Roxy Music 2HB

[Useless2112]

Fact: nobody complaining about a "faggy vibe" in this song has the cojones to play that bass line.

[tmbfca]

When I was 17and fell in love with BF I heard this on the b side of Virginia Plain and thought it was soooo gently sophisticated. Now at 54, I still think so, even after a lot of other sophisticated things. Not many songs you can go back to and feel the same x

[kaninz]

Suck it homophobes, this song rocks and you so do NOT.

[augopen]

RM was one of the most fully realized bands stylistically--you either get it or you think it's "faggy" and get over using that word

[colm47]

Fade away never

[colm47]

Here's Looking at You Brian!!!

What a classic song, brilliant.

Like Bogart, they just don't make songs or films like this any more.

[andyroojackson]

I want this to be my funeral song.

[suereed]

@andyroojackson

that can be arranged I'm sure Andy. When were you thinking?

[andyroojackson]

@suereed As soon as possible : )

[rocketqueen18]

I adore the song and your video is great

[801liveable]

i just got done watching "CASABLANCA"..

[SCECountZero]

I just Love this tune, Brian Ferry is a world Treasure.

[thelyran]

One of the best and most influential albums,that led a 12 year old on to other ventures,like Brian Eno,The Velvet Underground,The Stooges,Modern Lovers.Can't thank Roxy Music enough for their great music and other avenues that it revealed.If it was'nt for the debut Roxy album,I'd know nothing of this world,thankyou Roxy Music

[38Avril]

Fucking amazing song !

[mathie007]

His remake-remodel is a better version, but I'm no complaining ...

[alexmortland]

The Great Paul Thompson.

[Lan35]

one of favourite tunes ever and favourite albums

[alhxxx]

Great tune.. very orgasmic!

[xxdarkangel15xx]

love love love love love love love love love love love love...

almost as good as watching Casablanca its self...

[bluespirat]

a dream

[locals1992]

old school music songs good any time

great song

[cwbeas]

Rhythm is SIIICk

notice how rhythm comes through the sax solo at around 1:25

[vanjangovich]

Man i knew it was roxy music the second i heard it on velvet goldmine

[honkydudeman]

heyyyyyyyyyyy its 2HB,,,...as in school pencil ???when he was shaggin busty schoolgirls in newcastle ,,,....AMENNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN­N

[Kristopful]

If you removed the word GAY from the english language, a lot on people on YouTube would have nought to say.. it's becoming like a stutter.

But I musy be gay for saying that.

Fuck 'gay' and just enjoy the music for gods sake, brain deads.

[POL2759]

Here's looking at you kid...

[crystallove18]

were they ever on saturday night live?

[RICKYYYYYYYYYYY1]

VIVA ROXY.......TRIBUTE BOWIE

[ssballs]

Smoggy nite club situation....Ah those were the days..ugh ugh.

[SPANNERmkV]

Delicious!



[wallydhonk]

wow  everytime

[whitekuduone]

This is a beautiful song and one of my favourites from Roxy.

[ralucagymnast]

@whitekuduone Mine too; its such a touching song; makes me tear up when I hear it, its just so lovely.

[MOONST0MP]

Exellent!

[toddgoodfellow]

love it!

[JackM2409]

wat is that picture called at 3:41

[blaswot]

@JackM2409 Deniro in Taxi Driver

[vunderground1]

Bryan Ferry croons like no other singer ever could. Not bad for a makem pottery teacher ;)

[suzesrc]

roxy roxy roxy , you all that feel the need to spout off here , need serious therapy , this is about roxy music and their huge gifts of music that they shared with us. vive' roxy . and gay ness well maybe you better talk to jerry hall about that fact ugh ... and gag

[rkingscar]

Gay is a personal choice concerning the normal human need for love. It is not a musical form.

[TheBastiaanbastiaan]

@rkingscar I don't think being gay is a choice.

Music is apparently gay when it's attracted to other music of the same sex

[KVID1000]

@rkingscar no choice involved mate. Fact.

[Brian395f]

Fantastic all of the albums piled onto the Decca Record Player...Bale arm periodically shattering the pace and rhythm as it dropped its next magical vinyl through to the diamond tip....aghhhhhh those were the days......Roxy Music you were different and I was proud to listen to you...!

[ChomFa]

Well, as a very "straight guy", my two bobs worth is that this is one of the most emotive and uplifting songs of all time. I cannot hear it, all these years later, without a tear in my eye for all those who went before. AM - "here's looking at you, kid". Deeply, sadly missed.

[ralucagymnast]

@ChomFa I couldnt agree more; I am a woman, and this makes me tear up too. Its such a beautiful song, and like all beautiful things, should make a person feel some emotion,

[piler55]

Why doesn't everyone just wind their neck's in. Gay, homophobic, tectonic,elektronic, supersoni............ChilllllB­rrrrr Why does everything have to be an issue . It's Roxy, it's music.....enjoy or search on, that'a all thanx

[weezmatron]

i'm a little confused by the homophobic stuff on this page...

this guy doesn't have the right to be offended by that crap?

most of my friends who like roxy music are normal, intelligent people. how did these trogs find their way here? go back to creed videos, jock scum.

[parapoly]

are gays always so easily offended, or do they just take offence because they can. is it something to do with the hormonal inbalance that makes them want to get rooted up the hole they're supposed to shit out of?

[kaninz]

Wow...I guess anything loving or emotional is "faggy" to some folks. As a gay person, I find your position both offensive and hilarious.

[weezmatron]

this song has a 'faggy vibe?' i don't get it. it's stylized, but it was the seventies, what do you want? it took me a while to realize that it was about humphrey bogart, but knowing that makes it even more moving to me. can't a song be something other than a macho mating call? some of you guys are weird.

[porridgeeveryday]

the song i want played at my funeral is the theme tune for steptoe and son.

[VaginaWash4u]

oh this and 5 years by david bowie gots to be my funeral songs :)>

[ssiillllyy8159]

I'm not super old and I absolutely adore this song. It is so calming and mind blowing all in the same moment. It inspires me.

The entire Velvet Goldmine soundtrack is much the same. Glam rock all the way.

[zackhanscom]

funny thing is this sounds like 80s commercial stuff.

[vinto34]

Great song ,great album,better than their more commercial 80s stuff..

[FlashingNoColours]

Friend, here Brian Eno was in!

[dkstojentin]

In my previous post to the song I listened to before this I said Gallimaufry instead of Gallifrey.

I know that this is an obscure reference that is all sorts of Time Lord Doctor Who nerdish.

I think that time is relative but that physics is a bore; I think that this is the music of the surreal, wedding together past and present, and that if you could open your mind enough to see the future forth you'd know that this band did it's best to make the hospitality industry not destroy fashion.

[tmbfca]

Oops I meant Jerry Hall - no offence, doll.

[tmbfca]

Ethereal even.

Did Jerry Hell date fags then?

[josephherve]

Fags? Mick Jagger did anything --any genders or species!

[seanalbion20]

magical !!

[chh5555]

I opt for the original but after seeing the film Velvet Goldmine I really think VIF did a good job with it.

Now I have to wipe my memory clean of the image you have put into it... middle aged fag... NO it's about Humphrey Bogart... HB

[jum1801]

Heh. Sorry. Yes, I know it's about Bogie, but this song would make Bogie puke. The song has an incredibly faggy vibe. I mean it's a effing dreamy love song fer crisssakes! Part of it's just the way RM and especially Eno sounded - that androgynous art school/film school painted fingernails and eye-liner feel to it.

And I think I do like the VIF version from Golmine better.

[jum1801]

Re RM's 2HB vs. VIF version, I can't say one is clearly better, although my default is generally for the original. I found the mix in RM disturbingly dark, muted and muddy; just...bizarre. It's mixed so oddly it's just creepy. The keyboard/synth is almost non-existent, the drums and woodwinds are the clearest. Vocals - well, Brian sounds as gay as ever, and I simply can't listen to this one without picturing a middle-aged closeted married man cruising a gay bar in mid-afternoon in the rain.

[ScooterGirl9988]

"Brian (sic) sounds as gay as ever". What does that even mean? How can a vocalist sound gay? I think he just sounds like Bryan Ferry.

[MicheleWardark]

@ScooterGirl9988 Those are only poor raw one grown learning just kicks in their asses. They can never understand what is a DANDY.

[sidewaysid]

Blogg you are right I'm 55 and followed the band for ever it was a bird he saw

[charisfulone]

One of the best drum tracks I ever heard!

[ralucagymnast]

Soooo beautiful: I love the album this comes from, its a masterpiece, as is this song. So touching and moving, love it to death.

[ch0c0chia83]

listened this song for the first time yesterday. The Venus in Furs version with Thom Yorke on vocal. both are fantastic.

[Tengent]

I find myself coming to this page too much. I need their first album. XD

[sjnewquay]

"Your death could not kill our love for you". Great lyrics.

[dockie1971]

I read what I said in the Roxy fanclub fanzine.

I still have them all in my loft.

[stacpoolemusic]

PaulthePill, you are thinking about Remake Remodel ,, the lyrics go 'CPL5438' or similar , that was the rego of a sports car he had .. nothing to do with this song ...

[dockie1971]

It was CPL 593H. The reg. was in fact of a random transit van they saw parked in the street.

[BloggStandard]

or - it was the reg. of a sportscar in Kings Road, Chelsea driven by a very Pretty Woman that turned Ferry's head lustfully, but which he never saw again...

What sounds more likely?

[shesells15]

Roxy songs are like an addiction.. :)

[stacpoolemusic]

when I first heard it circa 1976 - bought the Lets Stick together album - I could not figure out?? 2HB?? perhaps he had a pencil in his hand when writing it .. then about 5 years later saw Casablanca for the first time, and it hit me half way thru the movie that THAT is what that damn Bryan Ferry song is about.. I couldn't believe it, drove my flat-mate crazy trying to explain .. absolutely brilliant, now , thirty years and some lost loves later ... so sad!!

[PepperWhite62]

" Here's looking at you kid... ."

[BloggStandard]

It's a song that keeps on giving...

Roxy Music (then) just threw the 'rules' out of the window... this one invents everything anew. I clicked on it to hear the druming again (had not heard it in a while) and got so much more... the middle section is almost dub.

Cliche free music.

[alexejevna]

seems we have similar experiences due to love theme... 2HB is full of it... it tells a story of ending in my case.... always vanishing....but still is beautiful 'till bones....

[MrEnderby1]

Whole point about living in 2009 is we don't have to worry about movements any more, others fought the punk wars on our behalf. We can listen to a wonderful band like Roxy or Bowie or Clash or Nirvana or Pixies or for that matter Stravinsky or Philp Glass. We are one spoiled generation. So choose wisely. But God I love this song so much. Cough, lost virginity to it if you really want to know. It's all about Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca? To H.B.?

[paldengyatso]

@MrEnderby1 To Humprey Bogart...

[bitterfly77]

@MrEnderby1 I think you're being a little premature in thinking that we don't have to worry about movements anymore. Movements will be with us as long as there is civilization.

[honkydudeman]

@MrEnderby1 youve got time 2 make your stamp on this country ,go 4 it young guns ,.,.fight for the rights of the humble person ,ourf uture is in your hands ,britain needsyou ,its all gone tits up ,,,???

[goodboypye]

my first love sang this for me... so sad, so full of hidden meanings, i cried after and couldnt look at him....

[throbule]

Sheer unadultrated fcuking magic!!!!!!

[fullredplatinum]

well said, I don't know how old you are but since I was born in 1988, I haven't seen any kind of new movement all that the last 2 decades have produced musically is alternative 2 decades and only one movement back in the day there was a new movement every 5 years, all the major cultural movements happened b4 my generation it's like we have almost nothing to say to our children it's like Oh how were the 90's dad and how were the 10's and all I can say is the same boring shit

[throbule]

Well I'm a bit older than you but I so agree with what you're saying. I get most of my listening pleasures from pre 85 stuff and African music nowadays (oh and of course Roxy). Let's hope there's another music revolution coming soon because it's all sooooo bland right now. I think 'POP' really has eaten itself.

[Jaffe33]

Well said, and I was born in 1989.

[ajhoncantara]

Early Roxy is timeless. "Fade away never"

[vinto34]

This is the classic roxy...the later stuff like avalon oh yeah etc got too much air play which ruins a song as people hear it too much and tire of it.....too commercial....not like these glam classics.

[loufador]

it's sad that this song has 40.500 views while other way worst get million.. anyway awesome song, 5 stars and favorite list

[hanselkksc]

Maybe it's sad but it's also logical. You can't expect that Mr.Average estimates Roxy and Ferry. So i think that you, me & the rest of the 40.500 here should feel privileged and honoured to "see/hear/understand" what the common musiclover is unable to

[loufador]

totally agree mate. :)

[rosaire0]

But that's the beauty of it. Like wearing jewels in white gold or platinum. Only the knowlegeable person can tell it's not silver, nor stainless steel! Leave the idiots in their ignorance. The world is better off for it.

[unclebeasley]

Absolutely, a Very Fun Song.

[makkister]

i agree w/everyone of you guys, this is the killerest song of a band which composed only killer songs - i'm addicted to them

[elvisjulep]

This is in the top five of any true Roxy fan's list. I have loved this song from the first time I heard it and can listen to it repeatedly...it lingers ever.

[fuckamericanidiot]

does that mean if you love them to bits but are not fussed on this song then you're not really a fan?

[elvisjulep]

You're taking the comment FAR too literally. Lighten up and enjoy the song.

[fuckamericanidiot]

k sorry

[paulipavilion]

Agreed, another Roxy masterpiece. There's an even better version of 2HB on another album, but I can't recall which album. It's better-produced, with richer vocals and a sparser arrangement. Evokes a real lounge setting. It's brilliant. Anyone heard it?

[Cormecane]

It`s on the Album "Lets stick togheter" from Bryan Ferry (1976).... a great Album with is own style..... and many "new" performed Songs from Roxy......

[thistexaspoet]

This has to be one of the greatest songs ever written.

[milk115]

oh eno why did you ever leave roxy ,,,,by far your finest moment ,,,you robbed me of your brilliance ,, oh,what could have been

[spartak20]

BRILLIANT!

[milk115]

roxy at there finest ...first two albums just blow me away ,,discover here comes the warm jets eno at his rawest best

[sirPUNKsir]

my favorite Roxy tune by a long shot!

I've just reworked the video of Remake/remodel (the one at the royal college of arts in 72)If you are a fan give it a peek and tell me what you think ;)

[whataboutbuzz]

I sing to all his songs but how can I. I'm glad i can feel, a consolation at best

[yootubehd]

This one of the best songs in the Universe.

It never gets old listening to it through VERY expensive speakers.

[Onlydreamin1959]

I tend to appreciate the less recognizable Roxy songs. I've listened to this over and over again. I t is a groundbreaking piece of music, yet it didn't get the recognition it deserved. This band was popular, but didn't get the accolades it desereved as being ahead of it's time, having great vocals whle doing so,and possibly rivaliing Bowie in the Glsm category.

[bundleHastings]

@Onlydreamin1959 - In what way is it groundbreaking? I totally love the song, don't get me wrong, but why groundbreaking?

[Onlydreamin1959]

@bundleHastings I

I haven't been on You Tube for months. However, your comment lured me back and then I will go back into hiding. This was the birth of punk. It wasn't the Sex Pistols, it was artists who took a chance long before that. This would be considered pop today, but at the time, it was a revolution. Just listen to those strings. If the song was familar to you , it would be no big deal. But it was to me and a lot of other people. Cheers!

[GretlFilm]

pfuck'tastic!!:P

[goddollars]

unhindered brilliance.

[bitch7719]

my favorite song of roxy music :DD

[TheLast0000]

roxy music was so amazing!!!! this first album is truly a landmark. technically innovative, intellectually complex, and emotionally raw. it's a shame that this band is not recognized to the degree that they deserve.

[piler55]

Earlier comment by mischafuredi thinking that the lyrics were related to geometry RE:"Here's looking at Euclid" (the so called father of Geometry). I also had similar thoughts for years and thought that the title "2HB" was in relation to pencil lead hardness (you geometrical drawing, pencil lead). Can't believe how far off the mark I was, "Dumbo"!

[cognitivetriad]

One of my all-time favorites.

[TroyaE117]

Fiendishly difficult to drum, I mean to drum it perfectly.

[roxyepoxy1988]

this is a song that has been in my life for a long time...it still melts my heart every time i hear it

[ChomFa]

Me too roxyepoxy. Even though it was a tribute to Bogie, to me it will always be my "torch song" to one of the greatest ladies I ever knew.

Angie...."Here's looking at you kid, hard to forget."

AM 1952-1978

[lebleufleur]

...is looking at you boy ...

[4N3Y]

They have quite a post-punk image in some of the photos.

They must surely have had an influence? Great song

[fullredplatinum]

Well I wouldn't say they had an influence on anything punk as they were originally glam rock singers. The punk movement came against glam rock just as glam rock was against the rock forms of the 60's. This is basically what happened in the music industry we have one generation of rock then a new one that tries to overthrow the old one.

[kaninz]

A timeless ode to a timeless and oh so human story. "Fade away never" indeed.

[paulthepill]

someday someones gonna wake up end realise these early roxy l.p,s are absolute classics, real killers...an era never to be repeated.thankyou so much for posting.

[mousemousedogmouse]

This is one of my funeral songs. The other two are 'Five Years' by David Bowie and 'Blowin' in the wind' by Bob Dylan

[pietmk]

your not my sister arent you ?

for my funeral ??? I think "Visions of Johanna" by Bob D. that would be apropriate.

[mousemousedogmouse]

I might just be! Maybe we should have a DNA test . . . or just add each other as friends on Youtube!

[DocOfAreaology]

Five Years and 2HB are MY funeral songs! LOL! Whoa that's weird someone else have these two picked out!

[themlo]

whoa those are my two funeral songs crazy. lols they are wonderful songs its good to hear other people appreciate them.

[mousemousedogmouse]

Well, if you know both songs, then surely it's logical you would recognise their brilliance and make them your funeral songs, so it's not so strange after all!!

[lebleufleur]

celebrate years

[aic6702]

The correct name for this song is "2HB" which stands for "To Humphrey Bogart" so it's a dedication to him primarily and Hollywood.

[corinnebrandonarnold]

does anyone know why sometimes this song is called 13.2HB?? what is the correct title?

[rideherover]

Wow I love this song so much. I can't get enough of it. This band is so talented. They are totally my favorite.

[BobbyMacaroni]

Yes!

[stuckinthestation]

ayy, you're right!!! anyway, he's at his finest.

[stuckinthestation]

david thompson's drumming is disgustingly beautiful :)

[bambisince1988]

it was paul thompsonm or so i thought

[geordiejohnh]

Loved this track when I was a kid of 15 - and it's still amazing - so much feeling in a simple song.

It even got me watchin' CASABLANCA - the old bogart movie where He played the hero Bryan was singin' about "Here's lookin' at you Kid".

Still an amazin' song.

anyone got any recodings of when they appeared on FULL HOUSE?

[dilzappa]

This also appeared on a Bryan Ferry solo LP...Let's stick together (3rd album) when he was good.

[carter2505]

fade away never !!!

[carter2505]

Great song and bloody excellent memories!

[slapdashus]

Too bad the pic doesn't reflect the band membership at the time of recording: no ENO? COME ON!

[biotonk]

there is a brief pic of the time appropriate band ... but i guess your right there should be more old photos

[minutegongcoughs]

Re. these Syd comments. That's another issue, another time another place. He was the special man. This is Roxy Music the masters of Pun. Terrific track.

[pseignette]

I forgot this song until I heard it again on the Control sountrack. I'm so glad I bought that cd :D

[jamierourketen]

hers lookin at you kid,bogart famous line from casablanca

[jamierourketen]

to humphry bogart

[crapsodia]

lOS PAPAS FRITAS!!!

GRUPAZO

[thelaughingduck2001]

SYD BARRETT

[crapidious]

syd barret? if it weren`t for his association with acid (wooh, drugs! he MUST be interesting), he wouldn`t even be a footnote to english music. Have you listened to "the madcap laughs"? Not more than once, I`ll bet.

[thelaughingduck2001]

i was merely correcting someone else's spelling error.

however, i have listened to both 'the madcap laughs' and 'barrett' many times. i do agree with your point that he wouldn't have been as 'big' without acid, but to be fair he has proven to a musical inspiration to countless musicians, not to mentioned Pink Floyd post-Syd.

So he can't be all that bad.

[crapidious]

You`re right of course. I was a bit drunk and in a bit of a stupid mood last night. I actually love early Floyd as much as post-Syd Floyd. But i stand by my comments on his solo work. Effervescing elephant? I think you know what i mean!

[thelaughingduck2001]

yeah, agreed with EE, but Octopus, Dark Globe, Baby Lemonade, She Took A Long Cold Look At Me, and loads of other good tracks mean, to me at least, Syd Barrett's solo stuff is well worth a listen.

[crapidious]

I`d forgotten Baby lemonade (it`s been a long time and my memory`s shot to bits) - but you`re right again! It`s a shame I only remember the bad ones. Thanks to you, I`ll have to give him another listen after all these years.

[thelaughingduck2001]

fair play to you, most of the people on youtube would have started typing 'mum' insults by now lol.

[crapidious]

It has all been a ploy to lull you into a false sense of security. Actually, your mother... only joking, nice one mate.

[ladylegolaska]

I just love this "bored" voice... could listen to it for hours

[mischafuredi]

Actually when I first heard it, I thought it was a song about geometry. Here's looking at Euclid.

[jjaamm999]

whats a Euclid?

[Nigredo]

Euclid was a "who" not a "what". He is the father of geometry.

[theflyingglove]

haha nice line

[xwsftassell]

Now that was funny.

[650monza]

I like the version on Ferry's solo album "Let's Stick Together" the best.

[BassVirtual]

more like, Ray, here's lookin' at you, kid. >:D!

[mischafuredi]

Taken me 26 years to realise that 2HB might also be ajoke about how Roxy Music were "art house" rock as well as being a song dedicated to Humphrey Bogart.

[erkierkierki]

indeed. my thanks to the authors of Control soundtrack, and Ian of course.

[icon057]

its spelled syd barrett

...this was written about Humphrey Bogart

HB....get it?

[ChrisCollins1016]

Damn, Roxy was brilliant right out of the chute, weren't they?

Bryan, here's lookin' at you, kid.

[TroyaE117]

A difficult drum track. Not too difficult to simulate, but try getting it all correct, every beat. I have been trying for 35 years.

[planetery]

Totally. One of the coolest drum parts EVER.