It'll End in Tears

It'll End in Tears
Studio album by This Mortal Coil
Released	1 October 1984 (1984-10-01)
Genre	Gothic rock, dream pop
Length	44:12
Label	4AD
Producer	John Fryer, Ivo Watts-Russell
This Mortal Coil chronology
Sixteen Days/Gathering Dust (1983) It'll End in Tears (1984) Filigree & Shadow (1986)

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It'll End in Tears was an album released in 1984 by 4AD using the name This Mortal Coil as an umbrella title for a loose grouping of guest musicians and vocalists brought together by label boss Ivo Watts-Russell. When released in late 1984, the album reached #38 on the UK Albums Chart. It features many of the artists on the 4AD roster at the time of issue, including Dead Can Dance, as well as key post-punk figure Howard Devoto, who sang "Holocaust", one of two covers of songs from the Third/Sister Lovers album by Big Star to appear on the album. The other Alex Chilton-penned track, the album opener "Kangaroo", was released as a single to promote the album. Two key songs were performed by Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins, including "Song to the Siren" by Tim Buckley; which reached #66 on the UK Charts when released as This Mortal Coil's debut single a year before the album. Their version of Buckley's haunting original showed continued popularity in alternative record shops as it spent almost 2 years on the UK Indie Chart. Fraser also performed on "Another Day" by Roy Harper, a track which had previously been covered as a duet by Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush for the latter's TV special. 4AD would go on to release two further albums under the name of This Mortal Coil: Filigree & Shadow (1986) and Blood (1991).

Valentino Records, a sublabel of Atco Records, released the album in the United States in late 1984, marking the only time a This Mortal Coil album would be released simultaneously in the UK and America. All three This Mortal Coil albums would later be re-released in America in 1993 on 4AD/Warner Brothers, and in 1998 solely on 4AD.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Interpreted by	Length
1.	"Kangaroo"	Alex Chilton	Gordon Sharp, Simon Raymonde	3:30
2.	"Song to the Siren"	Larry Beckett, Tim Buckley	Elizabeth Fraser, Robin Guthrie	3:30
3.	"Holocaust"	Alex Chilton	Howard Devoto	3:38
4.	"Fyt"	Ivo Watts-Russell, John Fryer	Instrumental	4:23
5.	"Fond Affections"	Rema-Rema	Gordon Sharp	3:50
6.	"The Last Ray"	Watts-Russell, Robin Guthrie, Simon Raymonde	Simon Raymonde	4:08
7.	"Another Day"	Roy Harper	Elizabeth Fraser	2:54
8.	"Waves Become Wings"	Lisa Gerrard	Lisa Gerrard	4:25
9.	"Barramundi"	Simon Raymonde	Simon Raymonde	3:56
10.	"Dreams Made Flesh"	Lisa Gerrard	Lisa Gerrard	3:48
11.	"Not Me"	Colin Newman	Robbie Grey, Simon Raymonde	3:44
12.	"A Single Wish"	Gordon Sharp, Steven Young, Simon Raymonde	Gordon Sharp	2:26

Personnel

• Elizabeth Fraser - vocals
• Robin Guthrie - guitar
• Simon Raymonde - guitar, bass, synthesizer
• Lisa Gerrard - vocals
• Brendan Perry - drums
• John Fryer - multi-instruments, production
• Gordon Sharp - vocals
• Martyn Young - synthesizer, bass, guitar
• Mark Cox - synthesizer
• Steven Young - piano
• Manuela Rickers - guitar
• Martin McCarrick - cello
• Gini Ball - violin, viola
• Ivo Watts-Russell - keyboards, production

Album Chart Placings

• "It'll End in Tears" - #38 UK Albums Chart (4 weeks), #1 UK Indie Chart (35 weeks), #42 NZ (3 weeks); released October 1984

Singles Chart Placings

• "Song to the Siren" - #66 UK Singles Chart (3 weeks), #3 UK Indie Chart (101 weeks), #8 NZ (15 weeks), #39 NL (4 weeks); released September 1983.
• "Kangaroo" - #2 UK Indie Chart (20 weeks); released September 1984.

Trivia

• "Song to the Siren"'s 101 weeks on the UK Indie Chart was the 4th longest chart run after 3 classics of longevity, Bela Lugosi's Dead by Bauhaus (131 weeks), Blue Monday by New Order (186 weeks) and Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division (195 weeks).
• The album is referenced in Patton Oswalt's stand up set on his album Werewolves and Lollipops, on the track "America Has Spoken" when ranting about the miserable, lazy, lonely and failed mentality of someone who eats Kentucky Fried Chicken's Famous Bowls. Quote, "Is there a way that the bowl can play This Mortal Coil's It'll End In Tears album while I'm eating at two in the morning in my darkened apartment, just kinda staring into the middle distance?"
• "Song to the Siren" was used as opening song by Spanish rock band Heroes del Silencio in the shows of their 20th anniversary commemorative World Tour 2007.
• "Song to the Siren" also appears in the soundtrack of David Lynch's Lost Highway, although it was not included in the album.
• "Song to the Siren" also appears in the soundtrack of Peter Jackson The Lovely Bones (film)

External links

• Allmusic album main page
• MP3.com album main page