The Housemartins - Think for a Minute | Reaction!

I thought it was about time I finally got back to the Housemartins! Paul Heaton really showed off here, and I think we're all thankful for it. He and Hugh Whitaker made the video a lot of fun, too.
Thanks for watching!
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[@worstalentscout]

one of my favourite bands.............can't believe anyone still remember this wonderful song !

[@user-ou2ji2dk6n]

I think this is mainly about Margaret thatcher era of politics, with the miner strike which split communities in Northern England, & the high unemployment figures which might be referring to walking single file.

[@henrywallace7996]

Absolutely.

[@InsignificantNick]

Yes, I should've made the Thatcher connection, seeing as she's come up in so many other songs I've reacted to by UK artists.

[@btj-oo8xc]

"Cause nothing I could say could ever make them see the light, Now apathy is happy that it won without a fight" Wow! Sums up the UK perfectly 40 years later. Heaton's voice is angelic. Try 'Song For Whoever' from The Beautiful South' Heaton's next and much more successful band

[@mattking5936]

Best lyric, it's a great line

[@1011moz]

I love that you're doing the Housemartins. Paul Heaton is a true lyrical genius. His next band The Beautiful South had many hits. You will love them.

[@stonneyhundo23]

One of the most underrated band. For me it's the essence of a Pop band. The lyrics and the music all was perfect with them.

[@patrickholt2270]

My guess is that "have a nice final day" refers to a mass layoff when a firm has gone out of business or been downsized and offshored out of existence. So final day at work. Then everyone is looking down and not saying hello to each other because they're shocked or depressed about being sacked. Apathy won, so the policy or the takeover by asset strippers or whatever led to the firm disappearing wasn't fought against. People were too apathetic to join the union, or too apathetic about conservatives gaining power, or something like that, or they supported the takeover or the Tories and then they find out they lose their jobs as the result, and there was nothing Paul Heaton could say to them to make them see the light so now they're shuffling around when its too late with no-one to blame but themselves. At the time the Housemartins were claiming to be members of the Workers Revolutionary Party, a Trotskyist group, and working class identity and class politics have always been a huge element in Heaton's songwriting. He's always writing as a working class man for other working class people.

[@MrTumshie]

I know I keep saying this but you are so lucky to be hearing these bands for the first time. I would be jealous if it didn't mean that I've been able to listen to them for decades. I absolutely adore the Housemartin's and they were a great live band too. But did you really have to mention that this song is almost forty years old?! Fuck me, I feel old...

[@InsignificantNick]

I apologize for making you feel old! ❤️

[@cestusfr]

OMG, i haven't listened to them is the longest time! i loved ''Happy Hour"" so much!

[@cestusfr]

I smell the winter was good too.

[@neilmccarthy5102]

The Housemartins and The Beautiful South had some great songs …. Most/all with clever lyrics. Try ‘we’re not deep’ , ‘anxious’ , ‘sheep’ , ‘flag day’ , ‘caravan of love’ or even ‘bow down’ (phew!)

[@jonathancole833]

This song is similar to Flag Day in it’s sentiments. In fact Flag Day was the first Housemartins song that I ever heard, in 1985. As far as The Beautiful South are concerned, I would definitely recommend Nick to listen to their first hit ‘Song For Whoever’.

[@user-ou2ji2dk6n]

The next artist you should try is Billy Bragg, he is in the same left wing 80’s pop vein. The early stuff is good to start, I like greetings to the new brunette.

[@jonathancole833]

Also ‘Levi Stubb’s Tears’.

[@patrickmaloney6440]

This is great... such a lovely track. It was a great time to be a teenager growing up with this music hitting the scene. Happy days! Wait, that was nearly 40 years ago? Sheesh...

[@csteven1907]

I’m sure you’ve heard this but if you like Paul Heston you have to listen to the beautiful south. I suggest “you keep it all in” “ good a gold” or “ we are each other”. Great reactions.

[@InsignificantNick]

Yes, I'll have to get to the Beautiful South!

[@1011moz]

Paul is still writing and touring with Jacqui. still bringing out great songs.

[@henrywallace7996]

I think you basically got the gist of this song, but your comments about how odd it seems to you that it came out in 1986 are really interesting to me. I actually think this song is very of its time - the mid 80s. Thatcher had been re-elected, the miners’ strike was crushed, the “no such thing as society” mentality ruled, and with it the erosion of communities continued apace. Of course it’s all gotten worse since then, but the 80s is where it started to all go wrong. Against this backdrop you had a lot of songs conveying the feeling that something of value had been lost, which may sound ‘conservative’ today but were in fact anything but. Songs like this, Flag Day, many others besides by The Housemartins, Why Don’t they Leave Things Alone by Blancmange, Nineteen Sixty Nine by Easterhouse…the list goes on.

[@jonathancole833]

Blancmange’s ‘Living On The Ceiling’ would make for a good reaction, especially the video!

[@dickeyekcib]

my all time favourite...! (Hugh was trying to get more video focus in the MV, he even took the Sax from the Sax guy... lol) 💯

[@marcharley6465]

Considering that all of the members of the band seemed so nice and wholesome, it amazed me when the drummer, Hugh, was sent to prison in 1993 for six years for assaulting former business associate James Hewitt with an axe and setting fire to his house. If you want to react to another Housemartins song, I recommend "Sheep".

[@InsignificantNick]

Oh dang, Hugh!

[@jonathancole833]

Who needs Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ video when you see this song’s dance routine?

[@cambersc335]

Caravan of love is a good track

[@numinousbookofreview]

First song I learned on guitar!

[@Emburbujada]

Ah, they did like to have fun with their videos. Particulary when they changed drummers XD It's interesting that they chose to do that with songs that are very heavy lyrics wise. This version is quite different from the album version, you should listen to that one too =)

[@stealthy7]

Beautiful South - Straight in at 37....is Paul Heatons best underground/stated track, have a listen mate

[@alerta15anosatras42]

React I bit my lip.