"Sugar Mice" is a song by British neo-prog band Marillion. It was released as the second single from their fourth studio album, Clutching at Straws (1987). Released on 13 July 1987, it peaked at number 22 in the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's eighth top-30 hit in a row.[2] Outside the UK, it charted in the Netherlands and West Germany.
A protest song that directly addresses the devastating effect unemployment can have on personal relationships, the track takes the form of a melancholic rock ballad[3] with lyrics from the perspective of a British worker who emigrates to the U.S. to find a job, leaving behind his family. He ends up in despair, drinking in a hotel bar in Milwaukee and blaming the government for leaving him out of work. Lyricist Fish described the background as follows:
I was laying [sic] in bed in the Holiday Inn and looking up at the ceiling at some hearts 'n' stuff that some lovers had carved, and I was feeling really down. So I rang my old lady but it was a bad phone call; lots of long silences. I felt even more depressed.[4]
The first-person narrator sums up his feelings with the metaphor "We're just sugar mice in the rain", which lends the title to the song.[5]
Performing "Sugar Mice" at the band's concert Live from Loreley in 1987, Fish dedicated it to "all the unemployed people in Europe today, to the romantics, to the dreamers and to those who still have hearts".
Releaseedit
A number of formats were available: 7-inch single, 7-inch picture disc (containing a fold-out sleeve with a poster), 12-inch single, 12-inch picture disc. 3,000 copies of a 5" CD single were produced that were exclusively sold at concerts.[6] The 12-inch and 5-inch CD single featured an extended version of the title track, containing some extra music between the first and second verse. The B-side, "Tux On", is a song that tells the story of a rising rock star who gradually loses touch with reality and finally ends up abusing drugs. A CD replica of the single was also part of a collectors box-set released in July 2000 which contained Marillion's first twelve singles and was re-issued as a 3-CD set in 2009 (see The Singles '82–88').
Cover artedit
The cover was designed by the band's regular artist Mark Wilkinson. Unlike the covers of the album Clutching at Straws and the first single from it, "Incommunicado", which had been collages based on photographs, this one again featured Wilkinson's signature airbrush style. It shows sugar mice around a cocktail glass, melting from spilled liquid, with a male face in the background.
^"Offiziellecharts.de – Marillion – Sugar Mice" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
April 17, 2024
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This article is about the song by Marillion For the confectionery see Sugar mice This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral Please help improve it by replacing them with more appropriate citations to reliable independent third party sources July 2018 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Sugar Mice news newspapers books scholar JSTOR April 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message Sugar Mice is a song by British neo prog band Marillion It was released as the second single from their fourth studio album Clutching at Straws 1987 Released on 13 July 1987 it peaked at number 22 in the UK Singles Chart becoming the band s eighth top 30 hit in a row 2 Outside the UK it charted in the Netherlands and West Germany Sugar Mice Single by Marillionfrom the album Clutching at StrawsB side Tux On Released13 July 1987 1987 07 13 1 GenreRockLength5 47LabelEMISongwriter s Derek Dick Mark Kelly Ian Mosley Steve Rothery Pete TrewavasProducer s Chris KimseyMarillion singles chronology Incommunicado 1987 Sugar Mice 1987 Warm Wet Circles 1987 Audio sample source source filehelp Contents 1 Background 2 Release 3 Cover art 4 Track listings 5 Personnel 6 Charts 7 ReferencesBackground editA protest song that directly addresses the devastating effect unemployment can have on personal relationships the track takes the form of a melancholic rock ballad 3 with lyrics from the perspective of a British worker who emigrates to the U S to find a job leaving behind his family He ends up in despair drinking in a hotel bar in Milwaukee and blaming the government for leaving him out of work Lyricist Fish described the background as follows I was laying sic in bed in the Holiday Inn and looking up at the ceiling at some hearts n stuff that some lovers had carved and I was feeling really down So I rang my old lady but it was a bad phone call lots of long silences I felt even more depressed 4 The first person narrator sums up his feelings with the metaphor We re just sugar mice in the rain which lends the title to the song 5 Performing Sugar Mice at the band s concert Live from Loreley in 1987 Fish dedicated it to all the unemployed people in Europe today to the romantics to the dreamers and to those who still have hearts Release editA number of formats were available 7 inch single 7 inch picture disc containing a fold out sleeve with a poster 12 inch single 12 inch picture disc 3 000 copies of a 5 CD single were produced that were exclusively sold at concerts 6 The 12 inch and 5 inch CD single featured an extended version of the title track containing some extra music between the first and second verse The B side Tux On is a song that tells the story of a rising rock star who gradually loses touch with reality and finally ends up abusing drugs A CD replica of the single was also part of a collectors box set released in July 2000 which contained Marillion s first twelve singles and was re issued as a 3 CD set in 2009 see The Singles 82 88 Cover art editThe cover was designed by the band s regular artist Mark Wilkinson Unlike the covers of the album Clutching at Straws and the first single from it Incommunicado which had been collages based on photographs this one again featured Wilkinson s signature airbrush style It shows sugar mice around a cocktail glass melting from spilled liquid with a male face in the background Track listings editAll tracks were written by Derek Dick Mark Kelly Ian Mosley Steve Rothery and Pete Trewavas 7 inch single A Sugar Mice album version 5 47 B Tux On 5 127 inch picture disc A Sugar Mice radio edit 5 00 B Tux On 5 0912 inch picture disc A1 Sugar Mice extended version 6 08 B1 Sugar Mice album version 5 45 B2 Tux On 5 12CD single Sugar Mice radio edit 5 00 Tux On 5 09 Sugar Mice extended version 6 09Personnel editFish vocals Steve Rothery guitars Mark Kelly keyboards Pete Trewavas bass Ian Mosley drumsCharts editChart 1987 PeakpositionEurope European Hot 100 Singles 7 68Ireland IRMA 8 17Netherlands Single Top 100 9 45UK Singles OCC 10 22West Germany Official German Charts 11 59References edit New Singles Music Week 11 July 1987 p 39 David Roberts ed 2006 British Hit Singles and Albums Guinness World Records Limited p 349 ISBN 978 1904994107 Single Reviews Pop Billboard Vol 99 no 36 5 September 1987 p 69 Archived copy Archived from the original on 10 July 2012 Retrieved 14 September 2011 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link marillion com MUSIC Lyrics Clutching at Straws The Official Marillion Website Archived from the original on 16 September 2011 Retrieved 25 April 2021 Archived copy Archived from the original on 2 January 2019 Retrieved 14 September 2011 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link European Hot 100 Singles Music amp Media Vol 4 no 31 8 August 1987 p 17 The Irish Charts Search Results Sugar Mice Irish Singles Chart Retrieved 14 January 2023 Marillion Sugar Mice in Dutch Single Top 100 Retrieved 14 January 2023 Official Singles Chart Top 100 Official Charts Company Retrieved 14 January 2023 Offiziellecharts de Marillion Sugar Mice in German GfK Entertainment charts Retrieved 14 January 2023 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Sugar Mice amp oldid 1215613945, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
