My Lovely Horse
Encyclopedia
My Lovely Horse is a song featured in the hit comedy series Father Ted
. It was written by Graham Linehan
, Arthur Mathews
and Neil Hannon
(of The Divine Comedy
), and appeared in the episode "A Song for Europe
", in which Ted (Dermot Morgan
) and Dougal (Ardal O'Hanlon
) sing it for Ireland at "A Song For Ireland" (which is shown every year), a contest to determine who will represent Ireland at the "Eurosong" Contest
. There, they were given "0 Points" by the leaders of France
, Germany
, Italy
, Spain
, Portugal
, Poland
, Denmark
, Russia
, Sweden
, Finland
, Luxembourg
, The Netherlands and Norway
.
According to the DVD commentary, the video is based on "That's What Friends Are For
" by The Swarbriggs
, a genuine Irish Eurovision competitor in 1975
.
The song was released on CD as a B-side to The Divine Comedy
's single "Gin Soaked Boy". The track lasts 1:23.
the melody from the B-side of a record by Nin Huegen and the Huegenotes (the band who came fifth in "A Song for Norway"
in 1976). As everyone who was in any way involved with the original song had perished in a plane crash, Ted decided he could get away with simply using the rather catchy tune with his new lyrics entitled My Lovely Horse. Ted and Dougal had previously only accompanied these lyrics with an out of tune guitar and an old Bontempi
organ. The note only changes once, with that being at the very end of the song, which sees a pause to change the fingering position on the fret board, with Ted saying "Hang on, I can get this!".
After making it through to the final stages of "A Song for Ireland", Ted hears the original tune being used as elevator music
. Realising that the tune is in fact more widely known than they thought, Ted and Dougal have no option but to resort to "Plan B", namely playing the song in its original format, which, in addition to its poor musical quality, lasts for less than a minute, far shorter than the usual length of a Eurovision entry. This leaves them humiliated, but doesn't stop them winning, because the producers have rigged the contest. They have done this to ensure that Ireland will lose the next Eurosong, as Ireland had won the Contest for the last 5 years in a row and it was costing them too much to stage each year, perhaps commenting on the fact that Ireland won the actual Eurovision Song Contest 3 consecutive times. Ted and Dougal end up getting no points in the Contest.
that Dougal and Ted have in anticipation of their act.
The video features obscure references to characteristic Eurovision sequences, such as footage of Ted and Dougal playing table tennis
and playing with an inflatable ball in a swimming pool
. They also wear glittery blue suits, the same as The Swarbriggs wore. The song includes lines that refer to less considered aspects of horse ownership such as "I want to shower you with sugar lumps ... and bring you to the horse dentist
".
The climax of the clip features the sudden appearance of the horse's head to the cacophanous wail of a saxophone, surrounded by a typically 1970s-disco-style burst of multi-coloured light. Dougal and Ted wake up in horror simultaneously, with Ted panting "We have to lose that sax solo!"
The outdoor sequences were shot in the grounds of the Falls Hotel in Ennistymon, County Clare
, Ireland
. In the background the cascade waterfall in Ennistymon can clearly be seen.
Father Ted
Father Ted is a comedy series set in Ireland that was produced by Hat Trick Productions for British broadcaster Channel 4. Written jointly by Irish writers Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan and starring a predominantly Irish cast, it originally aired over three series from 21 April 1995 until 1 May...
. It was written by 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...
, Arthur Mathews
Arthur Mathews (writer)
Arthur Mathews is an Irish comedy writer and actor who, often with writing partner Graham Linehan, has either written or contributed to a number of popular television comedies, most notably Father Ted. He is a graduate of the Dublin Institute of Technology...
and 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...
(of 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...
), and appeared in the episode "A Song for Europe
Song for Europe (Father Ted)
"A Song For Europe" was the 5th episode of the second season of the Channel 4 television sitcom Father Ted.- Synopsis :Dougal has "Eurosong fever", months ahead of the competition. After initially rejecting Dougal's suggestion that they write a song to represent Ireland in the competition, Ted...
", in which Ted (Dermot Morgan
Dermot Morgan
Dermot John Morgan was an Irish comedian, actor and former schoolteacher, who achieved international renown for his roles as Father Ted Crilly in the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted and a strip club MC in Taffin....
) and Dougal (Ardal O'Hanlon
Ardal O'Hanlon
Ardal O'Hanlon is an Irish comedian and actor, best known for his roles in television sitcoms as Father Dougal McGuire in Father Ted and George Sunday in My Hero.-Early life:...
) sing it for Ireland at "A Song For Ireland" (which is shown every year), a contest to determine who will represent Ireland at the "Eurosong" Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
. There, they were given "0 Points" by the leaders of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
, The Netherlands and Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
.
According to the DVD commentary, the video is based on "That's What Friends Are For
That's What Friends Are For (Eurovision song)
That's What Friends Are For was the Irish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975, performed in English by The Swarbriggs.The song is an mid-tempo number, with the singers calling on their listeners to help each other in times of need, because "That's what friends are for"...
" by The Swarbriggs
The Swarbriggs
Thomas Sheridan and John James Swarbrigg are Irish music promoters and former pop musicians. As The Swarbriggs they represented Ireland at the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest with That's What Friends Are For. As The Swarbriggs Plus Two, with Nicola Kerr and Alma Carroll, they competed again in 1977...
, a genuine Irish Eurovision competitor in 1975
Eurovision Song Contest 1975
The Eurovision Song Contest 1975 was the 20th edition of the contest hosted by SR and held in Stockholm, Sweden. The arena for the event was the newly built Stockholm International Fairs in Älvsjö in southern Stockholm. ABBA's victory in Brighton the previous year gave Sweden the right to host the...
.
The song was released on CD as a B-side to 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...
's single "Gin Soaked Boy". The track lasts 1:23.
Composition
The in-show history of the song is that Ted and Dougal secretly plagiarisedPlagiarism
Plagiarism is defined in dictionaries as the "wrongful appropriation," "close imitation," or "purloining and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions," and the representation of them as one's own original work, but the notion remains problematic with nebulous...
the melody from the B-side of a record by Nin Huegen and the Huegenotes (the band who came fifth in "A Song for Norway"
Melodi Grand Prix
Melodi Grand Prix is an annual music competition organised by Norwegian public broadcaster Norsk Rikskringkasting . It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been staged almost every year since 1960.The festival has produced three Eurovision winners and...
in 1976). As everyone who was in any way involved with the original song had perished in a plane crash, Ted decided he could get away with simply using the rather catchy tune with his new lyrics entitled My Lovely Horse. Ted and Dougal had previously only accompanied these lyrics with an out of tune guitar and an old Bontempi
Bontempi
Bontempi is an Italian musical instrument manufacturer, best known for manufacturing low-priced, plastic-cased Chord Organs; small keyboard instruments in which the sound is produced by air being forced over reeds by an electric fan....
organ. The note only changes once, with that being at the very end of the song, which sees a pause to change the fingering position on the fret board, with Ted saying "Hang on, I can get this!".
After making it through to the final stages of "A Song for Ireland", Ted hears the original tune being used as elevator music
Elevator music
Elevator music refers to instrumental arrangements of popular music designed for playing in shopping malls, grocery stores, department stores, telephone systems , cruise ships, airports, doctors' and dentists' offices, and elevators...
. Realising that the tune is in fact more widely known than they thought, Ted and Dougal have no option but to resort to "Plan B", namely playing the song in its original format, which, in addition to its poor musical quality, lasts for less than a minute, far shorter than the usual length of a Eurovision entry. This leaves them humiliated, but doesn't stop them winning, because the producers have rigged the contest. They have done this to ensure that Ireland will lose the next Eurosong, as Ireland had won the Contest for the last 5 years in a row and it was costing them too much to stage each year, perhaps commenting on the fact that Ireland won the actual Eurovision Song Contest 3 consecutive times. Ted and Dougal end up getting no points in the Contest.
Video
The episode A Song For Europe is often regarded as one of the most popular episodes, appearing on the Best Of video. One of the most distinguishable moments in the episode is the famous "My Lovely Horse" music video. This is shown as part of a vivid dreamDream
Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not definitively understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, philosophical intrigue and religious...
that Dougal and Ted have in anticipation of their act.
The video features obscure references to characteristic Eurovision sequences, such as footage of Ted and Dougal playing table tennis
Table tennis
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net...
and playing with an inflatable ball in a swimming pool
Swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...
. They also wear glittery blue suits, the same as The Swarbriggs wore. The song includes lines that refer to less considered aspects of horse ownership such as "I want to shower you with sugar lumps ... and bring you to the horse dentist
Veterinary dentistry
Veterinary dentistry is the field of dentistry applied to the care of animals. It is the art and science of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of conditions, diseases, and disorders of the oral cavity, the maxillofacial region, and its associated structures as it relates to animals.In the United...
".
The climax of the clip features the sudden appearance of the horse's head to the cacophanous wail of a saxophone, surrounded by a typically 1970s-disco-style burst of multi-coloured light. Dougal and Ted wake up in horror simultaneously, with Ted panting "We have to lose that sax solo!"
The outdoor sequences were shot in the grounds of the Falls Hotel in Ennistymon, County Clare
County Clare
-History:There was a Neolithic civilisation in the Clare area — the name of the peoples is unknown, but the Prehistoric peoples left evidence behind in the form of ancient dolmen; single-chamber megalithic tombs, usually consisting of three or more upright stones...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. In the background the cascade waterfall in Ennistymon can clearly be seen.
External links
- My Lovely Horse video clip by Channel 4Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
on YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos.... - Father Ted Episode: A Song for Europe