A Secret History... The Best of The Divine Comedy is a greatest hits

Greatest hits

A greatest hits album is a music compilation album of successful, previously released songs by a particular artist or band...

 compilation album

Compilation album

A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

 by The Divine Comedy

The Divine Comedy (band)

The Divine Comedy are a chamber pop band from Ireland, fronted by Neil Hannon. Formed in 1989, Hannon has been the only constant member of the group, playing, in some instances, all of the non-orchestral instrumentation bar drums. To date, ten studio albums have been released under the Divine...

, released in 1999.

The album was the last to be released by the band on the Setanta Records

Setanta Records

Setanta Records is a UK Independent record label. The label was at the forefront of the indie Irish music scene in the late eighties and nineties as itchampioned young Irish groups.-History:...

 label, and featured a collection of singles and best-known songs from the previous five studio albums. Re-recordings of "The Pop Singer's Fear of the Pollen Count" and "Your Daddy's Car" were included, along with two new tracks, "Gin Soaked Boy" and "Too Young to Die". The Noel Coward

Noël Coward

Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...

 tribute recording of "I've Been To A Marvellous Party" was also included.

A limited release edition was available with an accompanying hard-back book and extra CD. The book featured Kevin Westenburg photographs taken from previous album photo shoots interspersed with the recollections of people who had worked closely with the band. Graham Linehan

Graham Linehan

Graham Linehan is an Irish television writer, actor, comedian and director who, often in partnership with Arthur Mathews, has written or co-written a number of popular television comedies...

 and Sean Hughes

Sean Hughes (comedian)

Sean Hughes is a British-Irish stand-up comedian, writer and actor.-Career:Hughes was born in London, but spent most of his youth in Firhouse, Dublin...

 were among the contributors.

The additional CD, Rarities, featured a whole album's worth of rare, live and demo recordings, including cover versions of tracks by David Bowie

David Bowie

David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...

, Talk Talk

Talk Talk

Talk Talk were an English musical group, active from 1981 to 1991. The group had a string of international hit singles including "Today", "Talk Talk", "It's My Life", "Such a Shame", "Dum Dum Girl", "Life's What You Make It" and "Living in Another World"....

 and Kraftwerk

Kraftwerk

Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...

. Of special interest was the inclusion of the demo of a track from the band's debut album, Fanfare for the Comic Muse

Fanfare for the Comic Muse

Fanfare for the Comic Muse is the deleted debut LP by The Divine Comedy, originally released in 1990. It has since been denied by the band's lead singer/songwriter Neil Hannon due to its stylistic difference from the band's later works, heading towards a more R.E.M.-styled jangle pop direction than...

, an album which had previously been all-but ignored from the back catalogue.

Track listing

1. "National Express" – 5:06
2. "Something for the Weekend" – 4:20
3. "Everybody Knows (Except You)" – 3:50
4. "Generation Sex" – 3:30
5. "Becoming More Like Alfie" – 3:00
6. "The Summerhouse" – 4:14
7. "Your Daddy's Car" – 4:03
8. "The Pop Singer's Fear of the Pollen Count" – 3:54
9. "The Frog Princess" – 5:13
10. "Gin Soaked Boy" – 5:03
11. "Lucy" – 4:39
12. "Songs of Love" – 3:23
13. "In Pursuit of Happiness" – 3:29
14. "I've Been to a Marvellous Party" – 3:42
15. "The Certainty of Chance" – 6:12
16. "Too Young to Die" – 4:20
17. "Tonight We Fly" – 2:57

• All songs written by Neil Hannon
  Neil Hannon
  Neil Hannon is a Northern Irish singer and songwriter, best known as the creator and frontman of the chamber pop group The Divine Comedy. The band's official website even goes so far as to say, "The Divine Comedy is Neil Hannon," and Hannon is quoted in an interview as saying, "The Divine Comedy...
  
   except for "I've Been to a Marvellous Party", written by Noel Coward
  Noël Coward
  Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
  
   and "The Certainty of Chance", written by Neil Hannon and Joby Talbot
  Joby Talbot
  Joby Talbot is a British composer.Born in Wimbledon, London, Talbot studied composition at Royal Holloway and Bedford New College at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama under Brian Elias and Simon Bainbridge....
  
  .

'Limited Edition Rarities CD'

1. "Bernice Bobs Her Hair" (Live at Her Majesty's Theatre, London '94)
2. "Bleak Landscape" (Home Demo, London '93)
3. "The Booklovers" (Live at Théâtre de Ville, Paris '94)
4. "The Certainty of Chance" (Home Demo, London '97)
5. "Commuter Love" (Live at Shepherds Bush Empire, London '98)
6. "Dear Lord and Father of Mankind
   Dear Lord and Father of Mankind
   "Dear Lord and Father of Mankind" is a hymn with words taken from a longer poem, The Brewing of Soma by American Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whittier. The adaptation was made by Garrett Horder in his 1884 Congregational Hymns....
   
   " (Live TV, Belfast '98)
7. "A Drinking Song" (Live at the Olympia, Dublin '94)
8. "The Frog Princess" (Live at Shepherds Bush Empire, London '96)
9. "Generation Sex" (Home Demo, London '97)
10. "Life on Mars?
    Life on Mars?
    "Life on Mars?" is a song by David Bowie first released in 1971 on the album Hunky Dory. The song—which BBC Radio 2 later called "a cross between a Broadway musical and a Salvador Dalí painting"—featured guest piano work by keyboardist Rick Wakeman. When released as a single in 1973,...
    
    " (Live at Theatre National de Bretagne, Rennes '98 with Yann Tiersen
    Yann Tiersen
    Yann Tiersen is a musician from France. His musical career is split between studio albums, collaborations and film soundtracks with a distinctive sound that is always involved...
    
    )
11. "Life's What You Make It
    Life's What You Make It (Talk Talk song)
    "Life's What You Make It" is a song by the English band Talk Talk.It was released as a single in late 1985, the first from the band's album The Colour of Spring. Noted for its distinctive piano hook and drum programming, the single reached #16 in the UK...
    
    " (Acoustic Session – Elephant Studios, London '93)
12. "The Model
    Das Model
    "Das Model" is a song recorded by the electro-pop group Kraftwerk in 1978; written by musicians Ralf Hütter and Karl Bartos, with artist Emil Schult collaborating on the lyrics. It is featured on the album, Die Mensch-Maschine; English version title: The Man-Machine...
    
    " (Live in Düsseldorf '94)
13. "National Express" (Live somewhere in a large field '99)
14. "Painting the Forth Bridge" (Home Demo, Fivemiletown '93)
15. "Queen of the South" (Acoustic Session – Elephant Studios, London '93)
16. "The Summerhouse" (Live at Théâtre de Ville, Paris '94)
17. "Soul Destroyer" (Studio Demo, Banbridge '89)
18. "Your Daddy's Car" (Home Demo, Fivemiletown '91/'92)
19. [Unlisted Track] "Moon River
    Moon River
    "Moon River" is a song composed by Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini in 1961, for whom it won that year's Academy Award for Best Original Song. It was originally sung in the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's by Audrey Hepburn, although it has been covered by many other artists...
    
    " (Home Demo, Fivemiletown, 1991)

• All songs written by Neil Hannon
  Neil Hannon
  Neil Hannon is a Northern Irish singer and songwriter, best known as the creator and frontman of the chamber pop group The Divine Comedy. The band's official website even goes so far as to say, "The Divine Comedy is Neil Hannon," and Hannon is quoted in an interview as saying, "The Divine Comedy...
  
   except for "Dear Lord and Father of Mankind", Traditional, "Life on Mars?", written by David Bowie
  David Bowie
  David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
  
  , "The Model", written by Ralf Hütter
  Ralf Hütter
  Ralf Hütter is the lead singer, keyboardist, and reportedly leader of the electronic-music band Kraftwerk. Since the departure of Florian Schneider in 2008, he is also the group's sole remaining founding member....
  
  , Karl Bartos
  Karl Bartos
  Karl Bartos was, between 1975 and 1990, along with Wolfgang Flür, an electronic percussionist in the electronic-music group Kraftwerk. He was originally recruited to play on its US "Autobahn" tour...
  
   & Emil Schult, "Life's What You Make It", by Mark Hollis
  Mark Hollis
  Mark Hollis is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He achieved commercial success in the 1980s as singer with the synth pop/post-rock band Talk Talk, but retired from the music industry after his 1998 critically praised solo album.-Biography:The younger brother of Ed Hollis, a disc jockey...
  
   and Tim Friese-Greene
  Tim Friese-Greene
  Timothy Alan Friese-Greene is an English musician and producer. From 1983 to their breakup in 1992, he worked with the band Talk Talk. He currently releases solo albums under the name "Heligoland".-Producer:...
  
   and "Moon River", by Johnny Mercer
  Johnny Mercer
  John Herndon "Johnny" Mercer was an American lyricist, songwriter and singer. He is best known as a lyricist, but he also composed music. He was also a popular singer who recorded his own songs as well as those written by others...
  
   and Henry Mancini
  Henry Mancini
  Henry Mancini was an American composer, conductor and arranger, best remembered for his film and television scores. He won a record number of Grammy Awards , plus a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously in 1995...
  
  .

• "Painting the Forth Bridge" is an early version of "Middle Class Heroes", featuring completely different lyrics.