Headlights on the Parade

Buchanan told Melody Maker in 1990 that it is about how being alive means happy and sad things happen at the same time. Pitchfork heard it ride a glowing new wave groove while he tells a lover something is wrong, and Stereogum called it the catchier side of the album.

It was released as the second single from Hats on 10 September 1990, timed for the UK tour, in a shortened Bob Clearmountain remix with a video directed by Dominic Sena for Propaganda Films. It reached 72. Simon Reynolds made it a Melody Maker single of the week but thought it too spacious to be a hit, the NME found the remix a bit vulgar, and Billboard called it a perfect pop single. It is in 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die.

Live

It was in 17 of the band's 57 logged sets, from the Bottom Line in July 1990 to Somerset House in July 2008. A live take from Tennessee, with Larry Saltzman, Steve Gaboury and Nigel Thomas, is on the 2012 Hats bonus disc, and Pure Bathing Culture covered it on their 2018 version of the album. The upload in the hypersongs web is the album version, not the single remix.