My Favourite Dress

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A great song of hurt. I rediscovered it today, listening to an old, unmarked mix-tape. This was on it and I re-wound the tape a few times so I could listen to it again and again.
Starts off bieng reasonable now ("Jealousy is an essential part of love"), then begins snarling ("Slowly your beauty is eaten away") and by the end words are coming out in gasps and sobs ("A long walk home - the pouring rain - I fell asleep - when you never came"). I love the way tension quickly gathers throughout the song, fingernails digging into palms, pitch rising. From mid-tempo indie jangle it builds and builds untill the crashing cresendo and the exhaultation of the "Oh!", after which it flops into a numbed resignation. Ending on a low.
It's the 'Day In The Life' of C86/my-girlfiend's-left-me-and-I'm-dead-upset indie.

― DavidM (DavidM), Monday, 20 January 2003 23:44 (twenty-three years ago)

"to see it all / in a drunken kiss / a stranger's hand / on my favourite dress!"

Gedge's finest lyric?

― DavidM (DavidM), Monday, 20 January 2003 23:45 (twenty-three years ago)

It's also on the kickass "Gimme Indie Rock!" 2CD comp from K-Tel. Dandy.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 20 January 2003 23:46 (twenty-three years ago)

brilliant song though i don't know if it's Gedge's very best

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Monday, 20 January 2003 23:56 (twenty-three years ago)

Amazing track, yes, but their finest hour remains "Kennedy."

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 21 January 2003 00:16 (twenty-three years ago)

I never liked this one and I can't quite work out why. I think I preferred the wryer, lovable-loser early songs ("Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft") to the roiling-pit-of-jealous-pain tracks, which were convincing on Seamonsters and never really before or since.

― Tom (Groke), Tuesday, 21 January 2003 00:19 (twenty-three years ago)

Amazing track, yes, but their finest hour remains "Kennedy."

but now Sally's walked away with Johnny's wi..

JUNGjungJUNGjuJUNGjuJUNGJUNG!!! aaaargh! amazing!

― Charlie (Charlie), Tuesday, 21 January 2003 00:22 (twenty-three years ago)

" A little bit of what you fancy doesn't do you any good at all"

Anyone can make a mistake.

― Jack Battery-Pack (Jack Battery-Pack), Tuesday, 21 January 2003 10:05 (twenty-three years ago)

The whole of George Best was full of "laugh at yourself, before they laugh at you" couplets. But Favourite Dress... the poor sod.

― Macattack (Macattack), Tuesday, 21 January 2003 12:38 (twenty-three years ago)

there IS always something left behind

i think there's a lot of wistfull sweetness in the lyric. it's not all acid jealous venom, though the lyric climaxes with something like it and is undoubtedly deeply felt, but not abusively so. it's immediately followed with "that was my favourite dress, you know" which is much more sullen/confessional.

lovely.

― Alan (Alan), Tuesday, 21 January 2003 14:16 (twenty-three years ago)

Yeah, classic - he was in a real groove back then with these end of the affair songs. Anyone know if it was all about one relationship that went bad, or what?

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Tuesday, 21 January 2003 19:55 (twenty-three years ago)

Anyone know if it was all about one relationship that went bad, or what?

Most of his early, 'George Best' songs are said to be about his first serious girlfriend, Janet Rigby, who left him for another musician (who 'Everyone Thinks He looks Daft' is about). Though Gedge has said that 'My Favourite Dress' isn't particularly autobiographical.

'MFD', and a lot of early Weddoes songs now sound really, really dated sadly. And metallic. The Wedding Present are the most metallic sounding band ever. Instruments made out of tin. Dink Dink Dink Dink.

― DavidM (DavidM), Tuesday, 21 January 2003 20:36 (twenty-three years ago)

'MFD', and a lot of early Weddoes songs now sound really, really dated sadly. And metallic.

Gedge said as much in an interview in early 1992, he described pretty much everything done pre-"Kennedy" as 'an embarassment.' Can't entirely blame him, admittedly; George Best never held together as an album for me (but kudos for introducing me to Girls at our Best!, though).

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 21 January 2003 20:49 (twenty-three years ago)

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