FEATURE:
Too Good to Be Forgotten: Songs That Are Much More Than a Guilty Pleasure
The Corrs – So Young
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MAYBE I have been hogging the 1990s…
IN THIS PHOTO: Sharon, Jim, Andrea and Caroline Corr/PHOTO CREDIT: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Inc
when it comes to this feature but, as I have often said, many people associate the decade with this sort of flawless sound, when in actual fact there are songs that divide people – though the decade is the strongest we have ever seen for music! I may trip back to the 1960s for the next edition of this feature, but I wanted to include a band that many of us would have encountered back in the ‘90s. The Corrs consist of Andrea, Sharon, Caroline, and Jim. They hail from County Louth, Ireland. The band are still going and their most recent studio album, Jupiter Calling, was released back in 2017. Jim Corr has been in the news for, maybe, the wrong reasons – regarding his views about vaccines -, and I am not sure what his sisters think - though one can’t judge the band on one member alone! Regardless of Jim’s divisive views, I have a lot of love for a group that I encountered when their debut came out. In 1995, Forgiven, Not Forgotten was released, and it was an album that took me by surprise. I loved the sound of Pop-Rock mixed with Irish tones that was pretty exciting for a music lover who had not heard a lot of music like that previously. As I always say with this feature: there are really no guilty pleasures and I think the aim here is to dispel the notion that certain music and artists should be considered as such.
That said, there was a split in my school’s playground regarding The Corrs’ music and whether it was considered cool or not. Some felt that it was a guilty pleasure but, from their debut on, they established themselves as one of the most interesting groups around. I especially love the vocal blends of the sisters, and there is a real affection and connection in the group. That debut contained the huge hit, Runaway, and, whilst many felt a bit guilty liking it, it remains a beautiful track that one cannot help fall for. Skip ahead to their breakthrough album of 1997, Talk on Corners, and it was a year when I faced tragedy. Not only was the nation rocked by the death of Princess Diana, but I lost a school friend and, at the age of fourteen, I had not experienced anything like this. It was a hard time for many people at school, and I think music was a tonic and distraction. So many tracks and artists from that year made me feel better at a tragic time, and The Corrs can be included in the list. I think I bought Talk on Corners when it came out, as it was being heavily promoted - and tracks such as Only When I Sleep, and What Can I Do were in heavy rotation. Perhaps the best-known song from that album is a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams and, at a time when that song has been in the news because of a TikTok video that was then followed by responses from Mick Fleetwood and Stevie Nicks (of the band), I think some people were unsure whether The Corrs’ version was equal to the original back in 1997.
I adore Stevie Nicks’ (she wrote the song) original, and it is one of my favourite songs ever. The Corrs did a worthy version and they definitely made the song their own – the fact it reached the top-ten in the U.K. and was added to a re-released edition of Talk on Corners proves people loved it! I was a fan of The Corrs from the start, and I never subscribed to this notion that bands like that in the 1990s were a guilty pleasure or should divide people. The decade was so vibrant and diverse, and the fact the band are still going today shows their fanbase is loyal; they have crossed the generations and resonated with a whole host of new people. I think, back in 1997, Andrea Corr was a big musical crush and I was generally smitten with The Corrs (less so with Jim; nothing personal). What really got to me in a hard year was the beauty and sense of comfort Talk on Corners provided. At a time when we do not really have vocal groups and bands who harmonise sublimely, Talk on Corners seems like a bit of a blast from the past! One song I wanted to highlight was So Young. Even if, I think, What Can I Do is my choice cut from the album, I think So Young divided more people when I was at school – I feel it is a song that, sadly, many adults today might feel a bit guilty about enjoying.
I really love the story behind So Young. It was written by Sharon Corr and is a song about her parents, Jean and Gerry Corr, who she believed were ‘forever young’. The band initially had to fight with their label to include the song on the album; a decision vindicated by its popularity. The lyrics, to me in 1997 (though the single was released in 1998), definitely made an impression and helped lift my mood. I love the infectiousness of the track and how anyone could approach it and feel better and infused! It is one of those songs that is very much of the ‘90s, but I don’t think it sounds dated at all. Talk on Corners is an album that requires re-examination and new listens as it is packed with great tracks. Maybe the comparative lack of fiddles and instruments like the bodhrán brought more people in, though the traditional Irish sounds are a huge reason why I love The Corrs. So Young is sparser in terms of its composition and it relies on the vocal blends and that real sense of authenticity and delivery. The Corrs give their heart to So Young, and it was a song that was played on the radio a lot when it came out. Even though the original version of the song is brilliant, a remixed version proved even more popular.
The K-Klass remix contains an extra section for the first verse, which was deleted from the album version for unexplained reasons (on the demo version, both the first and second verses were constructed as a single long verse, with the extra verse serving as the second shorter verse). Since May 1998, the band have performed the song with the extra verse included. There was a lot of that going on in the ‘90s whereby popular songs were given a remix and then they found a new lease of life – I am thinking especially of Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim) transforming Cornershop’s Brimful of Asha. I am glad that The Corrs are back. In 2015, they returned with White Light and they spoke about what it was like coming back after a decade apart. When they split after 2005’s Home, many did not expect them to return at all. Andrea put out two solo albums, Ten Feet High (2007), and Lifelines (2011), and Sharon put out Dream of You (2010), and The Same Sun (2013). I hope the band carry on, as there is nobody out there who sounds like them. I wanted to revisit So Young, as it is one of many peals from the brilliant Talk on Corners. Far from it being a guilty pleasure, The Corrs’ smash is a terrific song that will give many people energy and positivity today. Even though So Young was released as a single back in 1998, all these years later, it is a song that is…
STILL very much in my head.