The Psychedelic Furs Songs Ranked
The Psychedelic Furs are a British new wave band founded in London in February 1977. Led by singer Richard Butler and his brother Tim Butler on bass guitar, the Psychedelic Furs are one of the many acts spawned from the British post-punk scene. Their music went through several phases, from an initially austere art rock sound to later touching on new wave and hard rock. The band had several hits in their early career. In 1986, filmmaker John Hughes used their song “Pretty in Pink” for his film of the same name. They went on hiatus after they finished touring in 1992, but resumed in 2000 and continue to perform live. The band released Made of Rain, their first studio album in nearly three decades, on 31 July 2020. Here are all of The Psychedelic Furs songs ranked
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15. President Gas (Forever Now, 1982)
“Carter was gone by the time the song was written, or at least on his way out; Reagan had taken office. With that in mind, it is more likely the songs lines such as “it’s sick, the price of medicine” deal with a Republican opposition to Health Care Reform as with The Carter Administration’s failure to implement a national Health Care System.”
14. Here Come Cowboys (Mirror Moves, 1984)
“Genius song.. when you listen to it for the first time and don’t pay that much attention to the lyrics, it seems like one of those good soft new wave songs of the 80’s, but then when you focus more on the lyrics it’s got such a powerful message using sarcasm… genius to “hide” that in a soft, chill sound, in my opinion.”
13. All of This and Nothing (All of This and Nothing, 1988)
“By far, the greatest strength of this album is simply the superb quality of the songs. The Psychedelic Furs were an eminently listenable band. They managed to capture the darker spirit of post-punk music, without sacrificing a bit of melody or songcraft.”
12. Alive (For Once in My Lifetime) (Beautiful Chaos: Greatest Hits Live, 2001)
“Alive is one of the best songs by The Psychedelic Furs. The sound is great, along with the lyrics. Its the type of song that you play once and then play it again….and again.”
See more: The Psychedelic Furs Albums Ranked
11. Sister Europe (The Psychedelic Furs, 1980)
“I think it is about the continent of Europe. I think a lot of the song is from the point of view of the land. Europe is seeing all these people doing stupid things and acting out their petty, futile dramas. Europe is there the whole time through many generations and sees the same mistakes being made over and over and how everyone dies with nothing to show for it and everything eventually falls to dust. I think the person is calling Europe “sister of mine” because he sometimes steps back and sees the big picture and starts to identify with things that are less transitory like the land which could represent the eternal witness or something. When he does this he feels like he’s home.”
10. Midnight to Midnight (Midnight to Midnight, 1987)
“Many Psychedelic Furs fans feel that, of all the albums they released, this is their worst. Sure, the cover photographs (with band members dressed in gaudy leather) have been, perhaps rightfully, derided, but when you ignore the image the band was projecting and focus on the music, you’re in for a treat. I can honestly say I like every one of the songs on this album particularly the title track.”
9. Until She Comes (World Outside, 1991)
“It is about stalking and dreaming a relationship with someone. Anyway it evocates to me a period in my life when me and my boyfriend broke up, and i really couldn’t accept the fact that our story was over, I promised myself that I would always love him and i was sure that after some time we would be together again.”
8. All that Money Wants (All of This and Nothing, 1988)
“The Furs decide to return to form with this single and do a right smashing job of it. Stephen Street does a wonderful job of resurrecting the Talk, Talk, Talk sound. My 12” also includes a live version of “No Easy Street”.
7. Angels Don’t Cry (Midnight to Midnight, 1987)
“A classic case of a good band gone bad. This sounds like it was all formulated to be played at someone’s high school prom or something. All mellow and laid back, and still not even terrible, just devoid of the life that used to make this band something unique.”
6. Alice’s House (Forever Now, 1982)
“Butler’s explanation: “‘Alice’s House’ is an asylum, and it’s just a song basically about madness. Where it says, ‘in the softest room,’ you can take that as a padded cell, and you sing without a key.’ Well, I always associate people who are insane as singing way out of tune, plus, you’re in a room without a key. ‘The butler is serving tea’ is just sort of a wild image, and wearing a shirt without any sleeves’ is simply a straitjacket. It works on illusions like that.””
See more: MC5 Songs Ranked
5. Heaven (Mirror Moves, 1984)
“This song is magnificent. My interpretation would be that his reference to “heaven” could be bliss. He’s at his highest and feels invincible, complete ,”at home” Nothing and no one “I scream at the fools ,wanna jump my train” can take this feeling from him, or ruin it in any way. Pure happiness. I love it! Psychedelic Furs are awesome live,too.”
4. Heartbreak Beat (Midnight to Midnight, 1987)
“It’s a love song. It has sort of a desperate feeling, like being sort of lost and love is the only thing that gets you through it. For some reason this song reminds me of those movies where Amish people aren’t supposed to listen to music or dance but they do anyway.”
3. Pretty in Pink (Talk Talk Talk, 1981)
“I think this song is about a young girl who is having sex casually to fit in, but when I first heard it I assumed it was about a girl who dreams about a perfect romance but instead finds herself having sex with just some guy. Again, not saying my interpretation is right at all, but it was just a fun way of looking at it:”
2. Love My Way (Forever Now, 1982)
“I think this song is about him singing to a girl (or whoever) who has had a lot of bad relationships, she is pessimistic towards relationships/love because other people have used her. This guy is saying I’m not like them, I really love you and care for you, take a chance on me.”
1. The Ghost In You (Mirror Moves, 1984)
“This is a return to the great Psychedelic Fur’s predecessors, this single has everything you could ever want out of a new wave single. If you have read any of my reviews of mine you will know what I like to talk about when reviewing so I wont. Every one of us has a ghost in or past something we have done wrong, someone who follows us, seeing things that or not really there and other psycho hallucinations.”