Marillion “Warm Wet Circles” tops my personal chart

Warm Wet Circles Marillion

Writer(s): Fish (lyrics), Mark Kelly, Ian Mosley, Steve Rothery, Pete Trewavas (music) (see lyrics here) Released: October 26, 1987 First Charted: November 7, 1987 Peak: 22 UK, 14 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 1.74 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: June 19, 1987. Marillion released their fourth studio album, Clutching at Straws. I became a fan just a year and a half earlier when I took the plunge and bought the group’s previous album, Misplaced Childhood. In the year that followed, I dove in completely, buying the group’s first two studio albums, a live set, and the 1986 EP Brief Encounter. As a result, Clutching at Straws was set up as my most anticipated album ever. It didn’t disappoint. The first single, “Incommunicado,” was released in May 1987. It debuted at #1 on my personal chart and stayed there for 5 weeks. In that fifth week, the album accomplished the greatest dominance my personal chart ever witnessed. The entire top ten had been taken over by cuts from the Clutching at Straws album. The album would maintain its hold on the top ten for seven consecutive weeks. During that time, “Incommunicado” would cede the throne, letting “Warm Wet Circles” ascend to the top for four weeks. It was then supplanted by “Sugar Mice.” Those two songs ended up as the follow-up singles – “Sugar Mice” in July and “Warm Wet Circles” in October. Over time, “Warm Wet Circles” would triumph as my favorite song from the album. “The beautiful, emotive” JC song opens with the lines “On promenades where drunks propose to lonely arcade mannequins / Where ceremonies pause at the jeweler’s shop display Feigning casual silence in strained romantic interludes / Till they commit themselves to the muted journey home.” Not exactly your average toe-tapper. As if the lyrics weren’t powerful enough, the song is stuffed with “warm wet circle” imagery, including a wedding ring, the sweat left behind by a glass, and a bullet wound. The song finds the album’s narrator (Torch) at the local bar. Lead singer Fish explained that it’s about “the dangers of getting trapped in the 9-to-5 syndrome and then going down to the pub and talking about things you’ll never really do. The local hero’s the best darts player and you marry the girl you met in the pub at 16.” JC “As Torch recalls losing his virginity, [guitarist] Steve Rothery breaks into an aching solo, full of pathos and longing, and the band execute one of the finest wrought moments of their career. Ian Mosley’s snare cracks and we feel the first bullet smashing into John Lennon on the steps of the Dakota building.” JC Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Marillion DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Fish JC Jon Collins (2003). Separated Out. Helter Skelter Publishing: London, England. Page 73. WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 7/3/2022; last updated 10/28/2022.