"Old Red Eyes Is Back" is a song written by

Paul Heaton Paul David Heaton (born 9 May 1962) is an English singer-songwriter. He was the frontman of the Housemartins, who had success with the singles " Happy Hour" and the UK number one "Caravan of Love" in 1986 before disbanding in 1988. He then form ...

and Dave Rotheray and performed by

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 ...

. The song was originally released on the album '' 0898 Beautiful South''. It features as the opening track and was the first single released from the album in late 1991. The single reached a peak of No. 22 in the UK and became the band's 5th UK top 40 single. Lead vocals are provided by Paul Heaton, with co-vocalists

Briana Corrigan Briana Corrigan (born 30 May 1965) is a Northern Irish singer. She was the female singer for The Beautiful South from 1988 to 1992. Early life Corrigan was born in Northern Ireland. When she was 11 years old, her family moved from Belfast to P ...

and

Dave Hemingway Dave Hemingway (born David Robert Hemingway, 20 September 1960) is an English musician and songwriter, best known as a vocalist for the Hull-based band The Beautiful South until they disbanded in 2007. Previously he had been a member of The House ...

featured occasionally in the background. The song title is a play on that of Frank Sinatra's 1973 album ''

Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back ''Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back'' is a 1973 album by the American singer Frank Sinatra. Sinatra returned from his brief retirement with the appropriately titled ''Ol’ Blue Eyes Is Back''. Released amidst a whirlwind of publicity, the album was a com ...

''. Heaton's lyrics deal with a man named 'Old Red', clearly a man suffering with

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomi ...

, as Heaton has at several times in his life. The verses detail Old Red's drinking habits and how it is affecting his health ("he pours another drink and listens to his body thaw") before the final verse announces "Old Red, he died..." The chorus reminisces about the things he has sacrificed for his drink: "all the things I could have done instead". The subject matter is a common theme throughout the Beautiful South's material, but "Old Red Eyes Is Back" is arguably the most graphic account of the perils of alcoholism amongst their song catalogue. The music video is fittingly set in a pub and features two Paul Heatons. One, a sober looking man who sings the lyrics telling the story of 'Old Red'. The other, who sings the chorus, is presumably meant to be 'Old Red', with messy long hair and his face looking rough from heavy drinking.

References

{{The Beautiful South 1991 songs 1991 singles The Beautiful South songs Songs written by Paul Heaton Songs written by David Rotheray Go! Discs singles