All Those Friendly People

Album: Lily Of The Valley (2012)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Funeral Suits, an alt rock quartet from Dublin, Ireland, caught their big break when acclaimed producer Stephen Street (The Smiths, Blur) agreed to helm their debut LP, Lily of the Valley. This synthpop-infused single finds the band recalling a wasted youth ("Hid away 'til I was eighteen, only saw colors on a TV screen") and facing a doomed romance with a girl who has nicotine lips and a heart of stone.
  • The popular music video, directed by Shaun Ryan, is part of a trilogy inspired by William Golding's 1954 novel Lord of the Flies, that also includes "Health" and "Hands Down By Your Side." In this installment, an exuberant masked showman drags a woman across a beach before unleashing his pig-men sidekicks on her. The clip was shot over three days in Ireland's Wicklow Mountains and Malahide Beach. Of the video, Funeral Suits vocalist/guitarist Mik McKeogh tells Songfacts: "It documents an age-old battle between the oppressor and the oppressed. It's surreal… It's quite juxtaposed to the song, but I think they complemented each other really nicely."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Joe Ely

Joe ElySongwriter Interviews

The renown Texas songwriter has been at it for 40 years, with tales to tell about The Flatlanders and The Clash - that's Joe's Tex-Mex on "Should I Stay or Should I Go?"

Eric Burdon

Eric BurdonSongwriter Interviews

The renown rock singer talks about "The House of the Rising Sun" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood."

Harold Brown of War

Harold Brown of WarSongwriter Interviews

A founding member of the band War, Harold gives a first-person account of one of the most important periods in music history.

Song Titles That Inspired Movies

Song Titles That Inspired MoviesSong Writing

Famous songs that lent their titles - and in some cases storylines - to movies.

Julian Lennon

Julian LennonSongwriter Interviews

Julian tells the stories behind his hits "Valotte" and "Too Late for Goodbyes," and fills us in on his many non-musical pursuits. Also: what MTV meant to his career.

History Of Rock

History Of RockSong Writing

An interview with Dr. John Covach, music professor at the University of Rochester whose free online courses have become wildly popular.