Following on from last weeks 2 singles from Revenge, Mike looks at the remaining 2 songs that were released from the Revenge album as singles.
“The Miracle of Love” (Eurythmics)
In this heartless world
People try to hurt you
Try to hurt you if they could
And it must take a miracle
A miracle is something everyone of us discover to need through life, especially when it seems that our “crumbling world” is falling apart: “Cruel is the night that covers up your fears, tender is the one who wipes away your tears, there must be a bitter breeze to make you sting so viciously, they say the greatest coward can hurt the most ferociously”. But even if it’s so hard to believe, there’s always something good to keep fighting for: “The miracle of love will take away your pain, when the miracle of love comes your way again”.
This moving ballad was chosen by Eurythmics to be the third single of Revenge, and it was released in November ’86.
“Missionary Man” (Eurythmics)
Well I was born an original sinner
I was born from original sin
There is always a point in everyone’s life when we are told to shun bad company: “My mother told me good, my mother told me strong; she said ‘be true to yourself and you can’t go wrong; but there’s just one thing that you must understand; you can fool with your brother but don’t mess with a missionary man'”.
Sometimes, either we decide to pay attention or not, the character to avoid seems so blameless to appear completely above suspicion: “Oh the missionary man, he’s got God on his side, he’s got the Saints and Apostles backing up from behind”. And so, when our trust is betrayed… it can be too late: “There was a woman in the jungle and a monkey on a tree; the missionary man, he was following me; he said ‘Stop what you’re doing and get down upon your knees, have a message for you that you’d better believe'”.
“Missionary Man”, reportedly inspired to Dave and Annie by Bob Dylan, was released as the fourth and last single from Revenge in February ’87.
Click here to see all of the posts in the Revenge 25 series.
