Concert Ads #61

On August 11, 1984 The Psychedelic Furs performed at the Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada during the Mirror Moves Tour. Special guest was Poisoned featuring Art Bergmann.

Concert Ads #59

On August 12, 1984 The Psychedelic Furs performed at the Starry Night in Portland, Oregon during the Mirror Moves Tour. Tickets were $12.50 in advance.

Songs (via SetlistFM; according to the website, the songs may not be in the correct order):

1. Love My Way

2. Pretty In Pink

3. Here Come Cowboys

4. My Time

5. President Gas

6. Sleep Comes Down

7. The Ghost In You

8. Heaven

9. Only You And I

10. Sister Europe

11. Alice's House

12. Heartbeat

13. Forever Now

14. No Easy Street

15. Into You Like A Train

Encore:

16. India

My Psychedelic Furs Vinyl #13

Heaven (1984) (CBS A4300) (Italian 7" single)

Side A:

Heaven

Side B:

Heartbeat (Remix)

Robert Smith's 30 Favorite Songs

I just discovered a list that The Cure's Robert Smith revealed to SiriusXM all the way back in 2009 and it was a list of his 30 favorite songs of the 1980s. One of the songs that got included was The Psychedelic Furs' "Heaven"!

Here's the full list in alphabetical order:

1. ABC - The Look Of Love

2. The Associates - Tell Me Easter's On Friday

3. Bananarama and Fun Boy Three - It Ain't What You Do It's The Way That You Do It

4. David Bowie - Let's Dance

5. Kate Bush - Cloudbusting

6. Cocteau Twins - Persephone

7. Cristina - Things Fall Apart

8. DAF - Sex Unter Wasser

9. Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus

10. Dinosaur JR - Freak Scene

11. Echo and the Bunnymen - The Killing Moon

12. Peter Gabriel - Red Rain

13. The Human League - Human

14. The Jesus and Mary Chain - Some Candy Talking

15. Joy Division - The Eternal

16. Chaka Khan - I Feel For You

17. Madness - Return Of The Los Palmas Seven

18. Mel and Kim - Respectable

19. My Bloody Valentine - Lose My Breath

20. New Order - Everything's Gone Green

21. Yoko Ono - Walking On Thin Ice

22. The Pixies - Gigantic

23. The Pretenders - Don't Get Me Wrong

24. Prince - Starfish And Coffee

25. The Psychedelic Furs - Heaven

26. Siouxsie and the Banshees - Dear Prudence

27. Soft Cell - Tainted Love

28. The Sugarcubes - Birthday

29. Suzanne Vega - Small Blue Thing

30. Tom Waits - In The Neighborhood

Remembering Tommy Price

Just found out from Billy Idol's recent Instagram post that drummer Tommy Price sadly passed away yesterday.

Besides working with Billy Idol Tommy also worked with The Psychedelic Furs on Mirror Moves and played drums on two songs: "Heaven" and "Here Come Cowboys". We will always remember his great contribution to those two songs. Rest in peace, Tommy Price.

Via Discogs.

Via Discogs.

Through the Looking Glass: 40 Years of Mirror Moves

Happy 40th anniversary to The Psychedelic Furs' fourth studio album, the wonderful Mirror Moves. It was originally released in the UK in May 1984, but it seems to me that people only remember the North American release date, which was August 21, 1984. Mirror Moves was produced by Keith Forsey, who was the producer of Billy Idol's Rebel Yell and Pat Benatar's 1988 top 20 hit "All Fired Up." Mirror Moves became The Psychedelic Furs' second album to hit Gold in the US after selling 500,000 copies. In 1985 Robert Smith of The Cure mentioned that Mirror Moves was one of his favorite albums.

The music is similar to the previous album Forever Now, but in my opinion, it is more commercial sounding but it still has the Psychedelic Furs sound. It is the most eighties sounding out of all their albums, but not in a dated way; I like how the music sounds in all of its eighties glory, and to me it is uplifting, positive, and enchanting.

When Mirror Moves came out The Psychedelic Furs were a trio, because after the release of Forever Now in 1982 original drummer Vince Ely left. The only members remaining were Richard Butler (vocals), Tim Butler (bass), and John Ashton (guitar). They didn't have an official drummer at the time, so Keith Forsey played the drums on Mirror Moves; although the drums on "Heaven" and "Here Come Cowboys" were played by session musician Tommy Price.

Mirror Moves is best known for having the singles "The Ghost In You" and "Heaven". "The Ghost In You", which opens the album, is one of The Psychedelic Furs' most beloved songs. The iconic synthesizer sound was played on the Fairlight keyboard, and what's funny is I read somewhere that the band called it the "Chipmunk in the Bath" sound.

"The Ghost In You" is my parents' favorite Psychedelic Furs song and for me there's two special moments connected to the song. At my second PFurs concert Richard Butler held my hand and was singing to me during the "Stars come down in you" part, and at my fourth show guitarist Rich Good was looking at me while doing the backing vocals on the first chorus and waved at me.

Last October while I was working in retail the radio actually played "The Ghost In You" and I was ecstatic. I had a feeling the reason why the song was played was because it was during the Halloween season (they also played Oingo Boingo's "Dead Man's Party" and the Ghostbusters theme), and with the word "ghost" being in the title they probably thought it's a scary, spooky song. Personally, I don't think of "The Ghost In You" as a Halloween song and there's nothing spooky about the lyrics.

"Heaven" is another beloved track and despite the song being called "Heaven" there isn't anything spiritual or religious about it. It's about planes dropping nuclear bombs. According to Richard Butler in a 1984 interview with Smash Hits: "The words are like clues to what it's really about, which is nuclear war, but you need to think about them to realize that."

After reading that quote, what Richard said was so true, especially when you pay attention to the hidden meaning in the lyrics. Here are four examples:

"And a world at the window gone underground."

"There's a hole in the sky where the sun don't shine."

"And a clock on the wall and it counts my time"

"And I'm standing on ice when I say that I don't hear planes."

Tim Butler once said that he always gets amused whenever people would dance to "Heaven" at concerts because while the music's light and poppy, they're dancing to a song that's about a heavy subject and probably the majority of them think "Heaven" is a happy tune. "Heaven" is actually the second Psychedelic Furs song to reference nuclear war, with the first being the 1982 b-side "Aeroplane".

One of the songs that's more on the rock side is "Alice's House", and it is about an insane asylum. The song was recorded during the Forever Now sessions but it didn't make it on the album because The Psychedelic Furs were unhappy with it. But then later they re-recorded it for Mirror Moves. The early version of "Alice's House" is available to listen to and it is really good. It first appeared on the Should God Forget compilation in 1997, and then as a bonus track on the 2002 remaster of Forever Now.

There are other great songs on Mirror Moves as well. "Here Come Cowboys" is a cool song, "Heartbeat" is so energetic and fun, "My Time" has one of the most beautiful opening lines ("You got rain in your eyes and a head full of stars"), plus "Like A Stranger", and "Only A Game". Every time I listen to "Like A Stranger" I always think about a video I saw of The Psychedelic Furs performing that song at a concert in England back in the late 2010s. In the video a British man in the audience was loudly singing the whole song off-key, and the funny thing is you could barely hear Richard Butler. I don't know if the man was drunk, but it's so hilarious. My favorite song on Mirror Moves is the final track, the fan favorite "Highwire Days", and it is one of Richard Butler's favorite songs to perform live.

Mirror Moves has one of the most iconic album covers of all time, with the photo of Richard Butler on the front cover (plus Tim Butler and John Ashton on the back), taken by photographer Brian Griffin. There are actually a few minor differences to the album cover in some territories. With the UK and European releases, the band and album names and the outlines of the stars have a light purple/blue color, and with the US and Canadian releases the band name, album title and stars are yellow, and "The Psychedelic Furs" is repeated again above but in a different font. The design of the album artwork was a tribute to Colin Fulcher, aka Barney Bubbles, who passed away a year before Mirror Moves came out. Colin designed many album covers, with one of them being Forever Now (the original UK artwork, not the US one).

There's one more thing about Mirror Moves that I want to discuss, and it is the introduction of an important and great musician who became a member of The Psychedelic Furs. The one and only Mars Williams.

Mars Williams first joined The Psychedelic Furs during the Forever Now Tour after when his former band The Waitresses (known for their hits "I Know What Boys Like" and "Christmas Wrapping") split up. The interesting thing is that Keith Forsey was at one of The Psychedelic Furs' shows and when Keith saw Mars, he wanted Mars to play on Billy Idol's song "Catch My Fall" on Rebel Yell, because Billy wanted a saxophonist to play on the song.

On Mirror Moves, Mars played saxophone on the songs "Here Come Cowboys", "Heartbeat", "My Time", and "Like A Stranger". I absolutely love the intro of "Heartbeat" and I'll never forget when The Psychedelic Furs opened with that song when I first saw them in 2015. It was so incredible. "My Time" and "Like A Stranger" have great saxophone solos and I feel lucky to experience the latter song live in 2016. I wish The Furs played "Here Come Cowboys" and "My Time", I bet they would be amazing live.

Mars Williams during "Like A Stranger", 2016. Photo by me.

After Mirror Moves Mars would eventually play on the 1986 rerecording of "Pretty In Pink", and two more PFurs albums, Midnight To Midnight (1987) and Made Of Rain (2020). He also played on two b-sides, "Another Edge" (b-side of "The Ghost In You") and "New Dream" (b-side of "Heartbreak Beat"), and in the 2010s worked with Satellite Paradiso, John Ashton's band.

The way Mars Williams played the saxophone on Mirror Moves and those two albums was magical, and I like to imagine there were stars, sparkles and glitter coming out of the saxophone every time he played. And after hearing Mars he made me appreciate and become interested in the sound of the saxophone. But out of all the saxophonists I've heard so far (and that includes original PFurs sax player Duncan Kilburn), Mars Williams was the one who truly shined for me, like a shining star.

I know I already had written a tribute to Mars Williams back in November when he died but I wanted to talk about him again for Mirror Moves' anniversary because that was the first appearance of Mars and his brilliant music with The Psychedelic Furs. I want to keep his memory alive and I want people to know more about him and the impact he made in the music world.

I'm getting teary-eyed right now typing this because it hit me pretty hard when Mars Williams passed away, especially when it happened a month after I saw The Furs in concert. Even though it's almost a year it still doesn't feel real. This October I will be seeing The Furs for the sixth time but sadly it will be my first concert without Mars being there. I honestly don't know how the show will be like, but the best things I can do are having a good time and keeping Mars in my thoughts.

In closing, I would like to say thank you so much for reading, and happy anniversary Mirror Moves. <3

Mirror Moves Japanese Ad #2

Here's another Japanese advert for Mirror Moves. I love how the ad looks.

The Ghost In You Ad

Here's an advertisement for the Psychedelic Furs' "The Ghost In You" single, with lyrics included.

Concert Ads #45

On the 3rd and 4th of September in 1984 The Psychedelic Furs played their first two Japanese shows at the Yomiuri Hall in Tokyo, Japan during the Mirror Moves tour. It looks like tickets were ¥3,900 and the advanced ones were ¥3,000.

An Unexpected Miracle

While I was working on the last hour of my shift on Monday morning, something unexpected happened.

I mentioned this on one of my posts on my Green Day blog, but I work at a Walmart and they have their own radio station which they would play 24/7. They would play some songs I like, but most of the time they would play songs I'm not into. On the post from my Green Day blog, I wrote that they played two songs from American Idiot even though they weren't singles.

Anyway, on that particular morning they played a song which made my jaw drop.

The song they played was The Psychedelic Furs' "The Ghost In You"!!!!

I was really surprised and excited because they never play The Furs' music. I was thinking maybe they played "The Ghost In You" because it's the month of Halloween and it mentions the word "ghost" in the title and choruses. Or maybe not, but it was a delight hearing that song!

A thought occured to me which made me depressed thinking about it, since all my coworkers heard "The Ghost In You" playing, they probably don't know who The Psychedelic Furs are and don't know this beautiful song. Sigh.....

Concert Ads #43

During the Mirror Moves tour on May 31, 1984 The Psychedelic Furs, along with Front 242, Shriekback, and The Sisters Of Mercy performed at the Pallieterhal in Lier, Belgium.

Mirror Moves Japanese Ad

I found this Japanese advert for Mirror Moves and it looks absolutely great.

Italian Concert Review 1984

On June 10, 1984 The Psychedelic Furs performed at a venue in Bari, Italy during the Mirror Moves tour, and a review of that show was published in some newspaper. I found the review on an Italian website and I had to use Google Translate to see what it was saying. I did the best that I could to translate it so here's the English version of the review. Originally written by Marcello Nitti.

Puglian Weather for The Psychedelic Furs

The Psychedelic Furs have landed in Puglia, performing an impeccable concert in the municipal field of Triggiano (Bari).

The Butler brothers group was expected with impatience given the constant increase of aficionados of the group and criticism almost always positive that the world press has always reserved for them.

The show has been a compendium of their career, from "Love My Way", "Pretty In Pink", "Sister Europe", "President Gas", "Heaven", "Imitation Of Christ", and concluded with "Into You Like A Train" and "India". In summary they performed sixteen songs comprising "Angels", an unpublished [song], garnering acclaim from the audience present. [This part is funny to me because the reviewer said "Angels" is an unreleased track. It was actually "Only You And I" from Forever Now, and "Angels" was the working title of that song.]

Richard Butler was accompanied by his brother Tim on bass, John Ashton on guitar and by four other friends playing keyboards respectively, and drums, second guitar and horns.

A concert of good rock music, where the focus was all facing Richard which with his hoarse voice has given an unmistakable timbre to the sound of The Psychedelic Furs.

This Italian tour allowed The P.F. to promote their last album Mirror Moves which comes out at almost two years away from the excellent Forever Now and to be known to a wider audience.

After carefully listening to Mirror Moves, at least two tracks are striking for immediacy and warmth, "The Ghost In You" and "Heaven", which have now reached a high level of composition.

Carrying on is "My Time" which encloses ethereal atmospheres, then the still hard "Heartbeat", which the "extended" published version made the rounds of discotheques, perhaps the least typical song of the group. With "Alice's House", "Like A Stranger" and "Highwire Days", Richard Butler sings with hoarse passion and stays there to those days that preceded moments of crisis, those days that are like a rope placed there to help you up the hill to embrace the sun.

Marcello Nitti

Behind the Songs: Like A Stranger

Photo: Brian Griffin

Interviewer: "Do you have a favorite song from Mirror Moves?"

Richard Butler: "It changes often, but right now probably 'Like A Stranger' and 'Here Come Cowboys.'" (Music Life 1984 [Japanese magazine])

Richard Butler (on being asked which was his favorite song to perform live): "Oh goodness, that would be tough. We started playing a couple that we haven't done for a long, long time. We were just playing 'Like A Stranger' from Mirror Moves [for the 2009 tour] and that sounded really good, and I was very pleased to be doing that. And you know, we haven't played that song in... Gosh, since it came out." (That Modern Rock Show (89.1 WFDU) 2009)

Behind the Songs: My Time

Richard Butler: "Some songs are written specifically for women, like 'My Time' was written from trying to see things from a feminist point of view." (La Edad de Oro 1984 [Spanish TV])

Richard Butler: "My father had [Charles Aznavour's] records, and he's somebody I did quite like. He wrote some fantastic songs. Some for Edith Piaf, another of Dad's favorites. There's a melancholy to that whole French thing, and we've had a couple of songs that dabbled in that feel. I think 'My Time' from Mirror Moves has an element of that." (Record Collector 2020)

Behind the Songs: Alice's House

Interviewer: "So how many songs have you got ready for the new LP [Mirror Moves]?"

Richard Butler: "Yeah, there are a couple...but whether we'll use them or not, I don't know. There's one we recorded with Todd [Rundgren] that we didn't like the drum sound on, so we might re-record that, it's called 'Alice's House.'" (ZigZag 1983)

Richard Butler: "'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." (Artist Magazine 1984)

Richard Butler: "The thing is, if you start with a basic sequence of chords that sounds good, you can do anything at all with it. You could probably take the chords from a Motorhead song and do a reggae version of it, an MOR version, a punk version, or whatever. Once we have got that, we play with it until either it ends up as a song we like or we chuck it. Only once have we done a song from scratch twice that was 'Alice's House' off Mirror Moves. We recorded it originally with Todd Rundgren to go on Forever Now but we didn't like the way he did it. And we did it again with Keith Forsey. For some reason, that song was just a [__] to get recorded, even the second time round. We nearly didn't put it on Mirror Moves either, it was such a [__] to get done." (One Two Testing 1986)

John Ashton: "We lumped ['Love My Way'] in with the demos that we were doing [for Forever Now], and none of the record companies saw it [as being a single]. They saw 'Aeroplane.' They saw a version of 'Alice's House' that we did that they liked a lot, which came later. 'Alice’s House' never made it to Forever Now." (Popdose 2012)

John Ashton (on playing the demo of the song to Andrew Eldritch of The Sisters Of Mercy): "I couldn't tell whether he was impressed or not. He's very…." [puts palm in front of his face]. (2015 interview)

Interviewer: "What are your favorite classic Psychedelic Furs songs to play?"

Rich Good: "'Soap Commercial', 'Sister Europe', 'Dumb Waiters', 'Only You And I', 'Alice's House'… Honestly, there's not really any I don't like playing." (Post-Punk.com 2022)

Behind the Songs: Here Come Cowboys

Interviewer: "Have you got any song titles yet?"

Richard Butler: "Yeah, one of them's called 'Here Come Cowboys' (laughs) which is about the macho-men you get around in an Italian neighborhood like this [in New York]." (ZigZag 1983)

Richard Butler: "When I listen to the first two albums now, they seem really full of confusion, angst, disgust & cynicism but I don't feel that way now. I think we can change things but I'm not the kind of songwriter that stands on a podium and shouts. I think you have to change things in a more gentle way for it to be effective. I think that [Mirror Moves] is a much more subtle album, as opposed to shouting. I also think 'Here Come Cowboys' is ideal for the elections coming up (laughs)."

Interviewer: "There's a line in that song that goes 'all we really need is love.' Is that your current philosophy?"

Richard Butler: "Yeah! I think a lot of the cynicism on the early albums was just me hiding my real feelings. The cynicism was largely a perception. I didn't want to put my own feelings on the line as much as other people's feelings which is easier. At the time, I wanted the songs to reflect my feelings other than performing them and with [Mirror Moves] I think I'm generating feelings more." (Aquarian Arts Weekly 1984)

Richard Butler (on being asked if the song was about Ronald Reagan): "Yeah, yeah, he's obviously the most famous one [cowboy] but it's also an attack on TV heroes." (Artist Magazine 1984)

Richard Butler: "It's subliminally political; it doesn't scream its message out. I don't like songs that do. I'm not a fan of The Alarm or The Clash." (BAM Magazine 1984)

John Ashton: "Most of the [songs on Mirror Moves] aren't love songs at all. 'Heaven' is about nuclear war, 'Here Come Cowboys' and 'Highwire Days' are political, 'Heartbeat' is about life in the city, specifically about some people we know." (The Morning Call 1984)

Interviewer: "Do you have a favorite song from Mirror Moves?"

Richard Butler: "It changes often, but right now probably 'Like A Stranger' and 'Here Come Cowboys.'" (Music Life 1984 [Japanese magazine])

Richard Butler: "The way I write, I can get away with being political. I think 'Here Come Cowboys' can have radio play and get away with being political, whereas something that openly slams politics won't get played. In a lot of ways, my method of writing is a lot more difficult—I work in a more insidious way. If someone hears our song on the radio and likes it, he or she might not realize what it's about, but they'll go out and buy it. Then, after repeated listenings, they realize the song's meaning. So, we've gotten through to somebody who doesn't think like us as a matter of course. In that way, we've been more successful as conveyors of ideas if we'd put the messages right up at the front at the beginning." (Rockbill 1984)

John Ashton (on being asked what's the point of not playing "Heartbreak Beat" live): "I'd like to do it, but it comes down to a band vote. This is a democratic band! I don't care much for 'Cowboys' but I wouldn't mind doing 'Heartbreak Beat', so there you go." (Fort Worth Star Telegram 1990)

John Ashton: "There was an A&R guy from Texas, who spent two weeks strutting up and down trying to pick a single [from Mirror Moves], he couldn't figure out what it should be. We told him it was 'Heaven,' and he picked 'Here Come Cowboys.' So there you go. We'd already done a video for 'Heaven'... I don't think he lasted long." (Goldmine 1998)

Richard Butler: "[Columbia] had always been pretty good -- besides making a lot of mistakes in choosing singles. We bowed to their will, we thought, 'They're a record company, they probably know better than we do about it.' I thought releasing 'Cowboys' as a single was a big mistake..." (Ink 19 2002)

Richard Butler: "I recall we had a big disagreement with the American record company, because 'Heaven' was in the Top 10 in Canada and the video was everywhere, but then America decided, for some bizarre reason, to release 'Here Come Cowboys' instead. Which failed. I'll never understand their rationale behind that." (Record Collector 2020)

Behind the Songs: Highwire Days

Richard Butler: "It's an attack on the press, and it's just saying that you can see through it all. There are still weird delusions that I can't get rid of like 'They tore up our kisses and ran' is one I tend to think is maybe too complicated." (Artist Magazine 1984)

John Ashton: "Most of the [songs on Mirror Moves] aren't love songs at all. 'Heaven' is about nuclear war, 'Here Come Cowboys' and 'Highwire Days' are political, 'Heartbeat' is about life in the city, specifically about some people we know." (The Morning Call 1984)

Richard Butler (on being asked if he had done anything that reached the hallowed heights of art): "I think onstage, some of our greatest moments. I don't know, the song 'Highwire Days' sometimes, for some reason. It changes me. It changes what I am. Suddenly I feel massive. I feel like my voice is big enough to fill a big place, whereas sometimes you can be there onstage singing away—and you're looking out and you can see this big place and it doesn't feel like you're big enough to fill it. But then, with a song like that it just seems like you fill it with no problem, that and more." (Creem 1987)

Richard Butler: "There's no other job in the world where people applaud you every three minutes. I'm just an applause addict. There are times, particularly during 'Highwire Days,' when everything sounds so massive and I'm singing as hard as I can and feel THAT big, and the audience can see me and they feel THAT big, and then everything seems worth it. All the hotel lounges and endless airports, everything is worth it just for one song." (Melody Maker 1987)

Richard Butler: "'Highwire Days' is more about the press and how people... You can look at things yourself and find out more about what's going on 50 to 60 percent of the time than you can from reading the papers. You don't get the straight news from reading the papers and you don't get the straight news from television. You have to actually become involved and interested in what's happening to the world and what's happening to the environment." (Interchords 1988)

Richard Butler: "This was about the first song I wrote after I'd given up drinking. It's my favorite to do live. People say we're not very good at reaching out to an audience, but of the songs we do, this is probably the most successful. The chorus isn't exactly happy, but it seems triumphant." (Melody Maker 1988)

Richard Butler: "It's a song really about... I think you can see more what's going on in the world yourself most of the time, rather than watching television. I mean, especially in America, most television is commercial TV." (MTV Europe 1988)

Richard Butler (on the news and advertising): "That's what really gets me irritated about it. You know, you're getting holes in the ozone layer and the holes in the ozone layer are caused by companies like DuPont making CFC gas for aerosols. And also by companies like McDonald's using the packaging that they use for, you know, that stuff. And so the news never really tells you – they never really tell you who's to blame for what's going on because these people are big advertisers. And if they tell you about them on the news they're going to pull their advertising. So you're getting a kind of biased view of the news and the only way to really find out what's going on is to look into it yourself. And it was that kind of anger that made me want to write 'Highwire Days.'" (MTV Europe 1988)

John Ashton: "I originally wrote the music for National Lampoon's Joy Of Sex. Thank goodness they never used it! Live, the song was ALWAYS BRILLIANT!" (Should God Forget liner notes, 1997)

Interviewer: "What are your personal favorite Psychedelic Furs songs and why? Which do you enjoy playing live?"

John Ashton: "'Dumb Waiters' for its sheer full on attack. 'All Of This And Nothing', 'India', 'Pretty In Pink', 'President Gas', 'Heaven', and 'Highwire Days', for pretty much the same reason." (Modern Guitars Magazine 2005)

John Ashton: "Whenever I bump into [blues rocker Chris Whitley], he's always giving me the thumbs-up on that one. That's how I met him, and it was quite a blast. He was like, 'Oh yeah, you played in that band, I went out and bought [Mirror Moves], it has my favorite song on it, "Highwire Days".' 'Oh, I wrote that.' 'Wow, let me shake your hand.' I was a real Chris Whitley fan, so it was really nice." (Unknown source/year)

Behind the Songs: Heartbeat

John Ashton: "Most of the [songs on Mirror Moves] aren't love songs at all. 'Heaven' is about nuclear war, 'Here Come Cowboys' and 'Highwire Days' are political, 'Heartbeat' is about life in the city, specifically about some people we know." (The Morning Call 1984)

Richard Butler: "When I write things I tend to like them very structured and not off-the-wall. I like this to be happening here, and that there, and everything to flow very smoothly. Without the edge that John adds, I think I'd end up hating my own songs. Also, a lot of the best songs tend to come off these weird riffs that John comes up with. They're not quite what you'd expect and so I tend to react to them differently vocally.

"Like 'Heartbeat', which is one of my favorite songs now. That was like a rock song and I just couldn't get along with it at all. But John did all these things to it, tweaked it about, and at the last moment I twigged and stuck a vocal on it. It was done the day before [Mirror Moves] was due to be taken and mastered actually... I always leave the vocals to the last minute anyway, but on this one I had to stick it down in two takes, and then John came up with an idea for the horn parts which we slapped on, and then it was gone!" (One Two Testing 1986)

Richard Butler (on being asked if The Furs or the record company were behind the remixes of "Heartbeat"): "We did the remixes. John actually mixed the remixes with Keith Forsey. I like the remixes. It's one of my favorite things he's ever done, I think. It's just like a different direction." (Radio Luxembourg 1987)

Richard Butler: "It was really funny the way ['Heaven'] worked out. We were a song short for the album Mirror Moves. The lyric was originally written for 'Heartbeat', but seemed to fit 'Heaven' much better." (Melody Maker 1988)

Richard Butler (on the New York Remix of "Heartbeat"): "I had very little to do with that. It was so unusual to hear something like this coming from this band—there was a lot of cries of 'how dare they?', but that was the reason we did it, to irritate slightly. We just wanted to try something different." (Interchords 1980s)

John Ashton: "I wrote the music. Richard wrote the lyrics. Ed Buller felt we should change the chorus—he was right. Mars Williams came up with this really whacked intro. Live, it only worked if you paid attention to Paul [Garisto] counting in the actual song, not Mars. Also, Paul being the drummer always had a handle on the situation and saved our bacon many a night." (Should God Forget liner notes, 1997)

Tim Butler (on the NY Mix): "That did really well in dance clubs, but it was a bit of a departure from what we were used to. Keith said, 'I want to do a dance remix of this.' And we said, 'A what? Dancing what's that?' 'Oh, it's a cross between disco and pop, you jump up and down and then do the odd John Travolta move.' And he played us some dance remixes and then we said, 'Go for it.' It's amazing what you can do when you use drum machines." (Goldmine 1998)

Interviewer: "If you and Richard ever have an argument, what's it usually about?"

Tim Butler: "Hmmm..."

Interviewer: "Girls?"

Tim Butler: "No... how a song should sound like, or which song is good or not."

Interviewer: "As in, 'This is crud, I refuse to play it'?"

Tim Butler: "No, there's been instances where we'd have to cajole Richard for weeks, convince him that a tune is good... and finally, when it's been recorded and mixed, he'd turn around and say, 'That's really good.'

"A case in point is 'Heartbeat,' from Mirror Moves. Richard didn't like it, but we'd carry on in the studio after he'd gone, we'd change it around and add or subtract bits. One day, Keith Forsey played it back to him, and Richard said, 'What’s that?' 'Oh, this was the one you didn't like.'" (Intermittent Signals 2011)

Tim Butler: "We did a remix with [Keith Forsey] of 'Heartbeat' off of Mirror Moves. We were in the studio when he did it, and it was fascinating. He did it in one-minute sections. That is a good remix -- the New York mix of 'Heartbeat.' I'm not really a huge fan of remixes and dance floor stuff when it came in the '80s, but I know New Order picked up on it and ran." (Westword 2013)

Behind the Songs: Heaven

John Ashton: "Most of the [songs on Mirror Moves] aren't love songs at all. 'Heaven' is about nuclear war, 'Here Come Cowboys' and 'Highwire Days' are political, 'Heartbeat' is about life in the city, specifically about some people we know." (The Morning Call 1984)

Richard Butler: "'Heaven' has quite a serious subject: nuclear war — though I choose to talk about it in a general way. That's the way I write. Instead of saying there's an aeroplane in the sky, I say 'There's a hole in the sky where the sun don't shine.'" (No. 1 1984)

Richard Butler: "Recently, I've been feeling much clearer mentally and in a calmer mood. It's like I've come to understand my life better, and I've begun to think a bit more positively. The song 'Heaven' really expresses that feeling well. In any case, I've started to value myself more, and realized that there's something more spiritual and mental involved." (Player 1984 [Japanese magazine])

Richard Butler (on "Heaven" doing well in the UK): "It's probably the most accessible thing we've ever done and also we've got a hard core of fans here. I'm just pleased that we've come back after two years and done this well, I can't think of many bands who could do that. I'm flattered." (Record Mirror 1984)

Richard Butler: "The words are like clues to what it's really about, which is nuclear war, but you need to think about them to realize that." (Smash Hits 1984)

Richard Butler: "I like songs to sound optimistic, but I can never actually sing an optimistic song. Even 'Heaven' is packed with depressing images." (Melody Maker 1987)

Richard Butler: "'Heaven's' a strange song because we were working in the studio I remember, it was at Saturday night and we were going to kick it in the head for Sunday and Keith Forsey said, 'We really need a new song.' We were working on these other songs that were getting [inaudible]. And I said, 'Well look, I'll come in tomorrow with Tim [Butler] and we'll try to write a song.' And so, I went in and Tim had this idea for the bass rundown, which is a straight kind of rundown. And he started playing that and I was sitting at the keyboard and I started playing the keyboard part for it. I had some lyrics that I had been saving for another song – or writing for another song – and they just happened to fit. So I went in the studio and started singing 'em to the tape we just made for the other stuff and it fit together perfectly. It was written in about two and a half hours and that was it." (Interchords 1988)

Richard Butler: "I don't think I have a happy voice and uplifting songs like 'Heaven' aren't the type of song I feel we do best. It's a good song, but a little too poppy to be one of my personal favorites." (Melody Maker 1988)

Richard Butler: "It was really funny the way that worked out. We were a song short for the album Mirror Moves. The lyric was originally written for 'Heartbeat', but seemed to fit 'Heaven' much better. I was really surprised it was a hit." (Melody Maker 1988)

Richard Butler (on artists covering The Psychedelic Furs' songs): "It's not just Live and Counting Crows. Elvis Costello did a version of 'Pretty In Pink,' and Annie Lennox did a version of 'Heaven.'" (Billboard 1997)

Tim Butler: "Written one morning in the studio by Richard and I, before the others arrived. Originally recorded, as was the rest of [Mirror Moves], using a drum machine, the drums were later replaced by Tommy Price. The song was pretty much finished in a day. One of the coolest things about this song is the pairing of serious lyrics with a very 'poppy' tune." (Should God Forget liner notes, 1997)

John Ashton: "I was tempted to stay [in the US], but my girlfriend at the time was pregnant with my daughter. Things being what they are over here with the health service, I opted to go back to England. I was living in Tunbridge, the working class burb of Tunbridge Wells. That's where my girlfriend's parents were living and my daughter was born there. So, [Richard and Tim] were in New York, I was in Tunbridge, it was a strange mixture.

"Richard had met a new girl, and he was very together with his life, he'd changed it around completely, and was clean for the first time in many years, and began to see things very differently. He began to write or co-write more accessible songs with Tim, like 'Ghost In You,' 'Heaven,' and a bunch of others. I was living in England at the time, I was doing my thing, they were doing theirs. And that was the sum of the parts, and the way they came together was the way they came together." (Goldmine 1998)

John Ashton: "There was an A&R guy from Texas, who spent two weeks strutting up and down trying to pick a single [from Mirror Moves], he couldn't figure out what it should be. We told him it was 'Heaven,' and he picked 'Here Come Cowboys.' So there you go. We'd already done a video for 'Heaven'... I don't think he lasted long." (Goldmine 1998)

Interviewer: "What are your personal favorite Psychedelic Furs songs and why? Which do you enjoy playing live?"

John Ashton: "'Dumb Waiters' for its sheer full on attack. 'All Of This And Nothing', 'India', 'Pretty In Pink', 'President Gas', 'Heaven', and 'Highwire Days', for pretty much the same reason." (Modern Guitars Magazine 2005)

Richard Butler: "'Heaven' was written in the studio. It took a day to write that." (Metro Times 2010)

Interviewer: "What else will you be playing when you come over here because the Talk Talk Talk album doesn't last that long so there will be plenty of time for some other stuff?"

Tim Butler: "Well I think we have to throw in the obligatory semi-hits like 'Heaven', 'Heartbreak Beat'… 'President Gas' probably." (This Is Not Retro 2010)

Interviewer: "When you were getting a lot of songs on the radio, 'Heaven' and 'Ghost In You' got a lot of airplay. Speaking of confusion, did anybody ever assume you were a little bit more religious than you were?"

Tim Butler: "No, because the lyrics to 'Heaven' are pretty heavy lyrics and they're not about anything spiritual. It's about planes flying over ready to drop bombs, nuclear bombs. 'And I'm standing on ice when I say that I don't hear planes.' It's sort of strange that people would dance to it and stuff with a happy vibe, when it's quite a heavy song." (Songfacts 2013)

Interviewer: "I've talked about some of the songs that I really like that you guys do. Do you have any particular favorites that you love?"

Tim Butler: "Yeah, my three favorites, I would have to say, would be 'Heaven,' 'President Gas' and 'Only You And I.'"

Interviewer: "And what do you like about those?"

Tim Butler: "They are constructed the best and all the parts of the instrumentation is perfect for those songs. They're some of the best-realized songs in our catalogue." (Songfacts 2013)

Tim Butler: "The two songs that get the most reaction live are actually 'The Ghost In You' and 'Heaven.' I don't know what makes those songs get more of a reaction. I would have thought 'Heartbreak Beat' would because that's our biggest single, but it doesn't. I don't know how these things work." (Cleveland Scene 2014)

Interviewer: "You're playing singles from your back catalogue on this tour in the autumn. Which ones are you most looking forward to playing?"

Tim Butler: "My favorite songs we've ever done are 'Heaven' and 'Only You And I,' which wasn't a single but I hope we put it in there." (Outline Magazine 2017)

Richard Butler: "I've always been fairly melancholic I suppose. Along the way, I guess there have been certain songs that were celebratory, like 'Love My Way' and 'Heaven'." (Hot Press 2020)

Interviewer: "Is there pressure, given the stature of some of those early singles, to the new material [from Made Of Rain] standing up to these songs that have been in people's minds for almost 40 years?"

Tim Butler: "That's the one reason why it took so long. 'Love My Way' and 'Pretty In Pink' and 'Heaven': our audience knows those and they're very eagle-eyed. If something comes out that's not up there in quality they're gonna say. They're not gonna hold back." (The Pitch 2020)

Richard Butler: "I recall we had a big disagreement with the American record company, because 'Heaven' was in the Top 10 in Canada and the video was everywhere, but then America decided, for some bizarre reason, to release 'Here Come Cowboys' instead. Which failed. I'll never understand their rationale behind that." (Record Collector 2020)

Richard Butler: "For some reason, when writing, I always seem to tend towards the melancholic. And sometimes, also, anger. There have been very few 'celebratory' songs... I suppose perhaps 'Love My Way,' possibly 'Heaven.'" (Record Collector 2020)

Tim Butler: "We have always been a pretty dark band, except for a few things. There's 'Heaven', but even the song 'Heaven' has got dark lyrics. On the outside, it's a dance tune, but the lyrics are about looking out your window and seeing bombers flying over. It's a pretty dark visual there." (Tower Records 2020)

Richard Butler: "About half [of Mirror Moves] was written in the studio – 'Heaven' certainly was – and lyrics to a lot of them were. 'Heaven' is one of those songs that came really quickly – Tim just started playing that descending bassline and I started singing along with it almost immediately. Keith put some drums on it and John came later and put a guitar on it and that was it." (Uncut 2020)

Tim Butler (on why he enjoys playing "Heaven" at concerts): "Because it's a song that gets people dancing – but it's about planes going over dropping bombs. The music and the lyrics, you wouldn't expect [them] together." (The Aquarian 2022)

Tim Butler: "The songs we can't get out of not playing are 'Love My Way,' 'Ghost In You,' 'Heaven,' and 'Heartbreak Beat.' Those are the ones that, if you take out of the set, you'll get lynched." (Nuvo 2023)

Interviewer: "Is there any song that you guys have that you think captures best what you're about? I know a lot of people would know a lot of your famous songs. Is there a song you'd point to for somebody that's never heard of you to have a listen to first?"

Tim Butler: "I'd say 'Heaven'. 'Heaven', yeah."

Interviewer: "That's actually one of my favorite songs of yours as well. Have you any memories about recording that song back in the day or did it come easy? Was it hard or anything like that?"

Tim Butler: "It came easy. It came from a riff or downward progression that I'd been playing with the drummer on the soundtrack of the tour before we recorded Mirror Moves. And I was playing it in the studio with Keith Forsey. He was like, oh wow, that's cool. You know, what's that? I said, that's just a thing I've been messing around with. And then Richard started singing along you know, Heaven, the chorus part of it. Yes. And he said, OK, now go somewhere else, you know, like chord wise. Right. So, I just went to the first chord to the F and that was pretty much it. We recorded it that day. And John did the guitar solo and everything in two takes. So, it's really easy. It's one of the easiest songs I think we've ever written. If only they all were."

Interviewer: "One of the most well-known as well."

Tim Butler: "It's amazing. It is. It's strange how things are. And a song like 'President Gas' took forever and we ended up using two different takes, the beginning, and the end after the breakdown. So, you know, some things come easy, and some things come hard, like life." (Left Of The Dial Music 2025)

John Ashton: "'Heaven' wasn't at all well received in England... not as far as Radio One plays goes. There were other songs getting played much more – it was grim rock, The Cure were way up there, U2 were doing better than us in England." (Unknown source/year)