Souvenir

Humphreys and Cooper wrote it and Mike Howlett produced. It was inspired by a tape of slowed loops of a choir tuning up, lent by the former member Dave Hughes; its working title was "The Choir Song", and a synthesizer hook takes the place of a vocal chorus. Cooper said Hughes had given Humphreys tape loops of people holding long notes, which Humphreys arranged into chords, and that the song was recorded slower and sped up during mastering. Humphreys said it was the first song written for the album and that its mix of choral sounds with electronics set the tone for what followed; singing lead on television was a role he wasn't altogether comfortable with, since Andy was their lead singer. The 7-inch runs 3:39 and the 10-inch 4:16; the B-sides were "Motion & Heart" and "Sacred Heart". The video was directed by Peter Saville at Stowe House and Blenheim Palace Park.

It entered the UK chart at 41 on August 29, 1981 and peaked at 3 on September 15 after a Top of the Pops appearance, and also hit number 1 in Spain and Portugal. Reviewers differed: Cashbox praised an insidiously catchy synthesizer glissando, Smash Hits called it ethereal but rather hollow, and Classic Pop later called it a shimmering synth-pop masterpiece. Covers and remixes include Moby's remix for the 1998 singles collection and versions by Joyce Manor and mu-Ziq; Console sampled "Sacred Heart" in 1998, and Bjork added a vocal to that sample for "Heirloom" on Vespertine. Our upload's version, whether single, album or live, is unknown.