Valentine (song)
Valentine was officially released in May 1983 on The Reptile House EP, catalogue# MR023. In 1992, it was officially featured again on the early singles compilation album Some Girls Wander By Mistake.
Demo versions of Valentine were recorded already in September 1982, when The Sisters did the so-called Portastudio Demos with John Ashton at Strawberry Studios, Stockport. These recordings can be found on many early bootlegs like Acoustics From The Beehive, Hard Reign or Rare Obscurities.
The first live perfomance of the song took place at Klub Foot, Hammersmith, London on December 23rd, 1982 and is documented on the bootleg LP The Grief.
In March 1983, still long before the release of The Reptile House EP, The Sisters of Mercy played Valentine during their second BBC Radio One session with David "Kid" Jenson. Recordings from this session are available on the bootlegs The Shuttered Room and Entertainment Or Death.
As the wonderful people at the John Peel Wiki recently revealed, John Peel played the song in his John Peel's Music feature on BFBS (Germany) on July 6th, 1983. More information on this and other airings of Sisters songs by John Peel and the according circumstances are also addressed in Sisters Mysteries V – Did Peel play Damage Done? at the I Was A Teenage Sisters of Mercy Fan blog. A collection of audios from all available John Peel presentations of Sisters songs compiled by Dan Ishikawa and published by Phil Verne is in circulation among the fanbase, see also John Peel Shows 1980-85 for some lovely coverart by reverend.
Valentine, like the entire Reptile House EP, has always been very popular among Sisters fans and up until today, it has been a welcome part of The Sisters' and also the Speed Kings' live-setlist. Insofar live performances of the songs are available on many bootlegs like Tender Mercies, Satanic Verses, TRIX 2015 or most recently Live From The Slough Of Despond or Sheffield 2016.
Beyond all these appearances, some Polish bootleggers did - of course - create a flexi and even an art postcard that feature this song.
Valentine
The razor bites and the shriek subsides
He arches clutching at his sides
Across the floor, across the tiles
The man is dead and the razor smiles
A shiny love song, a quick incision
Cut him down on television
A people come to this
Beyond the age of reason
A people fed on famine
A people on their knees
A people eat each other
A people stand in line
Waiting for another war and
Waiting for my Valentine
For a million empty faces
For a million hollow smiles
Cancer for my education
Watch the body hit the files
Waiting for another war and
Waiting for my Valentine
Music & Lyrics: Andrew Eldritch
Lyrics and music are property and copyright of their respective rights holders and provided only for study purposes.
Analysis
Some basic analysis has been done at 1959 and all that ...
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