Echo and The Bunnymen | Songs to Learn and Sing

Dear Mr. Echo,

On November 11th, 1985 your band Echo & The Bunnymen released your singles collection “Songs to Learn & Sing”, which collected all your fantastic singles up until that point. Songs like “Rescue” off of “Crocodiles”, “The Cutter” off of “Porcupine”, and “The Killing Moon” off of “Ocean Rain”.  You even included a brand new single “Bring on the Dancing Horses” which was included on the soundtrack to the John Hughes film “Pretty in Pink”.

Bring on the Dancing Horses is definitely up there with “The Killing Moon” in the beauty of the songwriting and lyrics:

Shiver and say the words
Of every lie you’ve heard

First I’m gonna make it
Then I’m gonna break it
Till it falls apart
Hating all the faking
And shaking while I’m breaking
Your brittle heart

The b-side to “Bring on the Dancing Horses” is marvelous as well, although a bit like The Jesus and Mary Chain, but they were clearly influenced by you in my opinion.

Okay, it’s not necessarily true that all your singles were included on Songs to Learn & Sing, as “The Pictures on My Wall”, your debut single was omitted, but I hear it was at the very least separately packed with a special edition of the compilation.  But unfortunately, I fear that many people may be now unfamiliar with your very first single, that had got into Echo and The Bunnymen after 1985.

Regardless of this, I love Songs to Learn & Sing, and hope you continue to create such wonderful music, even decades years later.

Sincerely,

Rick (The People’s Poet)

Ps: Here is an interview from 1985 from my scrapbook plus some music videos:

and the music video of “The Killing Moon”

“Seven Seas”

“The Cutter”

and “The Back of Love”

Tracklist:

1. “Rescue”
2. “The Puppet”
3. “Do It Clean”
4. “A Promise”
5. “The Back of Love”
6. “The Cutter”
7. “Never Stop”
8. “The Killing Moon”
9. “Silver”
10. “Seven Seas”
11. “Bring on the Dancing Horses”