Soft Cell - Bedsitter

Music video by Soft Cell performing Bedsitter. (C) 1982 Mercury Records Limited
vevo.ly/PjDznC

[@TomRipley7350]

My dad died recently and I’ve been listening to all his old vinyls. Soft cell features a lot. Dad was a looker back in the day and had a bedsit in Islington. I can only imagine what he got up to there because mom looked at him daggers whenever he reminisced. This song was always on on long drives as a kid. Love you, dad. ❤

[@fredericnassen3634]

Not my prefered song from them. If you don't know very well ,try ¨Torch.... Or simply Marc almond

[@babyface7625]

Sorry 😞 for your loss hope your OK 👍

[@TomRipley7350]

@@babyface7625 Thank you. It’s hard at Christmas but you just gotta get on with it. Xxx

[@babyface7625]

Thanks 👍 babe 😘 💓 💕 for ❤ 💙 💜 😘 you.

[@JWD77]

Your dad had good taste in music bro most of the 80's was awesome so much talent that decade 👊

[@mikeprice9826]

still sounds so seriously cool after all these years I'm so lucky to have been a teenager in the 80s brilliant decade for music

[@fizzywack]

Couldn't agree more Mike. Today's kids have nothing but utter sh*t!

[@olenkaflowers8078]

Funny teenager in 2019))

[@geoffreyjonathanwilson5826]

Great singer !

[@johnthorley8162]

80s was good, but it was better being a teen in the 70s :)

[@padijeff5675]

Great 80s! I knocked on a red phone box and said hurry up mate! Out came a famous boxer looking pissed off!☺️

[@clivejason9090]

Masterpiece from soft cell

[@erictjujerman2093]

Agree!!😅😊

[@fiendishfugs]

this is still the grungiest song ever

[@fiendishfugs]

@kyfaydfsoab clearly you don't understand 'atmosphere' never mind eh.

[@fiendishfugs]

or what ''grunge' means.

[@RichardSykes-py8xy]

They don't make tunes like this anymore ❤

[@silkeriekeit9675]

One of my favourite Songs. Was around 18,now 55 and still feel the same

[@AdrianTether]

same was living in a bed sit when this came out . grim...

[@markyw7954]

Better than tainted love.....and what a lyric. Watch the mirror count the lines the battle scars of all the good times.

[@ally11488]

Very clever lyrics.

[@davidtomlinson6138]

I liked this better than tainted love , its never played

[@antonywayneplumpton9613]

42 yrs old this song still sounds great

[@stevewright9482]

Yep.

[@fuzzblightyear145]

loved synthpop back as a kid in the 80s when this was out. Soft cell, Depeche mode, Human League, Gary Numan etc. Golden times

[@glynatmore1817]

Oh for us all to be back in those golden & much missed days of our youth unlike today with our country invested with eastern Europeans & illegal immigrants. 80's were the best times & the music was exceptional.

[@jacquelinedeblue5231]

@@glynatmore1817 Please don't spoil our 80's memories with your bigotry.

[@Theoriginalbigbrillo]

@@glynatmore1817 Buy that for a Dollar 👍👍👍👍👍

[@Theoriginalbigbrillo]

@@jacquelinedeblue5231 Bollocks luv..................................

[@richardspeed7135]

Camp as row of tents but these lads are brilliant, great song.

[@johnvine5731]

Lmao

[@peterbenassi7010]

Their addictive, hypnotic and indescibably intoxicating musical output reflected the way so many young people were living their lives at the time. And nobody, absolutely nobody, did a melody drenched in depression like Soft Cell.

[@schielesmrs7648]

So true 💖

[@fotografm]

I was a teenager in the 80's. It was brilliant !

[@bizyizziaz4831]

they weren´t

[@budgie463]

so jealous!!

[@steviewondek]

@@bizyizziaz4831 Depends were you lived I guess.

[@paulbrierley8072]

Hearing this makes me miss those great times, what a great time to be a teenager!!

[@user-oq5mt6rt8r]

I became a teenager Jan 03, 1981 so had pretty much the entire decade as a teen, back of the net, good times 🤣🎤🎶🎵🎶

[@robhingston]

From a more sophisticated time when music told a story..

True!!!

[@jeanettedevereux7664]

Squeeze.....as well!

[@stuartmorley3836]

I'm glad the lads are still going ... uniquely unique.. just ordered the double cd of their classic 1st album

[@dorojessy6932]

What a beautiful song!! This is a classic and easily beats the crap out of any drivel out in the charts today.

[@alangregson8266]

Wish we could go back

[@mahoelihaai]

indeed totally addicted to the old sounds like these

[@barrypotter5751]

Yeeh like Ed sheeran

[@kathleengreenlay7861]

The music in the charts is piss poor if only we could bring back the 80's

[@bossendenwoodconvict]

@@kathleengreenlay7861 You actually still follow the charts!

[@tomasviane3844]

It's just criminal that all you hear from Soft Cell is 'Tainted Love'. What a shame, because they had many good tunes!

[@desolationangel5136]

Dancing, laughing, drinking, loving... wish I had a time machine.

[@AntonioDelaGranjaNunez]

Eso mismo estoy pensando ahora mismo escuchando este tema, una máquina del tiempo para volver a aquella época fantastica

[@michaelmoore.5167]

1981 😊 awesome music films 🎥, tv shows sports, unforgettable 👌 ♥️.

[@oolongoolong789]

Catchy song that still sounds fresh.

[@michaelmitchell8218]

Now that’s what you call a track. Real songs about real life. Glad to been a teen back then. Can’t stand the shit today they call music. We need some real bands again in today’s music.

[@Rammestare]

Exactly!

[@Battlady57]

Great song.as soon as i hear the first few bars i remember youth.i loved this group.

[@paulottowell8835]

Here here, I`m 58 and still enjoying the 80`s music

[@Shrekfromthehitmovieshrek]

To be fair society has changed so then music has changed maybe modern music make statements about real life that maybe it might be difficult to understand

[@nickevans417]

OK let's do it. Come over to my place with 2 friends and bring synths.

[@fergussonphotography6407]

A got detention at school in middle of winter in Aberdeen. I was meant to go home at 3.30pm but was there until 5pm and by this time it was dark and a blizzard outside. The teacher Mr Robb had radio on and this song was playing and it totally lifted my spirits for getting home. I was only 10 and bus was over an hour late so I got home at about 7pm. I will always remember this song from that night. Thanks Marc for some great music over the years.

[@stuartlee8041]

Easily the best ever decade for popular music..

[@CathyKitson]

idk. I think the whatever music was around when you were a teen is always best. The 60s and 70s were good too.

[@elfawne]

Dave Ball's synth is never boring and always unique

[@donscargill7311]

Probably one of the best albums of the 80s

[@mikefellows3901]

Hugely underrated , superb group , banging song !

[@markedwards9874]

Mike Fellows great tune

[@6581punk]

Underrated by whom? :)

[@fredrickaappletree3402]

Mike Hardly underrated its a well known classic. Respected and loved by so many. Especially those of us who lived in “bedsit land”

[@6581punk]

@MDT UK probably a regional thing. After all, in the US they consider numan to be a one hit wonder.

[@geoffreyjonathanwilson5826]

Absolutely Mike! I loved Soft Cell and always will. I turned 8 in '81 and what a great year it was for British music I think!!! Great singer too I think.

[@samhamilton1862]

Such an awesome tune 👌🏼

[@warweezil2802]

This really sums up being young single and gay living on your own in a rundown part of a city. It teaches you self reliance and self awareness. It’s a part of “education” that is sadly missing now,.

[@emilysowter8077]

As a 27 year-old, single, childless human who's working, studying & living in a bedsit at the moment (it's quite a cute one as cheap bedsits go!), this has always been one of my favourite songs. :)

[@chelseapoet3664]

Are you still in ths bedsit? I want a life update! ☺️

[@davyboy888]

Absolute iconic early 80s track... never spotted that Marc's clothes matched the wallpaper through sections of the vid.

[@mistermatix8241]

I love how Marc is the voice, almost the subconscious of Dave, who is the subject of the song. Their sound at that time was astounding

[@steffanhoffmann8937]

Great knowledge! Thanks.

[@catherineatkinson6519]

Brilliant song and video

[@mistermatix8241]

@@catherineatkinson6519 it's utterly brilliant. Seen them live, and pre ordered the new album. I've met Dave, sound bloke, he told me about Bedsitter

[@skippidido]

I SO didn’t understand this gritty poem of real life when I was in my earliest years. I enjoyed the song,but being older and wiser,I get it so much more…

[@lalalalalala8147]

I remember listening to this album on the train from south London to my work in west London (Gucci) on my soft touch Sony Walkman (the really expensive one, that took me ages to save up for). Happy days!

[@trevorbrown6654]

Very appropriate song for its time as lots of young people lived lives like this. Bedsits are not very common now though, they started to disappear in the 1990s.

[@Biigfish559]

yes, they became 1 bedroom apartments and out of reach pricewise especially in London.

[@jason4001uk]

This song is so fabulous it changed my life…I wanted to be Marc so I wore eyeliner to school and was beaten up by 10. But I carried on, so brave.❤

[@jason4001uk]

Bedsitter!

[@treehuggerbranding3803]

only as i age do i understand how great synth made my teenage years so blissful. what a tune. timeless.....

[@louiseboulton9486]

bloody love it....classic...bet you know all the words

[@goldenhorn15]

Fast forward to December 2023, I travelled to York Minster to see my favourite Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull doing a Christmas concert. imagine my surprise when Marc Almond from Soft Cell came on stage and sang this very song with Ian Anderson backing him up on flute! It was such a tiime travelling trip! Marc said he has always been a Jethro Tull fan, it was great to see him. He also sang Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.

[@user-iv9vl6zv6b]

I fell asleep during jethro tull live in Hammersmith odeon 1987... So mellow, no Marc Almond lol

[@bragget]

Reminds me of living in a bedsit in Withington Manchester in the early eighties for £16/week. Dingy hall, dust on the staircase, freezing in winter. Who cares, out most nights, the most exciting time of my life.

[@smileysspeakeasy]

No sound defines better the way London use to be

[@theworldsbonkers]

Im 50 had an eventful life but still crave the fantastic 80,s would give it up to do it it all over again.

[@MrWicks66]

I lived in Hammersmith in a bedsit as a Green 17 year old in 1983 , and these guys were our world . The lyrics of this song were exactly as it was back then . Happy days indeed 😊

[@leoniemarks4594]

I've always found this song very poignant. 40 years ago was a different world.

[@paulcrisp9861]

A world now changed not for the better, get the time machine ready and re live some of those golden days. ❤ eighties forever ❤ aug 2021🙏💎🙏🇬🇧🇬🇧

[@nxnw2058]

All gone! Bugger. Bit of real anger at Thatcher on the way out. Now? Ho hum - he'!! slope off eventually won't he? No - Thatcher made him

[@ukqwerty999]

i Agree Leonie, The confusion of youth, is how i see it, Love Marc's songs ❤️

[@Themanyfacesofego]

Wonderfully atmospheric!

[@victoriashellard528]

Best decade ever I was a teenager then so glad I was

[@RichardSykes-py8xy]

Surely one of his best 👌 tunes ❤

[@clairebear8825]

Marc is great voice still strong ❤

[@Cornz38]

That bass riff tempo increase at 2:55 is mind blowing on good speakers. Properly good keyboard player....

[@melaniereid6778]

This song kicked me out of depression. I realised I wasn't alone. I could resonate with every lyric and I find humour in how I was living my life. He has the most beautiful vocals and music. The video is fun to watch. Thank you Marc for turning my life around. You are a legend and I am sure you have saved many lives from the devil of depression and have made your fans so happy 😊

[@andrewpeover]

this is 1 mad fantastic tune soft cell they were class 80s music was classic soft cell were class Andy peover miss the 80s

[@CathyKitson]

Bedsits were still a relatively new concept then. There'd been flat shares right back to the 50s and 60s but then you suddenly had thousands upon thousands of these tiny little rooms with perhaps a sink, a cooker, a shower and loo. And you had multitudes of young people living alone in the metropolis...The music and lyrics sum up it so perfectly, "Kid myself I'm having fun....the battle scars of all the good times..." It always brought shivers to my spine when I was a kid.

[@Mascardinho]

Oh my, oh my ... how many nights I was driving around in my car to listen to this song and the whole album and many other songs of this time. "Bedsitter 12inch" is one of my favs of all times. And I had a musically life before the 80´s ;)

[@fuzzblightyear145]

LoL> Had the same with the 12" Tainted love.

[@philcox95]

So you love 12 inches 😅

[@stubailey9433]

80s music WAS so far ahead of time, what a voice Marc has.

[@ianskewisEditor]

I'm 50 and still living in a bedsit!

[@Kblog777]

44 and moved back in with my parents.

[@neilsun2521]

I'm not far off that. Can't afford Ldn anymore though. Jus' not practical, unfortunately :(

[@bragget]

Got a nice house in my 50's. Manchester bedsitland in the early eighties was much more fun!

[@thedude8046]

Bedsitter, and surf my couch up and down daily

[@geo6519]

Just 50 ...

[@RaolDuke76]

DEVO, The best synth music ever, i live on east coast Scotland, Edinburgh roughly n ive NEVER EVER met a fellow "spud", got people in to em, but so subversive, the vox populi Dunno who or what they are,...

[@timwright8785]

Still the best years of my life records like this take me straight back there the 80s will never die

[@Brett_is_Veng]

one of my favourite early 80s songs and it really sums up the way a load of people i knew lived in london. The imagery in this vid makes me pine for the old soho over its new cleaned up boring version. It was so full of life and fun...and sleeze of course. Just love this song

[@nickunderwood6175]

Love this video ❤😂

[@biocreature2196]

The combination of Mark & Dave is still unparalleled. The genius of Dave's music paired with the madness voice Mark has impressed me for almost 4 decades now. For me, song like Bedsitter or Soul inside are milestones of music. Greetings from Germany

[@chrisChris6969]

Lennon /McCartney Simon / Garfunkel Noel /Liam Roger / Dave Morrissey/Marr Gahn / Gore Still unparalleled ??

[@euanelliott3613]

How I miss the '80's: the music, fashions and the girls. I was 17 in 1981 and had plenty of friends, and we had great times doing nothing but drinking pints, zooming around on motorbikes and eyeing up the pretty girls who lived in the area. Rock music was usually our soundtrack but I heard this song as well as Tainted Love and liked Marc's voice. Other faves were the Human League, Ultravox and Roxy Music. 39 years ago.....jeez.

[@nickevans417]

Ultravox, bring it on! 80s fashion often gets ridiculed but I remember the guys dressed in smart shirts with skinny ties, looking very sharp. I suppose the girls' Madonna-look stuff was a bit mad but still..fun

[@marcusorme261]

Been a fan of this song for years, never seen the video! Thanks for sharing 😊

[@garriemcallister8161]

The lyrics are still relatable to this day

[@snedgers8748]

Ridiculously underrated as a band. This sound was the 80’s for me. As a teenager in the 80’s I don’t think there was a better time to be born

[@welshlad6427]

Great Tune. Arguably Soft Cells best.

[@dlamiss]

Say hello wave goodbye was a masterpiece although this was pretty good

[@paulfletcher9333]

Definitely up there with their best. Only Sex Dwarf dwarfs it.

[@jonv2911]

So all mighty... pure music, pure art. what else...?

[@bossman1905]

Oh! Great memories

[@mistermatix8241]

Amazing song, and fantastic lyrics. Soft Cell were one hell of a band! So many great songs

[@owenedwards6655]

He's got a great musical style.. I'm 51..missing and stuck in the 80's😢😢❤️❤️❤️

[@grahamcheesman2252]

You are not alone I'm also feeling the nostalgia from 80's, I'm 52 and missing it badly

[@simonhall3623]

@@grahamcheesman2252 Me too. I am obsessed with the 70's and 80's. I am 48 and my missus says I am stuck in the past. I can't help it. I am an IT professional too but I wish I could keep going back to the 70's and 80's and stay there. I hate this shit world we live in now far more than back then. My partner is only 6 years younger, but she is more of a 90's 2k person. Different ball game.

[@grahamcheesman2252]

@@simonhall3623 my wife is year older but moans about my love for 80's, I think they have the problem not us. My love for 80's is also fashion I just loved my teenage years. Now I fear for the future for my children and grandchildren

[@robert-hh2ft]

this was my life back then

[@Psalm11950]

The 80's was undoubtedly the best for music

[@johnhobson2330]

Still utterly magnificent.

[@telboyscott2640]

Brilliant

[@colinjennings3661]

My favourite song by soft cell. Sheer class.

[@jkmaseruman]

Yep I lived in bedsits in the 80's and this is exactly what it was like

[@montygemma]

Yes that staircase at 2:36 brings it back, bedsit premises always had one like that.

[@douglastaggart9360]

I still do

[@douglastaggart9360]

@@montygemma I still live in one

[@bragget]

Agreed. Withington, Manchester £19 per week,( £16 with council rebate) + 50p gas meter for cooker and gas fire, which you didn't want to run out if you had a bird staying over.

[@mandygibbon5488]

Fab song ! Marc Almond is tops ! ❤

[@cryptofreddy8409]

All the moves I see the alternative people do come from that video.... amazing

[@TripleDes1]

Great singer great actor and great sense of humour. ❤️

[@stuartmorris8771]

The 80"s still remember the words at 54

[@tutts999]

Every word.

[@simonbarber5440]

I was at University there at the time. I had a pal who always sang it as "headless bodies on the floor.. memories of the night before..." I always wondered what happened to him ...

[@karenjohnson2720]

I sung this in my head whilst cleaning stairwells of bedsits

[@andrewhillis2269]

Same here ! ! !

[@murphyspattaya]

555 steaming Topmtinebtip top tune 👍🏻👍🏻✌🏻✌🏻✌🏻🍀🍀☘☘☘🍀😎✌

[@genomizer2763]

Oh God, those good old times, so many great memories....I´d love to go back to those days, when this was the thing, for me, this track still is!!

[@safirarebeca7128]

Adoro demais essa banda e essa música. Inveja de quem viveu essa década.

[@blueeyedboy-official2630]

What an incredible song this is. I remember meeting marc almond in the kitchen of a west end studio around this time and telling him how blown away i was with this song - and the b-side 'facility girls' - equally great. I remember him looking at me in a kind of bemused confusion, what with me with my long hair and black sabbath t-shirt haha!

[@davebellamy4867]

I had a schoolmate who was into ACDC, Jethro Tull, Visage, The Human League, Def Leppard and fancied Siouxsie Sioux of the Banshees. Eclectic tastes. All around 1981. There was so much around then. Very shortly after that, he was the first person I ever heard mention U2. Oh yeah. He liked Adam and the Ants as well! And Black Sabbath. He was the first person to play me any Sabbath. Children of the Sea. His mum was divorced and had no money. His room was like a bedsit, being the end room in a crappy council flat in a crappy block of crappy council flats. There was a The Cure poster on the wall. He never used to put his records back in their sleeves and would get cigarette ash on them.🤣 (Yes Simon Lee! It was you mate.🤣) His mum used to take us to airshows in her beaten up, rattly old Vauxhall Victor estate. Those were great times. Epitomised by the way Rick Mayall would shout, "THATCHER!"

[@davebellamy4867]

Never heard 'Facility Girls.'

[@colinjennings3661]

An absolute bona fide classic. Beautiful song

[@CharlyEichstetter]

It came alive by the 2nd lockdown here in Bavaria. Marc was one the biggest New Wave and Neue Deutsche Welle Artists . He is still No One with Soft Cell Songs. What a great Decade 4 Music! What a great Time!

[@trevorastley1727]

There always seems to be a dark and dramatic theatrical thread that runs through all of their songs, Seedy undertones that are so cleverly performed. Deliciously Timeless.

[@CathyKitson]

There was a terrible melancholy and tragedy to it. It was the same with a lot of the New Romantics / synth. The lyrics are actually unbelievably dark. Staring out of the window, writing to his mother who thinks he's getting better....And the biting ache of loneliness.

[@punkyinthebrain]

Watch the mirror count the lines the battle scars of all the good times

[@tomlion639]

awesome album, from start to end, not even a wasted track!

[@gorber81]

packed with the good stuff. Love "sex dwarf"

[@gusanocc51]

recuerdo haberla grbado en un cassete hace decadas atras por los 80, hoy los sonidos solos lo recordo mi mente...que buen temaaaa!!!

[@paulwalsh8959]

I always remember the wink Mr Almond gives to the camera after all these years 😉

[@zeddeka]

Soft Cell captured a real moment in time with this song and video. London back then was an incredibly dark, seedy and dangerous place and I'm sure there were some knowing nods to it in the video. It depicts Marc Almond walking round Piccadilly Circus which was notorious back then as the 'meat rack' - the nickname it got because groups of young male prostitutes used to congregate in the area. The branch of Wimpy that the video shows was where many would gather when the weather got colder. Very sadly, a number of those boys were underage runaways and had incredibly tragic lives. A number of paedophile gangs also operated in the area, including the 'Playlands' gang who would pick up kids in the nearby amusement arcades, and the notorious Sidney Cooke gang.

[@bigprob8744]

I was going to write a simaler comment you said it all for me,as much as i like the song i actually find it all eerie thinking of the days of the piccadily meatrack the young teenage runaways attracted to the bright lights of the west end preyed upon by peedo gangs mostly in positions of power and youve right wimpy in the video was a big hangout spot also, the backstreets of soho ect were very dark seedy and dangerous.

[@jonneym]

Yes back at a time when people had real jobs and London looked and sounded like London. Who the hell would want to live there now.

[@Paulco67]

Human trafficking is still with us. Horrendous

[@andrewthomson8862]

What a genius Marc is ,only he can make this

[@PanPeter1966]

Best time of life

[@redfred70]

Takes me straight back to those days. The most evocative track for me from that era. I was 13 years old then and a blend of hope and melancholy, with a sweet innocence never to be repeated. I saw Marc at The Palladium in October 2022. After 3 hours sitting in my seat, my arthritic knees made made it unbearbly painful, so at 10am, me and my wife had to reluctantly leave. As we did, Marc called us out and humilated us as we left. Never meet your heroes, eh ?

[@specialunit0428]

Did this really happen?

[@BenjiSzucs]

I remember when I was like 2 years old, I was watching this non-stop on VHS, because my parents liked it. I was constantly trying to solve the puzzle in my head, wether the singer is a boy or a girl. I just couldn't wrap my head around this human as a 2 year old, such a weird creature for my little brain. One of my first memories ever.

[@andycuthbert2763]

Certainly experienced a few of the things Marc sings about here in my early 20s! Excellent stuff as always!

[@chelseaguy70]

Saw them at the Apollo in London tonight Nov 2021 and they are as relevant today and they were before. Such an amazing voice, it seems to have improved with age.

[@davidwaterhouse2552]

Brilliant tune! Two amazingly talented lads from 'The North' ! Hoping to see Marc at the Goth Weekend at Whitby in October! dx

[@ramseysounds2086]

classic tune and still relevant in 2024

[@helenbannister4970]

Classic and brilliant tune!💜

[@skguy7]

First time I've heard this song since the 80s when I had all their songs on 12 inch vinyl. What a time to be in my late teens and starting work. Still sounds perfect now

[@richardodonoghue]

pretty much sums up the entire 80's for me...ummm and the 90's, 00's, 10's 20's ..... got a cat now, so im learning to be responsible 😔

[@tilerman]

Thank you Marc.

[@Brentford-rf5sh]

I genuinely like this song (though I wouldn't class myself as a huge Soft Cell fan), however I particularly love this video as it bought back some of my teenage memories, and especially at the time of this song hitting the UK charts, my brother had just left home to go and live in a bedsit. His room was so similar to the one on this video.