana}
 SinisterDexter wrote:
Just happened to see the movie for the first time this weekend.  Not groundbreaking, but a good portrayal of teen angst - Molly Ringwald's a joy to watch in just about any movie.
 
It's the amazing ensamble cast that still blows me away...Jon Cryer sliding across the floor to Otis Redding, Annie Potts as a new wave diva remembering her beehive days and Harry Dean Stanton as the most honest dad, worts and all, you have ever seen. I still love this movie and this song captures the 80's perfectly. (of course, in my humble opinion)

Just happened to see the movie for the first time this weekend.  Not groundbreaking, but a good portrayal of teen angst - Molly Ringwald's a joy to watch in just about any movie.
 WayUpNorth wrote:
I find it vaguely repulsive that anyone would think there is an association between the song and the movie ...
 
I think most mothers in 1981 felt the same way once they listened to the lyrics. I loved the song but hated the movie (without seeing it, guilty as charged) for being so mainstream. This was the correct position for the hip and cool of those years. 
 Cynaera wrote:
 "Don't make me real.  You wouldn't like me when I'm real."
 
Nice quote!  I like it.  (I agree with your post, too, but the quote is brill)
9 -> 10
I find it vaguely repulsive that anyone would think there is an association between the song and the movie ...
The song was released in 1981.  John Hughes borrowed the title for his movie.
 mandolin wrote:
...was the film named after this song or was the song written for the film...
 
I was wondering the same thing; per wikipedia the song came first, Hughes took it as the title for his movie. 

...was the film named after this song or was this song written for the film?..

I think it's the beat. It's a good beat. I love the Furs, and I loved all of those "Brat-Pack" movies, and the soundtracks. It was a pretty fun era. Of course, we're paying for that cotton-candy time now, with the economy in shambles, the government eating up our rights in ways so insidious we mostly don't know we've lost them until we get busted for doing/saying something that only yesterday was allowable.

Color me rainbow. I will adore silly songs like this one, and "Don't Worry, Be Happy." If I don't cling to whimsical reminders of what the world used to be, I fear I'll go insane. And to horribly misquote The Incredible Hulk:  "Don't make me real.  You wouldn't like me when I'm real."
 ScopArch wrote:
From a distance I thought this was Born to Run!
 
From a Very Great distance.

 The tempos are the same, I think. 

Read your first journal entry, ScopArch. I hope things are picking up for you.  
Love the Duck Man!!!  {#Bananasplit}
 sandyclaws wrote:
Holy smokes!

Psychedelic Furs - Pretty In Pink
Smashing Pumpkins - 1979
Cowboy Junkies - Sweet Jane
The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night

Thanks RP, for the late-afternoon pick-me-up on what has been a very tedious Monday at work! {#Dancingbanana}
 
This is why I love RP!
Holy smokes!

Psychedelic Furs - Pretty In Pink
Smashing Pumpkins - 1979
Cowboy Junkies - Sweet Jane
The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night

Thanks RP, for the late-afternoon pick-me-up on what has been a very tedious Monday at work! {#Dancingbanana}

Into you like a train is another awesome song from this album!!

 
LowPhreak wrote:
One of the best albums to come out of the 80's. 

 


Long live Duckie!!    {#Drummer}!
One of those songs that is somehow better than it should be. {#Music}
Killer tune!{#Bananajam}
Brilliant song - then and now.

A subpar song from an a pretty good band. I had one of their albums, so they must have had some merit.{#Lol} Can't tell it from this song.

wow. this brings me right back to HS. I"m not sure that's a good thing but I love this song.
Good to hear the original version again
One of the best albums to come out of the 80's. 

 thewiseking wrote:
a brilliant, original pop band.
a perfect blend of light and darkness
  Oh so eloquently stated ... I wore this record out.  They still sound good!


 horstman wrote:


 And she does look oh so pretty in pink.
 
Not

From a distance I thought this was Born to Run!
Okay, okay, it's overplayed, but I still gotta give it a 9.  Captures the best of the early '80's feel. 
I like this version more than the soundtrack version. It's grittier.
 siandbeth wrote:

And we hadn't even had a glimmer of what the VP's son was going to do to us 20 years later. Paradise.
 

so true.....so true...........
a brilliant, original pop band.
a perfect blend of light and darkness
 meanfish wrote:
Ronald Reagan,Grenada,Nicaragua,Iran Contra,Ketchup as a vegetable,HIV,Market Crash, sheeeeeit what is there not to love about the 80's?
At least this was a really good pop tune.
 
A pop tune, maybe, but some pretty subversive lyrics. I lived/suffered through the 80s, curse them, and the music really divided sharply: one the one hand there was the amoral/apolitical yuppie-friendly tendency as exemplified by Roxy Music, Spandau Ballet, Human League and the like, and on the other there was the highly political (in the widest sense, including 'the personal is political') and satirical tendency with bands like The Specials, New Model Army, The Cure, and many others. That subversive strand was about the only decent thing to come out of the 80s, musically, and this song fits firmly into it. You can't imagine Ronald Reagan getting down to it...

rickhoran wrote:
its a shame the movie had to ruin a perfectly good song.

it's a shame the movie lead singer had to ruin a perfectly good song.

fixed that for you.

I hear a popular Iggy Pop riff in there somewhere...
Why did I have this as a 7? It's at least an 8.
this song, ah, this song. i was just watching this movie yesterday.
its a shame the movie had to ruin a perfectly good song.
meanfish wrote:
Ronald Reagan,Grenada,Nicaragua,Iran Contra,Ketchup as a vegetable,HIV,Market Crash, sheeeeeit what is there not to love about the 80's? At least this was a really good pop tune.
And we hadn't even had a glimmer of what the VP's son was going to do to us 20 years later. Paradise.
EssexTex wrote:
This was bad then...and it's still bad now
No...
Yet another "the music was better than the music" movie songs. :)
Keep the Furs coming. Me likee.
EssexTex wrote:
This was bad then...and it's still bad now
Oh no, sir. Twas good then, tis better now!
This was bad then...and it's still bad now
YA_MAN wrote:
THE DISILLUSIONMENT OF THE 80'S IS STILL OVERWHELMING. SO IS THIS SONG
It's funny in that in College, I hated Reagan with such a passion (and American politics in general). Now that I'm wiser, I find the Reagan years slightly amusing compared to the Bush years. I think that young people today will not look back 20 years from now and feel the same way about our current president. But I digress. Furs were a great band. This is a great song. And she does look oh so pretty in pink.
ScottFromWyoming wrote:
Cover?
exactly
rbigelo wrote:
Great cover of PnP! Loves me some Psych furs!
Cover?
There are so many songs by the Furs that are better than this that should be getting played instead.
rbigelo wrote:
Great cover of PnP! Loves me some Psych furs!
cover?
love these guys!
Great cover of PnP! Loves me some Psych furs!
The bass riff sort of reminds me of The Deadbeat Club by the B52's....just in the middle.
Ronald Reagan,Grenada,Nicaragua,Iran Contra,Ketchup as a vegetable,HIV,Market Crash, sheeeeeit what is there not to love about the 80's? At least this was a really good pop tune.
mandolin wrote:
...i'd never noticed before the similarity between this and lou reed's sweet jane...
YOU'RE RIGHT, MY FRIEND. REMEMBERS ME LOU REED.
...i'd never noticed before the similarity between this and lou reed's sweet jane...
BACK TO THE 80'S. GREAT.
YA_MAN wrote:
THE DISILLUSIONMENT OF THE 80'S IS STILL OVERWHELMING. SO IS THIS SONG
I like disillusionment, it's an honest emotion. I need a disillusioned emoticon!!
THE DISILLUSIONMENT OF THE 80'S IS STILL OVERWHELMING. SO IS THIS SONG
Now I'll be doing my snarky voice the rest of the day: Isn't she
Talk Talk Talk on vinyl. Also on cassette- one of the best albums of the 80's
AliGator wrote:
Uh, this is like, the original version of the song. Before the movie. IIRC.
She is still hot!
She is in town this week starring in Sweet Charity - Broadway production. Hope to see it!
Psyche Furs...yay!!!
They hit the royalty lottery with this one.
jah_blessed wrote:
That riff at the start is straight from Sweet Jane.
As refracted through Mott the Hoople.
fjordless wrote:
Not their best, but I'm always happy to hear something by the Furs. By the way, the Dresden Dolls do an amazing cover of this.
I'm quite fond of the Social Distortion version, myself.
I love this song-my favorite psyfurs tune. And it reminds me of the massive crush I had on Molly R. Hope she's aged better than I!
Not their best, but I'm always happy to hear something by the Furs. By the way, the Dresden Dolls do an amazing cover of this.
Man--keys actually sound genuinely Hammond-ish. Chimey guitars, too. And to think that, at the time, this was swept up in with other "synth-pop" of the time, a lot of which (looking back) actually has a heck of a lot of guitars.
keith_mineo wrote:
Anyway, this song never sounded so good, is it new?
Uh, this is like, the original version of the song. Before the movie. IIRC.
This song's not bad, but back when the furs were cutting edge, it was largely considered the "cop out to the industry tune." Before the picture. I saw them once at a cool venue in baton rouge: they came on late, with obvious interband issues, broke out into a fist fight about 15 minutes into the set, and stormed off the stage never to return. Haven't been much of a fan since then.
Roverfish wrote:
Still an excellent tune.
Ok, so I was a bit harsh there, and rash She is still hot!
keith_mineo wrote:
Is that Molly now, or then? I'd expect that now she looks more like
You would be incorrect. keith_mineo wrote:
Anyway, this song never sounded so good, is it new?
Still an excellent tune.
bindi wrote:
I'm always thinking of Molly Ringwald!
Is that Molly now, or then? I'd expect that now she looks more like Anyway, this song never sounded so good, is it new?
toastee wrote:
I just keep thinkin of Molly Ringwald.
I'm always thinking of Molly Ringwald!
Years ahead of their time.
Love this original version of Pretty In Pink. The Psych Furs were an unbelievable band in the 80s - especially live.
GoldenBoy wrote:
This one gets a 6 from me, but only because it's so played out and too closely associated with that bleeding movie. These blokes were a great band, IMHO; right up there with Joy Division, Echo & the Bunnymen, and The Cure. With music like that, is it no wonder the young bands today are emulating them?
Remember, this was a great song well before the movie came out. In fact, from what I understand, they were unhappy with the use of the song with the movie, i.e., the message of the song was far removed from the message of the movie.
jah_blessed wrote:
That riff at the start is straight from Sweet Jane.
Of course! And how many bands (from Suicide to Stereolab) haven't made their careers doing one version after another of "Sister Ray"?
That riff at the start is straight from Sweet Jane.
toastee wrote:
I just keep thinkin of Molly Ringwald.
Can you catch that from a cat?
pdhski wrote:
this is the original version, not the soundtrack cut with additional overdubs. Kinda neat & raw.
Yes, it's fun to try and figure out which is which. The one released on the soundtrack is just a little bit smoother on the vocals, a little more amped up on the guitar.
brighthue wrote:
I liked this song 20+ years ago, when it was relatively new. I just realized that it has no melody (3 notes).
this is the original version, not the soundtrack cut with additional overdubs. Kinda neat & raw.
It's a great song.
Shimmer wrote:
Wasn't good then, isn't good now.
So wrong.
This one gets a 6 from me, but only because it's so played out and too closely associated with that bleeding movie. These blokes were a great band, IMHO; right up there with Joy Division, Echo & the Bunnymen, and The Cure. With music like that, is it no wonder the young bands today are emulating them?
ChardRemains wrote:
Kids these days, tsk. They never listen!
actually, i prefer kids these days. kids in my day, a fucking nightmare.
thewiseking wrote:
by the way, this WAS NOT written for the molly ringwald film.
Kids these days, tsk. They never listen!
by the way, this WAS NOT written for the molly ringwald film.
mojoman wrote:
Ah, the 1980s. The "What Were We Thinking?" decade!
We were thinking, "well at least the 70s are over, thank Christ."
This has held up very well -- unlike many 80s standards -- More Furs, please. Something off "Forever Now" would be nice.
love the furs. dark, melodic, lovely. so influential. this is what good pop can be. and,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,you can dance to it.
Love this song! More from the Psychedelic Furs please!
If I remember correctly another Steve Lillywhite classic
GolfRomeo wrote:
Memories. 400ft down, off the coast of the USSR in a submarine. This soundtrack was one of the things that kept me (relatively) sane.
I think the Furs also saved me a few times when I was 400 feet down as well. Though I was not, of course, under water. The Cure also rescued me from drowning in plain air a few times.
wow...im thinking about how much i lusted for Molly Ringwald....