"There, There, My Dear" is a song by English pop band

Dexys Midnight Runners Dexys Midnight Runners (currently officially Dexys, their former nickname, styled without an apostrophe) are an English pop rock band from Birmingham, with soul influences, who achieved major commercial success in the early to mid-1980s. They a ...

, released in June 1980 as the second and final single from their debut album ''

Searching for the Young Soul Rebels ''Searching for the Young Soul Rebels'' is the debut studio album by English pop group Dexys Midnight Runners, released on 11 July 1980, through Parlophone and EMI Records. Led by Kevin Rowland, the group formed in 1978 in Birmingham, England, and ...

''. It peaked at number 7 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 ...

Lyrics

The song is an

open letter An open letter is a Letter (message), letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally. Open letters usually take the form of a letter (mess ...

to someone called Robin, allegedly signifying dishonesty and insincerity within the music scene. The song begins with the writer questioning the fact that Robin says he is "anti-fashion", but continues to wear fashionable clothes. The writer then alludes to the fact that whilst Robin can quote numerous

philosophical Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

and

artistic Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wh ...

people he doesn't actually understand these works or quotes. The writer is implying that Robin is a

poseur A poseur is someone who poses for effect, or behaves affectedly, who affects a particular attitude, character or manner to impress others, or who pretends to belong to a particular group.

and a fake, questioning whether Robin actually likes and does some of the things he says. Whilst Robin is a "dumb, dumb patriot", ignoring all the corruption and in the music scene, the writer believes that "the only way to change things is to shoot men who arrange things". In an interview in 2001,

Kevin Rowland Kevin Rowland (born 17 August 1953) is a British singer and musician best known as the frontman for the pop band Dexys Midnight Runners (currently called ''Dexys''). The band had several hits in the early 1980s, the most notable being "Geno" an ...

said he wasn't proud of that lyric as "I don't feel that way now". The tile of the band's debut album was inspired by the lyrics "I've been searching for the young soul rebels". The writer is saying that amidst the discord of the music scene, with the likes of

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

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 ...

, pop,

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

, the writer wants to find harmony and integrity in all of this and Robin is someone who only likes what is cool and popular at that moment. On later releases of the album, the song ends with Rowland singing unaccompanied the chorus of the 1969

Lee Dorsey Irving Lee Dorsey (December 24, 1924 – December 1, 1986) was an American pop and R&B singer during the 1960s. His biggest hits were "Ya Ya" (1961) and " Working in the Coal Mine" (1966). Much of his work was produced by Allen Toussaint, with ...

song "Everything I Do Gonh Be Funky (From Now On)".

later explained that "It's an angry song. In the lyrics, I'm addressing 'Robin,' but he was the personification of a certain type of middle-class musician in ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'', quoting

Kerouac Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Of French-Canadian anc ...

and Burroughs and all these authors I'd never read."" In the

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

of ''Searching for the Young Soul Rebels'', the song title is followed by the line "P.S. Old clothes do not make a tortured artist".

Reception

Reviewing the song for ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand fo ...

'',

David Hepworth David Hepworth (born 27 July 1950) is a British music journalist, writer and publishing industry analyst who was instrumental in the foundation of a number of popular magazines in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Along with the journalist, editor and b ...

wrote "Dexy's go out on a limb with their crucial follow up, Kevin Rowland delivering the vocal from the very lip of chaos while the horns dig in and hold the rhythm down". The song "pays no attention to any kind of form and just weaves all over the shop; the only real hook is the way he rrrrolls his rrrrrs every now and again". Reviewing retrospectively for ''

Freaky Trigger ''Freaky Trigger'' is an Internet publication and e-zine that focuses on popular culture with topics varying from music to cinema. It was founded by the music critic Tom Ewing in 1999 and features Pete Baran and Mark Sinker as editors. From 2000 ...

'', Peter Baran wrote "Attacking pretension whilst being fantastically pretentious, looking for a new music by aping a type of soul which had drifted out. All of which is made palatable by this overwhelming force of personality and energetic drive that runs through ''There, There, My Dear''". Stewart Mason for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

wrote "The follow-up to the UK number one single "

Geno Geno may refer to: __NOTOC__ People *Geno (given name), including a list of people with the name *Marián Geňo (born 1984), Czech footballer *Evgeni Malkin (born 1986), Russian ice hockey player nicknamed Geno Art and entertainment *Geno (son ...

," "There, There, My Dear" is an even better song, perhaps the best of Dexy's Midnight Runners' entire career", describing it as "even catchier and more soulful" and that "it's the lyrics that make the song".

B-side

The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

is a cover of "

The Horse "The Horse" is an American instrumental song by Cliff Nobles and Company. It was released as the B-side of the single "Love Is All Right" and is simply an instrumental version of that song. Background Although Nobles is the title artist, he doe ...

", an instrumental

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

song written by

Jesse James Jesse Woodson James (September 5, 1847April 3, 1882) was an American outlaw, bank and train robber, guerrilla and leader of the James–Younger Gang. Raised in the " Little Dixie" area of Western Missouri, James and his family maintained stro ...

which was first released by Cliff Nobles and Company in 1968. Dexys Midnight Runner's cover is a sped up version that removes most of the original soul. Between 1979 and 1980, the band regularly used it as a show-opener.

Charts

References

{{Dexys Midnight Runners 1980 singles 1980 songs Songs written by Kevin Rowland Dexys Midnight Runners songs Song recordings produced by Pete Wingfield