B-side "Pretty Thing" Format 7" vinyl Length 2:55 | Released January 1980 Recorded 1979 | |
Genre Pop rock
new wave
progressive pop | ||
"Another Nail in My Heart" is a 1980 song by Squeeze. Written by Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, it was released on the album Argybargy, received positive critical reviews, and charted in the United Kingdom and Canada. Squeeze has since included the song in their concert setlists and compilation albums.
Contents
Background
"Another Nail in My Heart" is two minutes and fifty-five seconds long. It was written by Squeeze members Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, and it was produced by John Wood and Squeeze. Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine called it a "nervy breakup tune." In his review of the song, Stewart Mason wrote, "The topic, as usual, is a cocktail of lost love and heavy drinking, culminating in the memorable chorus 'And in the bar, the piano man found another nail from my heart.'"
Release
The song was released as a single in January 1980 with the b-side "Pretty Thing." Later that year, it was released as the second track on Squeeze's full-length album, Argybargy. It has also been included on several of Squeeze's compilation albums, such as Singles – 45's and Under, Greatest Hits, and The Big Squeeze – The Very Best of Squeeze. The band re-recorded the song for the album Spot the Difference.
Critical reception
"Another Nail in My Heart" received positive reviews from music critics. The song has been called a "piece of pop mastery", a "pop classic of the new wave era", and an "ingenious pop-rock confection". John M. Borack wrote that it "made great use of Difford and Tilbrook's signature high register / low register harmonies." Allmusic's Stewart Mason wrote that "it's one of Squeeze's finest singles, marrying one of Glenn Tilbrook's most memorably McCartneyesque melodies to a typically wry and clever Chris Difford lyric." The New York Times' Jon Pareles cited it as one of Squeeze's "catchiest" songs.
Chart performance
The song entered the UK Singles Chart at #65 on 1 March 1980. It stayed on the chart for nine weeks, peaking at #17 on 29 March. In Canada, it was on the singles chart for 11 weeks and peaked at #56 on 28 June. In the United States, it was a hit on college radio but did not appear on the charts.
Live performances
Squeeze performed the song at their concerts throughout the 1980s and 1990s. After a 1985 show, Billboard's Kathy Gillis wrote that it "was odd, almost eerie, to hear so many of the old songs just as they sounded before." Glenn Tilbrook played the song at solo concerts in 2009 and 2011.
Track list
7"
- "Another Nail in My Heart"
- "Pretty Thing"