Line #86 Music/SFSorrow


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d1d6b0d869356f81491fd02f69156d57.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''"You'll never be as lonely as me..."'']]
3
4	->''"For ten weeks now number three stood empty\
5	Nobody thought there would be\
6	Family laughter behind the windows\
7	Or a Christmas tree\
8	Then a couple from [[OopNorth up north]]\
9	Sorrow and his wife arrived\
10	Before the sun had left the streets\
11	They were living inside.\
12	Then before too long\
13	The street it rang with the sound\
14	From number three there came a cry\
15	S. F. Sorrow is born..."''
16
17	''S.F. Sorrow'' is the fourth studio album by Music/ThePrettyThings, released in 1968. It was released on the same week as ''Music/TheWhiteAlbum'' by Music/TheBeatles and ''Music/TheKinksAreTheVillageGreenPreservationSociety'' by Music/TheKinks. However, it wasn't released in the US until August 1969. It is their final album to feature drummer Skip Alan, who suddenly quit during the recording of this album. He was replaced by John "Twink" Alder, who helped complete the album. ''S.F. Sorrow'' was [[UrExample one of the very first]] [[ConceptAlbum Concept Albums]] ever created by a Rock Band, along with Nirvana's [[note]]The 1960's band Nirvana, not [[Music/{{Nirvana}} the 1990's one]][[/note]] ''The Story of Simon Simopath''.
18
19	The story told in the Album centres around a man named Sebastian F. Sorrow, who is born to a standard family in the UK and grows up with a vivid imagination until he has to get a job at the Misery Factory. He is eventually drafted into UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and, upon serving his term in a forgotten haze of Gunfire and Artillery shells, marries and moves to a Country called [[UsefulNotes/TheUnitedStates Amerik]]. However, his wife happens to take the [[UsefulNotes/TheHindenburg Windenburg]], which bursts into flames and kills her. Sorrow, depressed over his wife's death, finds himself in the presence of a mysterious figure named [[UsefulNotes/{{Voudoun}} Baron Saturday]], who invites Sorrow on a journey to his inner mind and steals Sorrow's eyes for his own purposes. Sorrow is flown towards the moon by the Baron, which turns out to be his face, and enters his mouth that leads him to a room full of mirrors. After Studying the mirrors, which contain memories of Sorrow's childhood, Sorrow realizes the world is unkind and uncaring, and that he can't trust anyone ever again. In a state of despair, he blocks himself off from the rest of the world and subjugates himself to eternal loneliness.
20
21	''S.F. Sorrow'' did not do well in either the UK or the United States, due to competition from more popular bands, mismanagement of selling the record, a lack of promotion for it, and the fact that Creator/{{Motown}} were the ones who released this album in the USA (via their rock-oriented subsidiary, Rare Earth Records). However, it is critically regarded as one of the best albums by The Pretty Things, and has been re-released with additional songs from the Pretties' PsychedelicRock period.
22
23	Lead vocalist Phil May also painted the powerfully morbid cover art for the British version, shown above. The American release had a different cover in which the band name and album title appeared inside a coffin-shaped border.
24
25	----
26	!! Tracklist:
27
28	[[AC: Side One]]
29
30	# "S.F. Sorrow Is Born" (3:12)
31	# "Bracelets Of Fingers" (3:41)
32	# "She Says Good Morning" (3:23)
33	# "Private Sorrow" (3:51)
34	# "Balloon Burning" (3:51)
35	# "Death" (3:05)
36
37	[[AC: Side Two]]
38
39	# "Baron Saturday" (4:01)
40	# "The Journey" (2:46)
41	# "I See You" (3:56)
42	# "Well Of Destiny" (1:46)
43	# "Trust" (2:49)
44	# "Old Man Going" (3:09)
45	# "Loneliest Person" (1:29)
46
47	----
48	!! Bonus Tracks (2003 Reissue):
49
50	# "Defecting Grey" (4:31)
51	# "Mr. Evasion" (3:31)
52	# "Talking About The Good Times" (3:46)
53	# "Walking Through My Dreams" (3:47)
54	# "Private Sorrow (Single Version)" (3:52)
55	# "Balloon Burning (Single Version)" (3:47)
56	# "Defecting Grey (Acetate Recording)" (5:10)
57
58	----
59	!!Principal Members:
60
61	* Skip Alan - drums
62	* Phil May - lead vocals
63	* Jon Povey - organ, sitar, vocals, mellotron, percussion
64	* [[Music/TheRollingStonesBand Dick Taylor]] - guitar, vocals
65	* Twink - drums
66	* Wally Waller - bass, guitar, vocals, piano, wind instruments
67
68	----
69	!! Old Man Troping:
70
71	* BreakTheCutie: We get to see Sorrow go from happy child to an isolated, depressed old man.
72	* BSODSong: There's a couple of them in the album. But the crowning BSODSong is "Loneliest Person", in which Sorrow says you might be a lonely person, but you're not as lonely as him.
73	* ConceptAlbum: [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial If this story sounds familiar to any other well known Concept Albums, it isn't, and if it is, it's just a coincidence.]] Besides, [[TropeCodifier this came out first]].
74	* ADayInTheLife: The album follows the life of Sebastian F. Sorrow.
75	* DespairEventHorizon: "Death", in which Sorrow, learning of his wife's death, laments how the world has grown darker to him, and directly leads to "Trust", where he realizes the world and its people cannot be trusted, so he isolates himself.
76	* DespairSpeech: "The Loneliest Person".
77	* DownerEnding: Unlike Tommy from ''Music/{{Tommy}}'', or Pink from ''Music/TheWall'' who at least overcame their isolation, Sorrow remains isolated by the end of the album, and it appears he will never get over the tragic events that isolated him in the first place. "[[WesternAnimation/WhatsOperaDoc Well, what did ya expect in an opera — a happy ending?]]"
78	* EldritchAbomination: Implied with Baron Saturday, who is supposed to represent the Voodoo god Baron Samedi.
79	* EyeScream: Sorrow's eyes get plucked by Baron Saturday.
80	* GirlFriday: The Woman who wishes Sorrow a Good Morning in "She Says Good Morning", whom Sorrow eventually marries after World War I. Unfortunately, she dies.
81	* GoalInLife: Sorrow, as a child, always wanted to visit the Moon, as heard in "Bracelets on Fingers". He sort of gets his wish in the song "The Journey", but the Moon becomes his head.
82	* HallOfMirrors: Sorrow is taken to one of these (in his own head) by Baron Saturday.
83	* HeroicBSOD: Sorrow realizes that the world is uncaring and that people are untrustworthy in the song "Trust", and desperately tries to find someone in his life who he's been able to trust before giving up in the next song, "Old Man Going".
84	* UsefulNotes/TheHindenburg: Sorrow's wife takes the ''Windenburg'' to get to Amerik. Unfortunately for her, [[HistoryRepeatsItself it does the same thing as the Hindeburg]].
85	* IndustrialGhetto: The City that Sorrow lives in is built around the Misery Factory, where most of its citizens work.
86	* JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind: Baron Saturday takes Sorrow into the centre of his own head (that is, the moon) in order to reflect on his life and find the truth.
87	* MeaningfulName: The protagonist is named Sorrow, and absolutely nothing in his life goes right.
88	* MindScrew: Baron Saturday takes Sorrow's eyes, and he's still able to see. He then lifts Sorrow off the ground and this allows Sorrow to fly. He and Sorrow fly to the Moon that turns out to be Sorrow's head. Sorrow flies into his own mouth where two large wooden doors are. Baron Saturday opens these doors and inside is a room full of Mirrors, each one showing Sorrow a memory from his childhood.
89	* MinisculeRocking: "Well Of Destiny" and "Loneliest Person" are both under two minutes long.
90	* NeverBeHurtAgain: In order to avoid the harshness of reality and the cruelty of others, Sorrow shuts himself down mentally and isolates himself physically.
91	* OneWordTitle: "Death" and "Trust".
92	* RockOpera: Often cited as an early example of a rock opera.
93	* SanitySlippageSong: Around "Death", most, if not all, of the songs show the mental health of Sorrow decline dramatically.
94	* ShellShockedVeteran: Sorrow shows signs of this, as he can't seem to recall much of his service in World War I, except for the Artillery shells hitting and the gunfire.
95	* UsefulNotes/TheUnitedStates: Sorrow goes to a country called "Amerik" after getting Married. It is, however, definitely the United States as the first line of "Balloon Burning" is ''New York''.
96	* UrExample: One of the very first [[ConceptAlbum Concept Albums]] and {{Rock Opera}}s ever made, but it wasn't a commercial success.
97	* UsefulNotes/WorldWarI: Sorrow serves during this war.

Context Music / SFSorrow