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Hothouse Flowers — Don't Go
Album: People
Avg rating:
6.9

Your rating:
Total ratings: 660









Released: 1988
Length: 3:38
Plays (last 30 days): 1
There's smell of fresh cut grass

and it's filling up my senses

And the sun is shining down on the blossoms in the avenue.
There's a buzzing fly hanging
around the bluebells and the daisies

And tAere's a lot more loving left in this world.

Don't go
don't leave me now
now
now

While the sun smiles
stick around and laugh a while
yeah.

And I lie on warm and soft sancly beaches

And my toes are submerged in the water
and it feels good.
Children playing building castles on the shoreline
Like a painted little love and lord
it feels so fine.

Don't go
don't leave me now
now
now
. ..

There's white horses and they're coming at me
and they face now

And there's a blue sirocco blowing worm into my foce.
The sun is shining on the other side of the bridges

The cars going by with smiles in the windows.
There's a black cat Iying in the shadow of the gate-post

And the black cat keeps telling me that love is on it's way.
Yeah
there's a black cat Iying in the shadow of the gate-post

And the black cat tells me thot loveis on it's way.

Don't go
don'f ieave me now
now
now
. . .
Stick around and laugh a while. - Don't go! -
Don't go
don't leave me now
now
now
. . .

Don't go
don't leave me now
now
now
. . .
Don't go
I can hear you coming now
now
now

Ah
no no no
don't go!
Comments (68)add comment
What a great band!!! I listened to them a lot in my late teens.
I regret never seeing these guys live.  HHF was constantly playing in my young adulthood.
Saw them playing a free concert on the street in Dublin in ‘93. So nice. Very real. Thanks Bill.
One of my best music memories was catching HHF in Boston playing by the waterfront.   It was midweek and believe I called in sick to work to catch them with a friend - only a handful of people were there. Magic!
Wow-thanks for memories-love this band. 
Liam Ó Maonlaí has a wonderful voice. Play more often. 
Great tune and great band.  I saw them play the old Point Depot in Dublin on New Year's Eve in 1988 (or could have been 1989).  The are still touring and had a bit of a populatity boost when the Amazon Prime show  The Grand Tour used their cover of 'I can see clearly now the rain has gone' for the opening scene on the first episode. 
 Laptopdog wrote:
I'll bet Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats could do a mean cover of this tune.
 

Nah.. Ski Patrol would kill this one   
I GREW UP ON THIS ALBUM!!!    thanx RP!  xoxoox

123K
Didn't they break through with this opening Eurovision back in the day?
I'll bet Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats could do a mean cover of this tune.
Have not heard this song sing the 1980s.  Nice way to bring back some memories.
 StickerSticker wrote:
boring and his voice bugs me.
 

Listen to I'm Sorry and tell me if you think that's boring, too! It's a terrific band with excellent songs.
 DBCinCA wrote:
I wouldn't mind hearing this more often - great band back in the day. The Rusted Root comparisons hold up for this song and some others, but I also think Hothouse Flowers sounds a bit like The Waterboys, in terms of their tone, lyrics, and emotional intensity. Their lyrics go places you just can't get to with Rusted Root, although I'm a big fan of theirs too.
 
Searched this page for "Waterboys" and found the above. Glad that someone else heard the resemblance, even if it was 10 years ago.
 BlueHeronDruid wrote:

Byrne does Springsteen.
 
Springsteen yes, maybe a little John Mellencamp too. But David Byrne?
"... currently residing in the 'where are they now' category."
 No_Where_Man wrote:
Bill, please play more of Hothouse Flowers, you only have one song? Please HHF are so much deeper than one song,
Thank you
 
Agreed. This is from one of the lost albums of the late 80s. There are better tracks on this and the band ha a really organic Irish rock sound bridging the gap between Thin Lizzy and The Script.
Bill, please play more of Hothouse Flowers, you only have one song? Please HHF are so much deeper than one song,
Thank you
 DaveInVA wrote:
Sounds like David Byrne with a bad cold..{#Mrgreen}
 
Byrne does Springsteen.

Sounds like David Byrne with a bad cold..{#Mrgreen}
Love this song so....
 lily34 wrote:
sounds like elvis doing springsteen (the voice) or vice verse.
 
Definite Bruceness.

sounds like elvis doing springsteen (the voice) or vice verse.

Oh my!  I can't remember the last time I heard this song.  I do have a wonderful memory of my sister coming back from a long trip to Ireland with their tape.  They came to the Moore Theater in Seattle and we went to see them.  I remember being so disappointed when the opening act came on stage, two chicks with acoustic guitars, because I wanted Hothouse Flowers to get on stage.  Ended up liking the opening act, The Indigo Girls.
It was an amazing concert with my sister.  Thanks for the memory Bill.


 andrewimft wrote:
Saw these guys live at a free outdoor summer concert in downtown Denver after they came out with this record. They were absolutely awesome, spiritual, sensual, dance-a-riffic. Then a couple weeks later I saw them again as they were the opening band for a Midnight Oil concert I had tickets for. At that gig, they were terrible— flat, uninspired, sluggish, sloppy, dreary. I went from thinking they were an awesome folk version of U2 to a total dud. This album was good, but still can't compare to the memory of the good concert they did.

I read that one of the guys in this band is now in a band with Elvis Costello's ex-wife.
 

I was at that Denver show and completely agree with your assessment!  But even U2 has flop nights as a friend of mine who worked lights for two of their tours can attest to. 

To my mind though...Hothouse Flowers never were able to capture the excitement of their good live shows on album.  The production was too slick or something. Disappointing.


10+ for the fantastic song, and 100+ for that lovely reddish hair flying all over the place while he banged on the piano!
{#Undecided}
Saw these guys live at a free outdoor summer concert in downtown Denver after they came out with this record. They were absolutely awesome, spiritual, sensual, dance-a-riffic. Then a couple weeks later I saw them again as they were the opening band for a Midnight Oil concert I had tickets for. At that gig, they were terrible— flat, uninspired, sluggish, sloppy, dreary. I went from thinking they were an awesome folk version of U2 to a total dud. This album was good, but still can't compare to the memory of the good concert they did.

I read that one of the guys in this band is now in a band with Elvis Costello's ex-wife.


suddenchad wrote:
Liked this album a lot. I think there were one or two more by them and they turned up on a few compilations, but then what happened to them?
I thought they sunk into oblivion, but apparently not: (click here) I give it 7 for the memories of the late eighties when I first came to Dublin, Ireland, which eventually would become my home. Saw the Flowers in Germany around 1990, as support for Stevie Ray Vaughan. After their set, I saw the singer Liam Ó Maonlaí wandering around the Stevie fans in the audience. Was funny, he clearly enjoyed not being recognised even after playing for an hour on stage! Wikipedia states this album "was the most successful debut album in Irish history". They were promoted heavily by Bono of U2 after he saw them playing in 1986. Well they are still going strong, playing Glastonbury in 2007... must look out for them again!
Shit - i can only give it -5
Liked this album a lot. I think there were one or two more by them and they turned up on a few compilations, but then what happened to them?
boring and his voice bugs me.
Oh thankyou RP... not heard this in so long! :) Hothouse Flowers were the first band I went to see too - takes me back all those years (1988 I think) to Sheffield Leadmill! :)
Wow. Been a while since I've heard this one. Love little surprises from the vaults like this. Brings me back to a festival way back when, and these guys were playing with a shwack of other good acts. It rained the whole show, but we had a blast.
greg6494 wrote:
I used to think that was a naner dood on a pedestal, and the lemon dood was applauding reverently. On an unrelated note, this song always seemed to me to be in the "songs with all chorus and no verses" category. Maybe it's just me?
Tayto wrote:
I hope Liam has cut his hair!!!
I got to see them a year or two ago at Bumbershoot. It was quite a good show, and yes, Liam had cut his hair.
jablan wrote:
This piano rocks! They should add emoticon for it.
A banana playing the piano! Yeah!!
jablan wrote:
This piano rocks! They should add emoticon for it.
Anyone remember how the Hothouse Flowers completely stole the show in the Eurovision song contest when they played this song in the intermission way back in 1988?
This piano rocks! They should add emoticon for it.
How nice to hear this! I was cooking in the kitchen and heard the opening and thought, No, it can't be, that would be too perfect, to hear these guys on RP! Keep it varied, keep it rocking, Bill -- thanks!
another classic lost ditty--these guys never got enough play in the states, to my way of thinking. thanks rp. 9.
Oh! And right after Buffalo Tom! Two of my favorite "college rock" songs! Well done! 7
So nice to hear this - thanks...
nice cover art at the website, and i like the keyboards. but i'm also listening on windows media player so it might be possible it's just derivative sloch of some sort. But I don't think so. But what makes something ne w under the sun? sounds like sounds like. Serendipity anyone?
Just when you thought there were hardly any Irish artists online..............."don't leave me now, now, now...." I hope Liam has cut his hair!!!
great tune, defines a whole summer for me! Lovely rich instruments, great voice.
Hear what you are saying but friends of ours saw them in Perth and were so disappointed because they spent so much of their stage time with obscure Gaelic lyrics instead of concentrating on the music which made them famous - and at $60 a ticket that was out of order
... Might be no big deal if Hothouse Flowers came to your town when you have a choice of which band to go and see, but here in Broome, 2200 road Km's North of the capital Perth it is and was at the weekend when they appeared at the open air Oasis Bar at the Roebuck Bay Hotel and drew half the town, the other half were away on the last of the school hols. Big night for our wee town and they performed really well and our very own Pigram Brothers who have produced 3 CD's of quality local music of their own supported and later jammed with the Hothouse Flowers. So there, it does happen occasionally that someone who is played on RP actually is seen in the flesh here and heard and enjoyed. ... ...
Ahh... that wasn't too bad. A little flashback... I didn't have to take my headphones off.
God that was horrible. I had to get up from a nice cozy bed just to say how horrible that was. Please, please, please, don't play it again. I promise I'll contribute more, please don't torture us again.
This feels very much like Rusted Root! That's the problem.
Actually, Rusted Root feels like this. This album came out in 1988. Rusted Root didn't arrive until a few years later. No doubt after they heard the first couple of Hothouse Flowers albums and decided to come up with an 'original' sound
I wouldn't mind hearing this more often - great band back in the day. The Rusted Root comparisons hold up for this song and some others, but I also think Hothouse Flowers sounds a bit like The Waterboys, in terms of their tone, lyrics, and emotional intensity. Their lyrics go places you just can't get to with Rusted Root, although I'm a big fan of theirs too.
Great choice. Liam has a great voice!
It's been so long since I heard this...I didn't realize how I had missed it until I was reminded of it. Nice choice.
Delightful!
ObsidianInfinity wrote:
This feels very much like Rusted Root!
That's the problem.
saw the HHF at Bumbershoot earlier this month. Liam O'Maonlai is like a crazed aerobics instructor onstage.
ObsidianInfinity wrote:
This feels very much like Rusted Root!
and smells like rotten springsteen boots. feh!
JohnErle wrote:
I hadn't heard this in years, but I still remember how disappointed I was when I bought the album and discovered that the album version of the song was different than the version in the video.
That's funny, I felt the very same disappointment when I listened to the album for the first time. The version of Don't Go that came out as a single was much better, much more energetic.
wow so nice to hear
London, Town & Country Club, 1990... sold out show, scalped a tic for just myself... what a show. They took the whole place to another level...Hearing this brings back the memories. Thanks RP...
This feels very much like Rusted Root!
now its an ecletic POP station. well 8O
I hadn't heard this in years, but I still remember how disappointed I was when I bought the album and discovered that the album version of the song was different than the version in the video. The video had a section where the song breaks down into a simple, plaintive, piano and vocals only piece that really brings out the emotion of the lyrics. This version always seemed lacking in comparison. Anybody know where that other version can be found? And if so, can you upload it?
why for this song never played? its an awesome song!
Fantastic station! I just searched for Hothouse Flowers and fouund only this song with no comments. After hearing Joe Ely, Concrete Blonde, Mark-Almond, Tragically Hip and Graham Parker all in a short time I thought this truly was Paradise, but without HHF it\'s not quite all the way there. Please add them to the playlist, I\'d recommend \"Thing of Beauty,\" \"Gvivng It Up,\" \"One Tongue\" \"Hardstone City\" etc. Oh yeah. How about some Oingo Boingo, too. \"Slave\" or \"Out of Control\" perhaps?