I Still Hear You Breathe – John Ireland

John Ireland

This song was definitely a single released by John Ireland. I remember because, as an awkward teenager I bought a copy of it for a girl I was mad about and she happened to mention that she liked it. Well, if my experience is anything to go by, I wouldn’t recommend you run out an buy this (if you can find it) as an attempt to get a date as the girl in question moved to the States a little while later. I still blame John Ireland for this.

However, as a much more mature person, I can now listen to the song and appreciate, despite lines like ‘you’ve been gone for almost 3 years’ (more like 30+ in my case) and ‘remember running through the park, remember holding hands in the dark’ (nope, never happened), that this was a good solid unrequited love song. It has a melodic piano line which overlays some rather dramatic strings and builds to a solid crescendo. The song got stuck in the shadow of Ireland’s massive hit ‘I Like…’ as it was the second single off the eponymous album that featured the latter hit. It did get a little bit of airplay (how else could the girl of my dreams back then have heard it?) but didn’t make any inroads into any of the local charts.

So, Jenny if you’re out there, you may remember that boy who used to give you strange gifts like obscure 7” singles. He was head over heels in love with you, but too shy to say so. This was ‘our song’ although you probably never knew it.

P.S. in case you’re worried, I am happily married now, but as they say, you never forget your first love.

Where to find it:
Vinyl: John Ireland – John Ireland (1982), Transistor Records, CBK(L)

Video:

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