Day After Day #212: Save It for Later

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

Save It for Later (1982)

Sometimes all it takes to write a perfect pop song is a dirty joke and the rest of your band refusing to play on it. That all went into "Save It for Later," the classic song from the Beat (better known as the English Beat to North American fans).

The Beat were formed in 1978 in Birmingham, England, by Dave Wakeling (vocals, guitar), Ranking Roger (vocals), Andy Cox (guitar), David Steele (bass), Everett Morton (drums) and Saxa (Lionel Augustus Martin, sax). The group combined new wave, ska, two-tone and post punk into a fun, upbeat sound that was an immediate success. Their debut, 1980's I Just Can't Stop It, featured hits like "Mirror in the Bathroom," "Twist and Crawl" and "Can't Get Used to Losing You" and went to the #3 on the U.K. album chart. For their second album, Wha'appen, the band toured the U.S. with the Pretenders and Talking Heads. They went by the English Beat in the U.S. and Canada because there was already a U.S. band called the Beat.

The group's third album was 1982's Special Beat Service and the first single was "Save It for Later." Wakeling had written the song before the group even formed, but it didn't appear on the first two albums because of the objections of Steele, who felt it was too old school and didn't fit the Beat's sound. The band's label, I.R.S., insisted that the song be included on Special Beat Service but Steele continued to object and refused to play on the recording, along with some other members of the band. Wakeling and drummer Morton laid down the basic track and the rest of the band eventually gave in and contributed to it. 

As for the dirty joke, Wakeling said in a 2012 interview with the AV Club that the phrase "save it for later" was actually meant to be "save it, fellator." 

"As in, 'Leave it as it is, cocksucker.' But we didn't have the term 'cocksucker' in England at the time. We didn't really learn that one until we came to America. So it wasn't really a put-down, because we really didn't use that term to put down people at the time, and I don't think do very much in England now, either. Anyways, that's the nature of the joke."

I've heard the song a zillion times and had no idea that was the history of it, but it doesn't change the song's brilliance.

"Two dozen other dirty lovers/Must be a sucker for it/Cry, cry but I don't need my mother/Just hold my hand while I come to a decision on it/Sooner or later, your legs give way, you hit the ground/Save it for later, don't run away and let me down/Sooner or later, you'll hit the deck, you'll get found out/Save it for later, don't run away and let me down, you let me down."

The song is sad, yet danceable. Wakefield, who wrote it when he was a teenager, said in another interview that it was about someone in their early 20s trying to figure out their place in the world and not getting much guidance.

"Two dozen other stupid reasons/Why we should suffer for this/Don't bother trying to explain them/Just hold my hand while I come to a decision on it/Sooner or later, your legs give way, you hit the ground/Save it for later, don't run away and let me down/Sooner or later, you'll hit the deck, you'll get found out/Save it for later, don't run away and let me down, you let me down."

After all the drama and opposition to it, "Save It for Later" has become one of the Beat's most beloved songs. Wakeling has said it accounts for about a third of the band's publishing revenue these days. The song hit #47 on the U.K. Singles Chart, but it's shown up in countless movies and TV shows, including Kingpin, Hot Tub Time Machine, Big Daddy and Funny People.

The Beat split up in 1983, with Wakeling and Ranking Roger going on to form General Public and Steele and Cox forming Fine Young Cannibals with singer Roland Gift. Both groups had success, especially FYC. The Beat, minus Steele and Cox, reunited in 2003 for a one-off show. Eventually, there were two versions of the Beat, the Wakeling-led English Beat that toured in the U.S. and a Ranking Roger-led one that toured in the U.K. In 2018, the Beat feat. Ranking Roger released a live album and Wakeling's Beat released a new album called Here We Go Love. In January 2019, Roger's band released a new album, Public Confidential, but sadly, two months later Roger died at age 56 after undergoing treatment for lung cancer. In recent years, both Saxa and Morton passed away as well.

"Save It for Later" was notably covered by Pete Townshend in 1986 on his album Deep End Live! Harvey Danger covered it for the movie 200 Cigarettes. Pearl Jam has covered it in concert and Eddie Vedder's cover of the song is featured in the latest season of The Bear. Not bad for a song that Dave Wakeling's band didn't even want to record.