Songfacts®:

• Seymour Stein (1942-2023) was a big name in the American music industry. He was head of Sire Records, the North American home to The Smiths, the Pretenders, Erasure and many other popular and highly acclaimed acts that emerged from Britain. In 1996, he was looking to add Belle & Sebastian, a Scottish group that was building a fanbase, to his roster.
  
  Stein flew the band to New York City and wooed them with grand visions of what life could be like on the label. The band turned down the offer and stayed independent, a decision that limited their scope but gave them tremendous freedom. They found themselves more suited to playing small venues to dedicated fans than to loud arenas where they would need to crank out some hits.
• When Belle & Sebastian came to New York and met with Stein, they didn't perform. The following year (1997), they returned and played some shows at the Angel Orensanz Center, which affirmed their decision to reject the major label Sire. "I remember the crowd being warm and exciting and exotic," B&S frontman Stuart Murdoch told Rolling Stone. "You know, for seven or eight regular people from Scotland, a good number of freaks showed up at our shows, in a nice way. It was a great audience."
• The band's guitarist, Stevie Jackson, sings lead on this one. He also does the lead vocals on another track from The Boy With The Arab Strap album, "Chickfactor."