Song · The Beautiful South
“Song For Whoever” by The Beautiful South
From the album Welcome to the Beautiful South (1989)
“Song For Whoever” by The Beautiful South appears on 4 radio countdowns from 2 stations between 1989 and 1999. It was first released in 1989 on the album Welcome to the Beautiful South. Its best result is #11 on the Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 1989. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #111 alternative song of 1990 and #4,458 alternative song of all time.
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"Song for Whoever" was the first single from the Beautiful South's debut album, Welcome to the Beautiful South, on Go! Discs in 1989, and it went all the way to number two in the UK. Paul Heaton and Dave Rotheray wrote it, and the joke is sharp beneath the sugar: it's sung by a hack songwriter who woos women purely to mine them for love songs.
Mike Hedges produced it as a lush, easy-rolling pop tune, horns and Gary Barnacle's flute gliding over Pete Wingfield's piano, which only makes the narrator's cynicism sting harder. The video pushed the gag further, starring a blancmange that the record company picks over a conveyor belt of hopeful pop stars. It finally went gold in Britain in 2024.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 11 | Studio Brussel Flanders, Belgium | Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 1989 | 30 |
| 1990 | 26 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge Toronto, ON | CFNY Top 90 Songs of 1990 | 90 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 231 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition) | 1002 |
| 1999 | 955 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) | 1002 |
Also listed as: Song for Whoever.
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