Don't Believe

Album: Made Of Rain (2020)
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Songfacts®:

  • The Psychedelic Furs returned with new music for the first time in 29 years with "Don't Believe," the first single from their album Made Of Rain. Imbued with frontman Richard Butler's melancholic nihilism and a rich, textured soundscape, the song was picked to introduce the album because it's most typical of the Psychedelic Furs sound fans are used to. This version of the group has six members, including founders Richard and his brother Tim, and had been playing together live since 2009. The band first re-formed in 2000 to do a bit of touring with The Go-Go's and The B-52s. That arrangement worked well and they had plenty of material to cover their live sets, so they were in no hurry to create more songs. Eventually, they came up with a few new songs they added to their setlist, and with producer Richard Fortus at the helm, they started crafting the album in 2019. "Don't Believe" they didn't play live until after it was released.
  • In a Songfacts interview with Richard Butler, he talked about the meaning behind this song. "It's just saying that it's difficult to believe in anything," he said. "I'm not a person of any faith, I'm an atheist, so there's not that to believe in, but I find myself questioning all kinds of things, especially given this coronavirus. You question the intrinsic goodness of people – what's with all these weird non-mask-wearing deniers? It's crazy."

    The song was released in January 2020, before the coronavirus took hold, but even then there was a crisis of faith in America, with a harsh political divide fuelling disinformation campaigns. Richard Butler had been living in the US since 1983, when he moved there from England.
  • The line, "The money's got the medicine" is a stab at the health care system in America, which was basically run by drug and insurance companies with profit their primary concern.
  • The album title Made Of Rain comes from the 1998 long-form poem The Man Made of Rain by the Irish author Brendan Kennelly.

Comments: 1

  • Bill from Denver ColoradoI first listen to The Psychedelic Furs when back in 1983 when I was a teenager, my older brother got me, and my friends to listen to their music and I have enjoyed it ever since. I feel a little heartbroken to know that Richard does not believe in God. I hope and pray that he finds God along the way because the Bible does describe times like these will continue to occur until man changes his heart.
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