"Don't Marry Her" is a song by English

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

group

the Beautiful South The Beautiful South were an English pop rock group formed in 1988 by Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway, two former members of the Hull group The Housemartins, both of whom performed lead and backing vocals. Other members throughout the band's exi ...

and the opening track on their fifth studio album, '' Blue Is the Colour'' (1996). Vocalist

Jacqui Abbott Jacqueline Abbott (born 10 November 1973) is an English singer who was a vocalist with the band The Beautiful South from 1994 to 2000, following the departure of Briana Corrigan. With Abbott, the band released several Top 10 singles. Amongst t ...

begs a man to run away with her from the woman he is going to marry and attempts to sway him by describing what she thinks married life with the other woman will be like, painting an uninviting picture. Released on 2 December 1996, the single peaked at number eight on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and was

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gold by the

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Background

The song's lyrics were substantially altered for the release as a single – changing from "Don't marry her, fuck me" to "Don't marry her, have me", and with "sweaty

bollocks ''Bollocks'' () is a word of Middle English origin, meaning "testicles". The word is often used figuratively in British English and Hiberno-English in a multitude of negative ways; it most commonly appears as a noun meaning "rubbish" or "nonsen ...

" becoming " Sandra Bullocks". The song spent 10 weeks on the

, peaking at number eight, and also charted within the lower reaches of several European charts. The single version appears on the best of album '' Solid Bronze: Great Hits'', while '' Soup'' features the original album version.

Critical reception

A reviewer from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' rated the song three out of five, writing, "Some strong guitar riffs appear in this

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

-tinged follow up to their huge radio hit

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

, but Jacqueline Abbot's vocal will be too saccharine for some ears."

Track listings

UK CD1 # "Don't Marry Her" # "God Bless the Child" # "Without Her" UK CD2 # "Don't Marry Her" # "Dream a Little Dream" # "Les yeux ouverts" UK cassette single # "Don't Marry Her" # "Dream a Little Dream" # "God Bless the Child" US 7-inch jukebox single :A. "Don't Marry Her" (clean version) – 3:22 :B. "Mirror" – 4:05

Charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1996 singles 1996 songs The Beautiful South songs Go! Discs singles Songs about infidelity Songs about marriage Songs written by David Rotheray Songs written by Paul Heaton