"One Better Day" is a song by English

ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

band Madness from their fifth studio album '' Keep Moving'' (1984). The song, written by

Suggs Graham McPherson (born 13 January 1961), known primarily by his stage name Suggs, is an English singer-songwriter, musician, radio personality and actor from Hastings, England. In a music career spanning 40 years, he came to prominence in the ...

(Graham McPherson) and Mark Bedford, Retrieved on June 27, 2007. was released as a single in the United Kingdom, and spent seven weeks in the charts peaking at number 18. Retrieved on June 27, 2007. The single was a last minute choice, as "Victoria Gardens" from the same album was originally slated to be the album's second single. The remixed version of "Victoria Gardens" intended for the A-side was instead included as a bonus track on the 12" single. The substitution was likely made to avoid releasing two consecutive singles with

Carl Smyth Cathal Joseph "Carl" Smyth (born 14 January 1959), also known as Chas Smash, is an English singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His career spans more than 40 years. Smash came to prominence in the late 1970s as secondary vocalist, trump ...

as lead vocalist, following the disappointing (by their standards) sales of "

Michael Caine Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite; 14 March 1933) is an English actor. Known for his distinctive Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films in a career spanning seven decades, and is considered a British film ico ...

" and widespread rumours that Suggs was about to leave, or had already left, the group. This was the last single on the Stiff Records label, before the band's creation of their own label,

Zarjazz Records Zarjazz was a record label and sub-label of Virgin Records. Zarjazz was formed in 1984 by Madness, a British ska band. The label's first release was Feargal Sharkey's hit single " Listen to Your Father", on which Madness (minus Suggs) perfo ...

. The B-side "Guns" was McPherson's first solo writing credit and meant that all seven members of the group had at least one solo composition.

Theme

In an interview with Daniel Rachel, for the 2013 book ''Isle of Noise: Conversations with Great Songwriters'', Suggs explained: "The idea of that song was when you'd hear people say, 'Oh, he's seen better days,' like when you see a guy in a suit looking a bit tatty. I thought, 'What was that one better day?' Then I had the idea that he would meet this other homeless person that happened to be a woman - and they fell in love. Between them they could engender one better day as people who had, supposedly, seen better days."

Music video

The single was the final release under Stiff Records and the label did not want to produce an accompanying music video so the band had to fund it themselves.

Mike Barson Michael Barson (born 21 April 1958) is a Scottish-born multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and composer. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Barson came to prominence in the late 1970s as the keyboard player for the band Madness. Early y ...

flew from

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

especially and a video was filmed in London's

Arlington Road ''Arlington Road'' is a 1999 drama film directed by Mark Pellington and starring Jeff Bridges, Tim Robbins, Joan Cusack, and Hope Davis. The film tells the story of a widowed George Washington University professor who suspects his new neighbors ar ...

, just outside the homeless refuge

Arlington House Arlington House may refer to: *Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial *Arlington House (London) a hostel for the homeless in London, England, and one of the Rowton Houses *Arlington House, Margate, an eighteen-storey residential apartment bloc ...

, which is mentioned in the first line of the song. Most of the video shows the band members as homeless people, except a few clips showing them performing the song. It also shows

dancing with his wife

Bette Bright Bette Bright (born Anne Martin, Whitstable, Kent, England) is an English rock singer. Career In the late 1970s, Bright was a singer for the art rock band Deaf School. After Deaf School disbanded, Bright went solo with her backing band, 'The ...

, who plays a homeless woman in the video.

Appearances

In addition to its single release and appearance on the album ''Keep Moving'', "One Better Day" also appears on the Madness collections '' Divine Madness'' (a.k.a. ''The Heavy Heavy Hits'', 1992), '' Utter Madness'' (1986), '' Total Madness'' (1997), '' The Business'' (1993) and '' Our House: The Original Songs'' (2002). It did not appear on any of the band's US compilations.

Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "One Better Day". * 7" Single # "One Better Day" ( McPherson,

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

) – 4:06 # "Guns" (McPherson) – 3:14 * 12" Single # "One Better Day" (McPherson, Bedford) – 4:06 # "Guns" (McPherson) – 3:14 # "Victoria Gardens" ( Smyth, Barson, Smyth) – 4:01 # "Sarah" ( Thompson, Madness) – 3:43

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1984 singles Madness (band) songs Songs written by Suggs (singer) Songs written by Mark Bedford 1984 songs Stiff Records singles Songs about homelessness Song recordings produced by Clive Langer Song recordings produced by Alan Winstanley