Song for Whoever
1989 single by The Beautiful South
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"Song for Whoever" is a song by English music group the Beautiful South, written by band members Paul Heaton and David Rotheray. The first and highest-charting single from their debut album, Welcome to the Beautiful South, it peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart in July 1989 and was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in August 2024. Considered typical of the band's gently subversive, self-reflexive signature style,[2] it is sung from the point of view of a cynical songwriter who romances women solely to get material for love songs.
- "Straight in at 37"
- "You and Your Big Ideas"
- 6:10 (album version)
- 4:00 (single version)
| "Song for Whoever" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by the Beautiful South | ||||
| from the album Welcome to the Beautiful South | ||||
| B-side |
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| Released | 1 June 1989[1] | |||
| Length |
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| Label | Go! Discs | |||
| Composers | ||||
| Lyricist | Paul Heaton | |||
| Producer | Mike Hedges | |||
| The Beautiful South singles chronology | ||||
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Music video
The music video for the song features a blancmange as the main character. Heaton said, "The blancmange is probably the best thing that's happened to the band so far. The idea is that there's this conveyor belt and all these pop stars come down it and get rejected by the record company people that then choose a blancmange. The blancmange goes on to be a big star but it all pretty much ends up in blancmange misery."[3]
Track listings
All lyrics are written by Paul Heaton; all music is composed by Paul Heaton and Dave Rotheray.
Charts
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
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Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[1] | Gold | 400,000‡ |
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‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||