The Look Of Love (Part One)

Album

Lexicon of Love, The

Label

Mercury Records

Genre

Rock

Composer(s)

Martin Fry;David Palmer;Stephen Singleton;Mark White

Entered Chart

Sep 11, 1982

Peak Date

Jan 8, 1983

Released

7 May 1982 / August, 1982 (US)

Recorded

Unknown

Catalog #

Mercury 76168

B-Side

Theme From Mantrap

You need to read beyond the title on this one - it's not a chirpy love song, but about how to deal with it when love goes away. ABC lead singer Martin Fry told Uncut that this song is "genuinely about the moment you get your teeth kicked in by somebody you love f--king off. You feel like s--t but you have to search for some sort of meaning in your life." A track from the group's first album, this was ABC's biggest hit in the UK, peaking at #4. It also topped the Canadian singles chart. On the album, this song is listed as "The Look Of Love (Part One)," with the last track being a short version of the song called "The Look Of Love (Part Four)." What happened to parts two and three? They appear on the 12" single along with the others. Part Two is an instrumental, and Part Three is a remix. Martin Fry mentions his forename in the lyric when he sings: "They say 'Martin, maybe, one day you'll find true love.'" Trevor Horn, who was also involved with Yes, The Buggles and The Art Of Noise, produced this track. He also did a remix, "The Look of Love (Part 5)," using a Fairlight synthesizer. This 12-inch single, whic was issued to club DJs, may have been the first instance of a pop song being remixed with scratching and it was among the earliest remixes to be based upon samples. MTV played a big role in ABC's American success, and the video for this song was a favorite on the network, which launched in 1981. The clip was directed by Brian Grant, and inspired by old Hollywood movies. Martin Fry describes it as a cross between An American In Paris and The Benny Hill Show. Grant's videos were all over MTV in those early years; his other work includes "Stand Back" by Stevie Nicks and "Saved By Zero" by The Fixx. The band's appreciation of Smokey Robinson is well documented, and Smokey had "the look of love" long before ABC. In his 1971 song "I Don't Blame You At All" (a #11 hit in the UK), he sings, "What I thought was the look of love was only hurt in disguise." The lyrics were inspired by a real-life break-up Martin Fry had gone through. Trevor Horn is a notorious perfectionist; he insisted the female voice replying "goodbye" to Fry in the second verse should be sung by the actual woman in the relationship who had jilted him.

Ah, mm
Whoa, whoa, whoa
When your world is full of strange arrangements
And gravity won't pull you through
You know you're missing out on something
Well that something depends on you

All I'm saying
It takes a lot to love you
All I'm doing
You know it's true
All I mean now
There's one thing yes one thing
That turns this gray sky to blue

(That's the look, that's the look)
The look of love
(That's the look, that's the look)
The look of love
(That's the look, that's the look)
The look of love

When your girl has left you out on the pavement (goodbye)
Then your dreams fall apart at the seams
Your reason for living's, your reason for leaving
Don't ask me what it means

(Who got the look)
I don't know the answer to that question
(Where's the look)
If I knew I would tell you
What's the look
Look for your information
Yes there's one thing, the one thing
That still holds true
(What's that)

(That's the look, that's the look)
The look of love
(That's the look, that's the look)
The look of love
(That's the look, that's the look)
The look of love

(That's the look, that's the look)
The look of love
(That's the look, that's the look)
The look of love
(That's the look, that's the look)
The look of love

If you judge a book by the cover
Then you judge the look by the lover
I hope you'll soon recover
Me I go from one extreme to another

And all my friends just might ask me
They say, "Martin, maybe one day you'll find true love"
And I say, maybe there must be a solution to
The one thing, the one thing we can't find

(That's the look, that's the look)
Sisters and brothers
(That's the look, that's the look)
Should help each other
(That's the look, that's the look)
Heavens above
(That's the look, that's the look)
Hip hip hooray aye
(That's the look, that's the look)
Yippie aiy yippee yaye
(That's the look, that's the look)
Be lucky in love
Look of love