Sugar Mice

Sugar Mice is the second single from Marillion's fourth studio album, Clutching at Straws. Released on 13 July 1987, it peaked at number 22 in the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's 8th top-thirty hit in a row.^[1] Outside the UK, it was released in France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, West Germany and (on Capitol Records) in the USA and Canada. A number of formats were available: 7" single, 7" picture disc (containing a fold-out sleeve with a poster), 12" single, 12" picture disc. 3,000 copies of a 5" CD single were produced that were exclusively sold at concerts.^[2]

The title track is a melancholic rock ballad with lyrics from the perspective of a British worker who emigrates to the USA to escape unemployment, leaving behind his family, and ends up drinking in a hotel bar in Milwaukee. Fish described the background as follows:

"I was laying in bed in the Holiday Inn and looking up at the ceiling at some hearts 'n' stuff that some lovers had carved, and I was feeling really down. So I rang my old lady but it was a bad phone call; lots of long silences. I felt even more depressed." ^[3]

The first-person narrator sums up his feelings with the metaphor "We're just sugar mice in the rain", which lends the title to the song.^[4]

The 12" and 5" CD single featured an extended version of the title track, containing some extra music between the first and second verse.

The B-side, "Tux On", is a rock song that tells the story of a rising rock star who gradually loses touch with reality and finally ends up abusing drugs.

"Sugar Mice" was featured on the compilations Now That's What I Call Music 10 and 100 Hits: 80s Classics.^[5]

A CD replica of the single was also part of a collectors box-set released in July 2000 which contained Marillion's first twelve singles and was re-issued as a 3 CD set in 2009 (see The Singles '82–'88).

Cover art

The cover was again designed by Mark Wilkinson. Unlike the covers of the album Clutching at Straws and the first single from it, "Incommunicado", which had been collages based on photographs, this one again featured Wilkinson's signature airbrush style. It shows sugar mice around a cocktail glass, melting from spilled liquid, with a male face in the background.

Track listing

7" single

Side A

"Sugar Mice" (Album Version)—05:47

Side B

"Tux On"—05:12

7" Picture disc

"Sugar Mice" (Radio Edit)—05:00

Side B

"Tux On"—05:09

12" Single/picture disc

Side A

"Sugar Mice" (Extended Version)—06:08

Side B

"Sugar Mice" (Album Version)—05:45
"Tux On"—05:12

5" CD Single

"Sugar Mice" (Radio Edit)—05:00
"Tux On"—05:09
"Sugar Mice" (Extended Version)—06:09

Total Time 16:26

All tracks written by Dick/Rothery/Kelly/Trewavas/Mosley.

Personnel

Fish – vocals
Steve Rothery - guitars
Mark Kelly - keyboards
Pete Trewavas - bass
Ian Mosley - drums

References

↑ Chart Stats - Marillion - Sugar Mice
↑ http://marillion.ter-steege.com
↑ Marillion - Explanation of Song Elements - That Time Of The Night
↑ marillion.com | MUSIC - Lyrics - Clutching at Straws | The Official Marillion Website
↑ "100 Hits: 80s Classics". Allmusic. Retrieved 18 June 2013.

v t e Marillion

Steve Rothery Mark Kelly Pete Trewavas Ian Mosley Steve 'h' Hogarth Mick Pointer Brian Jelliman Doug 'Rastus' Irvine Fish Diz Minnett Andy Ward John 'Martyr' Marter Jonathan Mover

Studio albums	Script for a Jester's Tear Fugazi Misplaced Childhood Clutching at Straws Seasons End Holidays in Eden Brave Afraid of Sunlight This Strange Engine Radiation marillion.com Anoraknophobia Marbles Somewhere Else Happiness Is the Road Less Is More Sounds That Can't Be Made

Compilations	Brief Encounter B'Sides Themselves A Singles Collection The Best of Both Worlds The Best of Marillion The Singles '82–88' The Singles '89-'95

Live albums	Real to Reel The Thieving Magpie Made Again Anorak in the UK Marbles Live Early Stages Live from Loreley Recital of the Script

Singles	"Market Square Heroes" "He Knows You Know" "Garden Party" "Punch and Judy" "Assassing" "Kayleigh" "Lavender" "Heart Of Lothian" "Lady Nina" "Welcome to the Garden Party" "Incommunicado" "Sugar Mice" "Warm Wet Circles" "Freaks (Live)" "Hooks in You" "The Uninvited Guest" "Easter" "Cover My Eyes (Pain and Heaven)" "No One Can" "Dry Land" "Sympathy" "No One Can" (1992) "The Great Escape" "The Hollow Man" "Alone Again in the Lap of Luxury" "Beautiful" "Man of a Thousand Faces" "80 Days" "These Chains" "Between You and Me"/"Map of the World" "You're Gone" "Don't Hurt Yourself" "The Damage" (Live) "See It Like a Baby" "Thankyou Whoever You Are"/"Most Toys" "Carol of the Bells"

Related articles	Marillion discography

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