Joke (I'm Laughing)

Last updated
"Joke (I'm Laughing)"
Eddi Reader Joke I'm Lauging 1994 single cover.jpg
Single by Eddi Reader
from the album Eddi Reader
B-side "Saturday Night"
Released1994
Length3:52
Label Blanco y Negro
Songwriter(s) Boo Hewerdine
Producer(s) Greg Penny
Eddi Reader singles chronology
"Patience of Angels"
(1994)		"Joke (I'm Laughing)"
(1994)		"Dear John"
(1994)

"Joke (I'm Laughing)" is a song by Scottish singer-songwriter Eddi Reader, which was released in 1994 as the second single from her second studio album Eddi Reader . It was written by Boo Hewerdine and produced by Greg Penny. "Joke (I'm Laughing)" reached No. 42 on the UK Singles Chart and remained in the Top 100 for three weeks. [1]

Contents

In 1996, Hewerdine released his own version of the song as a single from his album Baptist Hospital. [2] Speaking to Folk Radio in 2014, Hewerdine said of the song: ""Joke" was the first song I made up that I thought was good. I wrote it for my post-school band Placebo Thing." [3]

Critical reception

Upon its release as a single, Andrew Mueller of Melody Maker remarked, "There is something intangible about Ms Reader's new single that makes me think that I will hear it in a dark, dusty, deserted wine bar somewhere in the former Soviet Union in about three years time and get annoyed because I can't remember who sang it." [4] In a review of Eddi Reader, Ira Robbins of Trouser Press described the song as "sardonic" which "seethes with quiet disdain". [5] Jon Pareles of The New York Times observed that "love doesn't go smoothly in Ms. Reader's songs" and noted "Joke (I'm Laughing)" for its narrative of a "spurned woman". [6]

Track listing

7" and cassette single
  1. "Joke (I'm Laughing)" - 3:52
  2. "Saturday Night" - 4:58
CD single
  1. "Joke (I'm Laughing)" - 3:52
  2. "Saturday Night" - 4:58
  3. "Wonderboy" - 2:39
CD single (UK limited edition)
  1. "Joke (I'm Laughing)" - 3:52
  2. "Three Crosses" - 4:16
  3. "Go and Sit Upon the Grass" - 1:27

Personnel

Joke (I'm Laughing)

Production

Other

Charts

Chart (1994)Peak
position
UK Singles Chart [1] 42

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References

  1. 1 2 "EDDI READER | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2020-04-12.
  2. ↑ James Chrispell (1996-09-24). "Baptist Hospital - Boo Hewerdine | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2020-04-12.
  3. ↑ "Exclusive Preview: Boo Hewerdine - My Name in the Brackets". Folk Radio. Retrieved 2020-04-12.
  4. ↑ Mueller, Andrew (6 August 1994). "Singles". Melody Maker . p. 31.
  5. ↑ "Eddi Reader with the Patron Saints of Imperfection". TrouserPress.com. Retrieved 2020-04-12.
  6. ↑ Jon Pareles (1994-10-03). "In Performance; POP - The New York Times". Nytimes.com. Retrieved 2020-04-12.
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