"Joke (I'm Laughing)" is a song by Scottish singer-songwriter Eddi Reader, released on 1 August 1994 by Blanco y Negro Records as the second single from her second studio album, Eddi Reader (1994). 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.[2]
In 1996, Hewerdine released his own version of the song as a single from his album Baptist Hospital.[3] 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."[4]
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."[5] In a review of Eddi Reader, Ira Robbins of Trouser Press described the song as "sardonic" which "seethes with quiet disdain".[6] 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".[7]
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