Her hair
Soft drifted snow
Death white
We die tomorrow
Well she hates
All that she does
But she gives
It all that she's got
Until the sky turns green
The grass is several shades of blue
Every member of parliament trips on glue
Until the sky turns green
And the grass is several shades of blue
Every member of parliament trips on glue
It takes all these things and all our time
Till my sugar spun sister's happy
With this love of mine
It'll take all these things and oh much more
I've paid
For fifteen or more
But my guts
Can't take many more
My hands
Are stuck to my jeans
And she knows, she knows
What this must mean
She wakes up with the sun
She asks me 'what is all the fuss ?'
As she gave me more than she thought she should
She wakes up with the sun
I think 'what have I done ?'
As I gave her more than I thought I would
It takes all these things and all my time
Till my sugar spun sister's happy
With this love of mine
Yeah yeah yeah
The candyfloss girl
The sticky fingered boy
Oh that sister of mine (1)
Yeah her
Lyrics by:
Squire / Brown
Music by:
Squire / Brown
Written:
1986
Personnel:
John Squire (guitar)
Ian Brown (vocals)
Gary Mounfield (bass)
Alan Wren (drums, backing vocals)
Producer:
John Leckie
Engineer:
Paul Schroeder
Available on:
The Stone Roses (3.25)
The Stone Roses (10th Anniversary Edition) (3.26)
First live performance:
Liverpool Mardi Gras (August 1986)
Details:
In an interview with Stone Roses website 'I Am Without Shoes' in 2001, Mani claimed that 'Angel Of Harlem' by U2 was a rip off of (Song For My) Sugar Spun Sister, but Angel Of Harlem (from U2's 1988 'Rattle And Hum' album) was released before (Song For My) Sugar Spun Sister (1989) (2). (Song For My) Sugar Spun Sister was debuted live in August 1986 at the Mardi Gras in Liverpool and for Mani's claim to be accurate, U2 would have had to have heard a live recording (or somehow heard a demo of the track in advance). With the assassination of the Queen taking place at the end of the preceding song (Elizabeth My Dear), this track opens brightly musically, almost as if to herald a new dawn. Musically, it borrows from 'Pretty Flamingo' by Manfred Mann (this track was also the inspiration for Angel Of Harlem, I would imagine).
From that same era, one could possibly find the lyrical inspiration ("The candyfloss girl", etc). 'Sugar Sugar' by The Archies:
The Archies, Sugar Sugar (1969)
(Song For My) Sugar Spun Sister appears to be about a prostitute (3) who "hates all that she does but she gives it all that she's got" (Jesus is the 'Sugar Spun Sister' as I will later explain). The opening ("Her hair. Soft drifted snow. Death white...") is derivative of the book of Revelation:
The lyric "She wakes up with the sun" (like other Roses songs such as I Am The Resurrection, Going Down, She Bangs The Drums and Waterfall) refers to the Resurrection of Christ. Jesus expressed worry to God in the Garden of Gethsemane yet, despite His torment, He nevertheless gave it all that He had, in vowing to carry through with God's will:
Jesus purposely chose the humble (fishermen) and outcasts of society to associate with, such as lepers and prostitutes (see Bye Bye Badman). The narrator of the song, just as on She Bangs The Drums, is a disciple of Jesus. The disciple comes to the realization that he was wrong in his previous outlook and actions ("I think 'what have I done ?'") after She (Jesus) wakes up with the Sun (is resurrected). Prior to this realization, a conversation takes place between the two in which Jesus asks him "what is all the fuss ?". Narration in the song, I propose, switches between two disciples, Thomas the Doubter and Judas Iscariot. The lines relating to the Resurrection mainly document the doubt of Thomas concerning the validity of His return:
Jesus had given Thomas "more than she thought she should" (have to) in offering physical proof to Thomas (allowing Thomas to touch Him) of his resurrection. Jesus appeared to the eleven disciples after Judas had died, and then to the twelve after Matthias had replaced Judas. Thus, Jesus did not appear to Judas. The opening lines of the song, I propose, are Judas' thoughts at the Last Supper. Jesus knew that Judas had agreed to betray Him, and in passing the bread to Judas thus knew "what this must mean". Jesus declared at the table that Judas would be the one to betray Him. Thus following Jesus implicitly (passing the bread to Judas) demonstrating this to Judas, He subsequently made it explicitly clear. In the second of the following two passages, Jesus says that He himself will die and that Judas may as well be dead also ("we die tomorrow"):
Judas Iscariot, after realising his evil action in the betrayal of Jesus, dies in the field that be bought from his reward in Jesus' death:
This would explain why the narrator's "guts can't take any more". Judas, in realizing his error ("I think 'what have I done ?'"), attempted to return the 30 pieces of silver. A conversation between Jesus and Judas (The first verse relates to the Last Supper - "We ate the food, we drank the wine", the second verse relates to the betrayal of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and the third verse relates to Judas committing suicide) forms the basis of U2's 'Until the End of the World', from their 1991 album 'Achtung Baby'.
The Stone Roses did more than simply kick off 'the Madchester revolution' (4) and their legacy should not be limited to such a capacity. They were the blueprint for Oasis(5) and in a Hot Press interview from March 2002, Brown's assessment is that the Roses' debut was integral to the reinvention of U2, a band who went on to become the biggest in the world:
'Achtung Baby' was released two years after Bono announced the band would have to "go away and dream it all up again", following the mixed reception of 1988's 'Rattle and Hum'. Brown goes on to explain how U2 realised musical potential within themselves in no small part through exposure to these LPs (7) but his assessment will also have been based to a small degree on how U2, just as The Stone Roses did on their debut album, structured some songs on 'Achtung Baby' along biblical lines (8). U2 in a sense created the follow-up to The Stone Roses' debut LP that the Roses' themselves failed to deliver in the early 1990s. The Stone Roses' 1989 debut is justifiably regarded as the finest album of its era, testament to which is how its influence shaped the next decade in the U.K., culturally and musically.
(1) Ian ambiguously sings the final line of the song: "Oh that sister of mine" / "Older sister of mine".
(2) He was right about U2 drawing inspiration from Begging You on 'Discotheque', however. Speaking to I Am Without Shoes, Mani recalls his conversation with Bono: "I was speaking to Bono about that and he said (adopts Irish accent) 'Well you've got to take from somewhere, haven’t you ?'"
(3) This is supported somewhat by Ian's gesticulations during the performance of this song at Manchester Hacienda on 27 February 1989.
(4) Hot Press interview from March 2002
(5) At the turn of the 90's, the North-West's two finest acts (Manchester's The Stone Roses and Liverpool's The La's) had hit brick walls; by 1994, the globe had exchanged hands and the lyric, "We live in the shadows and we had the chance and threw it away", from 'Hello', the opening track of Oasis' follow-up album '(What's the Story) Morning Glory ?', served as a knowingly fitting epitaph by Noel Gallagher to a Roses stalled in the traps. Pulp taking over the headline slot from The Stone Roses at Glastonbury in 1995 was arguably the point at which the torch was handed over to 'Britpop'.
Filling the Glastonbury slot vacated by The Stone Roses was one of Jarvis Cocker's two finest on-stage Britpop moments. The other was the 1996 Brit Awards when he was not even supposed to be on-stage. Michael Jackson received an 'Artist of a generation' award and in the middle of performing 'Earth Song', Jarvis Cocker invaded the stage (expertly timing his arrival to the moment when Jackson was lifted in the air by a crane, giving himself a full minute on-stage) and used his bum to express his feelings of the performance's self-serving content. In his performance, Michael Jackson appeared to be portraying himself as a redeemer of mankind (at one point stripping to reveal an all-white garment), surrounded by adoring children (this artistic image was not aided by the accusations of child sexual abuse made against him since 1993). Cocker was subsequently questioned by the police on suspicion of causing injury towards three of the children in Jackson's performance but no criminal proceedings were forthcoming. No moment in Britpop greater encapsulated the disaffection felt towards American culture than the spectacle of the Sheffield frontman's mockery of its premier entertainer.
Noel and brother Liam had come far since first seeing The Stone Roses at Manchester International 2 (the Anti-Clause 28 gig, 30 May 1988). It is sometimes claimed that Noel was first turned onto music at this gig (this was certainly true of Liam: "That was my favourite gig of all time, killed me dead, changed me fuckin' life. If I hadn't gone that night, I'd probably be sitting in some pub in Levenshulme.") In Noel's case, it is worth pointing out that this gig was not the first that made him seriously consider being a musician; rather, another Mancunian band, The Smiths, were the catalyst:
Noel Gallagher (born 29 May 1967) was more of The Smiths' generation, while Liam (born 21 September 1972) was more of the Roses'. The Smiths rose to prominence (formed 1982) when Noel was in his teens, while the Roses came to prominence in the late 1980s when Liam was in his teens. After the synth-heavy early 1980s, guitar bands were to enjoy a renaissance in the latter half of the decade, with Johnny Marr a key figure in rescuing the guitar pop genre. The Smiths were the archetypal indie group and The Stone Roses appeared to be the rightful heir to the indie crown, until Oasis' arrival on the scene. Spike Island's gathering of thirty thousand was dwarfed by Oasis performing to a quarter of a million (over two nights) at Knebworth in August 1996; Britpop witnessed the independent music scene losing an integrity and intimacy that had once been cherished by their predecessors of the 1980s. 'Indie' became a meaningless label in a media-saturated environment, where its two leading figureheads (Blur and Oasis) seemed more than content to embellish rivalry in order to embrace a mainstream audience. The indie scene ultimately lost its roots and would only re-establish them in the following decade, performing in clubs and bars, with acts such as The Libertines going one step further and entertaining in front rooms.
Blur's 'Country House' went head to head with Oasis' 'Roll With It' at the height of Britpop, with the former emerging victorious. The press portrayed the spat as some kind of class war, and the public were encouraged to take sides in a battle between the southern, art school Blur and northern, working class Oasis. 'The Battle of Britpop' extended beyond the music industry, regularly featuring on the national news. In September 1995, Blur's 'The Great Escape' soared to the top of the album charts and the band appeared to be generally accepted as the 'kings' of Britpop. The following month, Oasis' second album, '(What's the Story) Morning Glory ?' became the 3rd best selling UK album of all time, vastly outselling Blur's release; Blur won the 'battle' of Britpop but Oasis had won the war. Both factions took turns to antagonise the other and keep the rivalry in the spotlight: Blur mocked Oasis on MTV's Most Wanted with a spoof version of 'Roll With It'. This infuriated Noel Gallagher to the extent that he said he wanted Damon and bassist Alex James "to catch AIDS and die." He later retracted the comment following pressure from the media. The Gallaghers taunted Blur at the 1996 Brit Awards by singing a rendition of 'Parklife' when they collected their 'Best British Band' award, with the lyric 'Parklife' changed to "Shite-life." Noel Gallagher maintains that the rivalry was conceived by the magazine NME and members of Blur's entourage as a ploy to raise their respective profiles on the back of Oasis' success, while Albarn takes that viewpoint that the roots of the feud were much more personal.
(6) This is a view shared by other figures in music. Speaking about U2 in an NME article from 17th December 1994, Noel Gallagher said:
Indeed, Bono himself has often described the album as "the sound of four men trying to chop down The Joshua Tree." As U2 closed out their 1989 Lovetown Tour with a series of shows at Point Depot in Dublin, on the third night, 30th December 1989, Bono announced "This is just the end of something for U2. ... We've got to go away for a while and dream it all up again." This sparked rumours of a U2 break up, which was not Bono's intention. The band knew they needed a new direction but were struggling to find it - key players in the Manchester music scene pointed the way. Two years later, they released an album unlike anything they had ever done in the past. A break up was considered, and even became likely until 'One' came together quickly and U2 were on their way again. U2 had shown their stadium potential at 1985's Live Aid and along with Queen, were the most notable acts at the event. U2 were benefited in this respect by Bono's venture towards and embrace of a girl from the crowd, which was to become a defining image of the occasion, an act which Ian Brown is critical of:
While The Stone Roses were to disappear not long after their shoddily organised Spike Island festival, U2 were soon to took touring to a whole new level. The Zoo TV Tour was an elaborately-staged, multimedia concert tour by the band from February 1992 to December 1993, designed to instill a feeling of "sensory overload" in its audience, using the video age for much of its inspiration. In 2002, Q magazine described it as"still the most spectacular rock tour staged by any band." It comprised five legs, 157 shows, was seen by approximately 5.4 million people, and was the highest-grossing tour in North America of 1992. The tour marked a shift from the band's previously achingly earnest stage performances that had typified their tours in the 1980s.
(7) "They heard the records and thought, 'We can do a bit of Beatles, a bit of Jimi. Add a few dance beats and away we go'. Which is what great groups do."
(8) Although U2 were using religion in their work prior to the release of The Stone Roses' debut LP (see http://hem.bredband.net/steverud/U2MoL/index.html), the influence of The Stone Roses on U2 in this respect is worthy of investigation. In a general sense, the influence of The Stone Roses on U2 is unquestionable. Bono admitted in conversation with Mani that U2's 'Discotheque', from their 'Pop' album (March 1997), was inspired by Begging You. Fellow musician, Shirley Manson of Garbage echoes Brown's comments on how 'The Stone Roses' fused rock and dance and highlights Bono's debt to Brown: "The record (TSR) ran parallel with the rise of ecstasy and listening to the Roses in that context felt like some kind of movement, a rock band (who) could infiltrate dance culture." .. "..to this day I've seen everybody from Liam Gallagher to Bono ripping off his moves." (Shirley Manson quoted in Mojo magazine, January 2002, http://www.pdmcauley.co.uk/MojoJan02.htm). I am entirely in agreement here with Shirley Manson regarding Bono ripping off Ian's moves. Compare Bono and U2 either side of 1990 and it's clear that the band were moving to a different beat; Bono's shift from foot to foot at 1.24 - 1.26 in 'The Fly' video, for example, would not look out of place in the One Love video. I also remember seeing an onstage photo of Bono in The Sunday Times and at first glance, I thought I was looking at a photo of Ian Brown circa 1989 / 90.
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