Day After Day #43: Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).

Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've) (1978)

Of all the acts that emerged from the initial British punk scene, the Buzzcocks may be the most underrated. The band was formed by Pete Shelley and Howard Devoto in '76; Devoto left the band a year later (later forming the band Magazine) and Shelley took over on vocals.

They were signed to a record deal on the day Elvis Presley died, August 16, 1977 and it wasn't long before they were releasing incredible singles that combined punk energy with incredible pop songwriting. They released their first single "Orgasm Addict" in October and their first album, Another Music in a Different Kitchen, was out in March 1978.

Honestly, there are so many great Buzzcocks songs I could write about, but "Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)" is yet another great song about unrequited love (much like yesterday's). It was on the band's second album, Love Bites, which was released in September 1978.  

The song was written by Shelley while the Buzzcocks were touring the UK. According to one of his final interviews, he heard the title line of the song while watching the movie Guys and Dolls and then wrote the lyrics in the band van the next day. He wrote the song about a man who he liked but who didn't return his affections at first; eventually they ended up together for seven years. 

"You spurn my natural emotions/You make me feel like dirt and I'm hurt/And if I start a commotion/I run the risk of losing you and that's worse."

It's a simple song in that it's essentially two verses and a chorus, but it's so damn stirring and emotional while also being completely relatable. Who hasn't pined over someone who doesn't feel the same way?

"I can't see much of a future/Unless we find out what's to blame, what a shame/And we won't be together much longer/Unless we realize that we are the same."

The song went to #12 on the UK Singles Chart and was ranked #1 by the NME in its Tracks of the Year for 1978. It got more exposure in when it was included on the compilation Singles Going Steady, which was released by IRS Records in September 1979 before the band toured the U.S. for the first time. The album collected the Buzzcocks' singles and B-sides and is one of the best albums of all time. 

A third album, A Different Kind of Tension, was released in the fall of 1979, but it didn't do as well as the first two and the Buzzcocks eventually split up in 1981. Shelley launched a solo career (remember the song "Homosapien"?) while the other members formed new bands. The band reunited in the late '80s and toured with Nirvana in '94. A new album, All Set, was released in '96; I saw them at the Paradise in Boston on that tour. Sadly, it was sparsely attended but the band sounded great.

Four more albums were released before Shelley's death in 2018. Steve Diggle continues to lead a version of the Buzzcocks that released an album in 2022.

"Ever Fallen in Love" has been covered many times over the years, including by the Fine Young Cannibals (recorded for the Something Wild soundtrack, went to #9 in the UK), Pete Yorn (for the Shrek 2 soundtrack) and by Canadian pop-punk act PUP. Shelley even did a cover for a charity single in 2005, featuring guest stars like Roger Daltrey, Robert Plant, David Gilmour and Elton John. A true classic for all seasons.