For My Sunday Song #78, I am going with one of my favorite Squeeze songs “Black Coffee in Bed”.  The song didn’t do that great in the U.S. (#103 on Billboard) and for some reason the band never really broke it big here either,  but I always loved their songs and this one in particular.

“Black Coffee in Bed” was released in 1982 and was from their fifth album .Sweets from a Stranger’.  The song really wasn’t a big hit.  It only reached #52 in the UK and only #23 on the US Mainstream Rock chart.  It never broke the Top 100 on the Billboard Pop chart.  However, there was something about the song that I liked whether it was a little bit of Glenn Tilbrook’s vocals or the lyrics or the slow pacing of the music and the jazzy little feel to the song.  It all worked.

The funny thing is that Glenn really didn’t like the song.  According to Glenn from his interview with songfacts.com:

“It’s far too ponderous. It could never be a fast song, but it certainly had the opportunity to be slightly perkier. My vocal is mannered and not very good at all, and I can’t stand to listen to it now. It was influenced by what Paul Carrack had brought to the table but without Paul’s voice it didn’t sound right. We recorded a great demo with Gus Dudgeon but we really f–ked it up for the record, which was entirely down to me. This is one of the few Squeeze songs I’d happily re-record because I think I could do a better version.”

Regardless of what he thinks.  I like it. I also like how the simplest things can inspire a song.  More from songfacts.com…according to Chris Difford…

“This lyric was inspired by my picking up my notebook one day and seeing a coffee stain on it, which inspired the first line. It was a very vivid image for me and inspired this song of loss and regret.”

Give the lyrics a read or listen while you watch the video, it is a great song.  I hope you enjoy it and have a Happy Sunday!

“Black Coffee in Bed”

There’s a stain on my notebook where your coffee cup was
And there’s ash in the pages now I’ve got myself lost
I was writing to tell you that my feelings tonight
Are a stain on my notebook that rings your goodbye

Oh, now she’s gone and I’m back on the beat
A stain on my notebook says nothing to me
Oh, now she’s gone and I’m out with a friend
With lips full of passion and coffee in bed

With the way that you left me I can hardly contain
The hurt and the anger and the joy of the pain
Now knowing I am single they’ll be fire in my eyes
A stain on my notebook for a new love tonight

Oh, now she’s gone and I’m back on the beat
A stain on my notebook says nothing to me
Oh, now she’s gone and I’m out with a friend
With lips full of passion and coffee in bed

Oh, now she’s gone and I’m out with a friend
With lips full of passion and coffee in bed

From the lips without passion to the lips with a kiss
There’s nothing of your love that I’ll ever miss
The stain on my notebook remains all that’s left
Of the memory of late nights and coffee in bed
Of the memory of late nights and coffee in bed

Now she’s gone and I’m back on the beat
Oh, a stain on my notebook says nothing to me
Oh, now she’s gone and I’m out with a friend
With lips full of passion and coffee in bed

Now she’s gone, I’m back on the beat
A stain on my notebook says nothing to me
Now she’s gone, I’m back on the beat
A stain on my notebook says nothing to me
Oh coffee in bed, coffee in bed

Oh, now she’s gone and I’m out with a friend
With lips full of passion and coffee in bed

From the lips without passion to the lips with a kiss
There’s nothing of your love that I’ll ever miss
The stain on my notebook remains all that’s left
Of the memory of late nights and coffee in bed
Of the memory of late nights and coffee in bed

Now she’s gone and I’m back on the beat
Oh, a stain on my notebook says nothing to me
Oh, now she’s gone and I’m out with a friend
With lips full of passion and coffee in bed

Now she’s gone, I’m back on the beat
A stain on my notebook says nothing to me
Now she’s gone, I’m back on the beat
A stain on my notebook says nothing to me
Oh coffee in bed, coffee in bed

Written by: Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook