The Best Years of Our Lives (Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel song)

Background

Following the split of the original Cockney Rebel line-up in July 1974, Harley successfully assembled a new line-up later in the year, and renamed the band Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel. In November and December 1974, the new band recorded The Best Years of Our Lives album at Abbey Road Studios and Air Studios in London.

In the liner notes of the 2014 definitive release of The Best Years of Our Lives, Harley spoke of the recording of the title track: "We played it live in the studio, all sat round together. There were no overdubs, and we all wanted to get the feel of the song on record." When the band performed the song live at the Hammersmith Odeon on 14 April 1975, Harley announced the track as "the most serious song I've ever wrote in my life".

Later in 2014, EMI released a definitive edition of the album as a four CD + DVD box-set. On disc one, a previously unreleased acoustic demo of "The Best Years of Our Lives" was included. In a June 2014 diary entry for his official website, Harley spoke of the demo:

"The Best Years Of Our Years acoustic demo (why do I allow this to reach your ears? WHY?) is proof if needed that all songs start and finish as just that, as a song – not productions, not records. The song comes first. On this original, I attempted to invert the "tragic" and "magic" or was I just tired? That demo was played just to Alan and our tape operator in the early hours when the long day and night had been wrapped. I just told Alan I had something new for tomorrow but didn't fancy going home yet (I would have been alone at Landward Court, Marble Arch, and was slightly Martini-ed up)."

Since its release, "The Best Years of Our Lives" has become a regular inclusion in Harley and the band's live set. In recent years, unofficial video footage has appeared on YouTube of the song being performed live at various concerts.

Critical reception

In the 8 April 1975 issue of Record & Popswap Mirror magazine, a review of The Best Years of Our Lives album noted: "Mr Raffles deserves to be singled out as an absolute classic, but each song has a distinct character, culminating in the personal message - the title track."

In the liner notes of the 2014 definitive edition of The Best Years of Our Lives, Geoff Barton wrote: "The album closes with the title song, Harley reprising the hard-bitten troubadour persona he adopted on Cockney Rebel's first two albums. The track somehow manages to be both triumphant and mournful at the same time."

Donald A. Guarisco of AllMusic retrospectively reviewed the album, and commented: "Although the rest of the songs on the album aren't as strong as the singles, there are plenty of highlights for the Harley fan. One of the standouts include the title track, a touching acoustic ballad that highlights some of Harley's most direct and emotional lyrics." Guarisco also recommended the song by highlighting it as an AMG pick track.

George Starostin retrospectively reviewed the album for his website and picked the song as one of his favourites from the album. He revealed: "And then there's the title track, even more Dylan-like because it's slower and, as far as the overall impression goes, more introspective. For all of its five and a half minutes, you are openly caressed by Harley's cockneyified vocals, vocals which nevertheless seem to mock the very idea of a nostalgic confessional song. It would all be very well if you could actually understand what particular moment he's singing about. But whatever it is, it must mean a lot to the man. Or pretends to mean a lot."

Personnel

Additional personnel

Face to Face: A Live Recording version

In 1977, a live version of the song was released as the sole single from the band's live album Face to Face: A Live Recording.

Background

Following the release of the band's fifth studio album Love's a Prima Donna in October 1976, the band embarked on an eight-date UK tour in December to promote it. During the tour, a number of concerts were recorded, as was the band's one-off charity concert at London Rainbow in February 1977. Harley then sorted the best tracks for a double live album. A day before the album was released, the band's split was announced. In July 1977, Face to Face: A Live Recording was released, and peaked at #40 in the UK. In effort to promote the album, a sole live single was released in August. "The Best Years of Our Lives" was chosen as the A-Side, and "Tumbling Down" as the B-Side. The single did not enter the UK Top 50.

Release

The single was released by EMI Records on 7" and 12" vinyl in the UK only. It was the band's first single to be released on the 12" vinyl format, which itself was labelled as being limited edition. The single featured a full picture sleeve, with a photograph of Harley on stage with a guitar, in front of a microphone. The photograph was replicated on both sides of the sleeve. It was the first Cockney Rebel single to be released with a picture sleeve in the UK.

Track listing

1. "The Best Years of Our Lives" - 5:00
2. "Tumbling Down" - 6:34

1. "The Best Years of Our Lives" - 5:00
2. "Tumbling Down" - 6:34

Critical reception

Record Mirror magazine in the 10 September 1977 issue praised the live re-recording as "easily the best track on Face to Face." In a 1977 issue of Record Mirror magazine, Sheila Prophet said in her review on the live album:

Between side two and three, something magic has happened. Harley has taken over and suddenly, his whole ego trip seems almost justified. He's the central figure, with the audience as his backing band - Rebel are reduced to mere bit players onstage musical decorations. And it's "The Best Years Of Our Lives" - altogether now, 'Oh, but it's magic. It's the best years of our lives'. They said it...

In a 1977 issue of Sounds magazine, Geoff Barton said in his review on the album: "...By contrast, side three and four are magnificent, compulsive. Three opens with 'Best Years Of Our Lives', always an emotional highspot."

George Starostin retrospectively reviewed the album for his website, commenting:

There are some surprises - for 'The Best Years Of Our Lives', Steve drops the band and just keeps an acoustic guitar, inviting the audience to not only sing along with him, but actually sing instead of him. Actually, if there's one really rotten performance on here, it's that one: he can't seem to hold any note for longer than half a second, and with the most complex bits actually chanted by a tonedeaf crowd instead of the maitre himself, a formerly great song is reduced to a pile of rubbish.

Other live versions

Aside from the version appearing on Face to Face: A Live Recording, the song has been included on a number of other live releases. On 14 April 1975, Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel performed the song as part of their set at the Hammersmith Odeon in London. This concert was filmed and released as a film titled Between the Lines. In 1989, a live performance of the song was professionally filmed during the band's "Come Back, All is Forgiven" tour. The footage, including the song, was released on VHS that year, titled The Come Back, All is Forgiven Tour: Live. Audio CD versions of the concert have since been released across Europe in many guises.

A live version appeared on Harley's 1999 live album Stripped to the Bare Bones, as well the 2004 live album Anytime! (A Live Set) under the name The Steve Harley Band.

MonaLisa Twins version

In 2015, the MonaLisa Twins, composed of Mona and Lisa Wagner, recorded their own version of the song. A music video for their cover was uploaded onto YouTube on 4 October 2015. The cover was recorded to tie-in with the duo's upcoming involvement in the November 2015 UK tour of Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, which celebrated the 40th anniversary of the album of the same name. On the tour, the MonaLisa Twins were part of the backing band.

For their version of "The Best Years of Our Lives", the MonaLisa Twins revealed:

"Our big tour with Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel is just around the corner. So we decided it's only fitting to cover our favourite song and at the same time title track of the album "The Best Years of Our Lives". We consider the live performance of this song, especially the one on Steve's first live album "Face to Face" one of the most touching live moments in rock history. It clearly shows why he belongs to the exclusive circle of live entertainers who can mesmerise an audience in style without having to play cheap tricks."