I Believe in You (Talk Talk song)

"I Believe in You" is an anti-heroin song. Speaking to Dutch magazine OOR in 1988, Hollis stated, "I've seen the misery that heroin can cause. I've known so many people who thought the stuff would never get hold of them and end up with a totally ruined life. I've seen what it takes to get rid of it. I think it's a horrible thing."{{cite magazine |date=24 September 1988 |title=Mark Hollis in de hof van Eden |magazine=OOR}}

Talk Talk did not intend to release a single from Spirit of Eden, but after Parlophone expressed their wishes for a single, the band reconsidered and a radio edit of "I Believe in You" was released. Hollis expressed his disappointment in Parlophone's decision to release the song as a single, telling International Musician and Recording World in 1988, "They've basically just cut the beginning and end off the song. I think it's a shame. They've taken something which stood up on its own in the context of the album and pulled it out of context. It doesn't make sense to me."{{cite magazine |last=Smith |first=Andrew |date=November 1988 |title=Talk Talk talk |magazine=International Musician and Recording World}} He added to Q that the single existed "purely to help the record company promote the album".{{cite magazine |last=Devoy |first=Adrian |date=October 1988 |title=Come on, market me |magazine=Q}}

The song's music video was directed by Tim Pope and produced by Lisa Bryer for MGMM Studios. It was shot at Bell Studios in London and features Hollis sitting with his guitar and singing the lyrics.{{cite magazine |date=3 September 1988 |title=Video News: From GLO to MGMM |magazine=Music & Media |volume=5 |issue=36 |page=4 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/80s/1988/M&M-1988-09-03.pdf |via=World Radio History |access-date=10 October 2022}} Hollis soon expressed his regret over the video after it was shot. He told Q, "I really feel that was a massive mistake. I thought just by sitting there and listening and really thinking about what [the song] was about, I could get that in my eyes. But you cannot do it. It just feels stupid. It was depressing and I wish I'd never done it." He added to International Musician and Recording World, "That song means so much to me that to sit there and mime to it just feels totally stupid. It just felt like I was being prostituted. Tim felt exactly the same, 'cos he cares about that sort of thing."

Upon its release as a single, Peter Kane of Sounds felt that "I Believe in You" "makes for a genuinely moody and queer little 45". He stated, "Hollis has wandered about as far away from 'Life's What You Make It' as he could without falling off the edge. The result is interesting, as in, I'd like to hear more." He noted the unlikely commercial success of the single by adding that it was "the sound of a man seemingly hell-bent on ritual commercial suicide".{{cite magazine |last=Kane |first=Peter |date=24 September 1988 |title=Singles |magazine=Sounds}} Andrew Hirst of the Huddersfield Daily Examiner praised it as a "ponderous, deeply atmospheric ballad", but also believed it had limited commercial appeal by commenting, "The band has drifted an age away from its original pop leanings and this dulcet delight is far too profound to grab a slice of the commercial cake."{{cite news |last=Hirst |first=Andrew |date=15 October 1988 |title=Reviews: Singles |newspaper=Huddersfield Daily Examiner |page=14}}

Caren Myers of Melody Maker described the song as "broody" and added, "This just kind of floats right through you, as the synths and the voice compete to see who can sound more evanescent and soothing."{{cite magazine |last=Myers |first=Caren |date=24 September 1988 |title=Singles |magazine=Melody Maker |page=40}} Jerry Smith of Music Week commented, "Having moved well away from their original pop leanings, Talk Talk these days produce thoroughly irresistible, hauntingly atmospheric tracks and this one is beguilingly catchy."{{cite magazine |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1988/MW-1988-10-01-S-OCR.pdf |title=A&R: Singles |last=Smith |first=Jerry |magazine=Music Week |page=21 |date=1 October 1988 |via=World Radio History |access-date=10 October 2022}} Johnny Dee of Record Mirror was critical of the song, calling it "droning twaddle". He commented, "A band who crawl out of dank, sleepy hollows to record what they call 'artistic masterpieces'. The kind of guys who make Duran Duran sound like the Wonder Stuff."{{cite magazine |last=Dee |first=Johnny |date=24 September 1988 |title=Singles |magazine=Record Mirror |page=37 |issn=0144-5804}}

In 2017, Graeme Thomson of The Guardian included the song on a retrospective "10 of the best" list for the band, praising it as "perhaps [their] saddest, most straightforwardly beautiful song" which is "suffused with a personal sense of unutterable waste". He noted how the song is "driven by a quietly insistent rhythm" and is the closest thing on Spirit of Eden to a "conventional song". He added that the single version was "unsatisfactorily truncated".{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/may/25/talk-talk-10-of-the-best |last=Thomson |first=Graeme |title=Talk Talk – 10 of the best |work=The Guardian |date=25 May 2017 |access-date=10 October 2022}}

7–inch single (UK and Europe){{cite AV media notes |title=I Believe in You |others=Talk Talk |year=1988 |type=UK 7-inch single sleeve |publisher=Parlophone |id=R 6189}}{{cite AV media notes |title=I Believe in You |others=Talk Talk |year=1988 |type=European 7-inch single sleeve |publisher=Parlophone |id=006-20 2895 7}}

1. "I Believe in You" (Edited version) – 3:40
2. "John Cope" – 4:43

7–inch promotional single (UK and Canada){{cite AV media notes |title=I Believe in You |others=Talk Talk |year=1988 |type=UK 7-inch single label |publisher=Parlophone |id=RDJ 6189}}{{cite AV media notes |title=I Believe in You |others=Talk Talk |year=1988 |type=Canadian 7-inch single label |publisher=Parlophone |id=SPRO 373}}

1. "I Believe in You" (Edit) – 3:40
2. "I Believe in You" (Edit) – 3:40

12–inch single (UK and Europe){{cite AV media notes |title=I Believe in You |others=Talk Talk |year=1988 |type=UK 12-inch single sleeve |publisher=Parlophone |id=12R 6189}}{{cite AV media notes |title=I Believe in You |others=Talk Talk |year=1988 |type=European 12-inch single sleeve |publisher=Parlophone |id=060-20 2896 6}}

1. "I Believe in You" – 6:03
2. "John Cope" – 4:43
3. "Eden" (Edited version) – 4:23

CD single (UK){{cite AV media notes |title=I Believe in You |others=Talk Talk |year=1988 |type=UK CD single liner notes |publisher=Parlophone |id=CDR 6189, 20 2896 2}}

1. "I Believe in You" – 6:03
2. "John Cope" – 4:43
3. "Eden" (Edited version) – 4:23

{{Reflist}}

{{Talk Talk}}

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Category:1988 songs

Category:1988 singles

Category:Parlophone singles

Category:Talk Talk songs

Category:Songs written by Mark Hollis (musician)

Category:Songs written by Tim Friese-Greene

Category:Song recordings produced by Tim Friese-Greene

Category:Songs about heroin