Marillion “Sugar Mice” released

Sugar Mice Marillion

Writer(s): Fish (lyrics), Mark Kelly, Ian Mosley, Steve Rothery, Pete Trewavas (music) (see lyrics here) Released: July 13, 1987 First Charted: July 25, 1987 Peak: 22 UK, 13 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 2.735 video, 3.34 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: By the time Marillion released their fourth album, Clutching at Straws, they had risen to become one of my favorite bands of all time. Since then, they’ve been anointed as my favorite band of all time. This album cemented that legacy. I discovered the group in late 1985 because of the single “Kayleigh” and over the next year consumed everything the band had released. It set up monstrous expectations for the Clutching at Straws album. The lead single, “Incommunicado,” debuted at #1 on my charts and by the time it was dethroned five weeks later, Marillion had locked down the entire top 10. In that time, the slower tempo “Sugar Mice” was released as the second single from the album. It would reach #1 on my personal chart, but not quite yet. In between “Incommunicado” and “Sugar Mice,” the song “Warm Wet Circle” (which was eventually released as the third single) would reach the pinnacle for four weeks. All told, the three songs collectively logged twelve consecutive weeks at the top of my personal chart. The concept album dealt with a narrator named Torch struggling with alcohol. “Sugar Mice” “directly addresses the devastating effect unemployment can have on personal relationships.” WK The song captures the achingly painful moment when the main character talks to his kids on the phone and tries to explain why he left. Lead singer Fish said the song grew out of “a bad phone call home to a very upset girlfriend.” JC He was in a Holiday Inn and feeling down. After the call to his girlfriend, he ended up feeling even more depressed. WK The term “sugar mice” is a reference to a sugar candy popular in the United Kingdom, especially at Christmas time. The phrase “sugar mice in the rain” thus becomes an analogy for the fragility people have in their lives as sugar mice would disintegrate in the rain. Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Marillion DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Fish DMDB page for “Warm Wet Circles” JC Jon Collins (2003). Separated Out. Helter Skelter Publishing: London, England. Page 74. WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 7/3/2022; last updated 10/28/2022.