Market Square Heroes
| "Market Square Heroes" | ||||
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| Single by Marillion | ||||
| B-side | "Three Boats Down from the Candy" / "Grendel" | |||
| Released | 25 October 1982 (UK) | |||
| Format | 7", 12", picture disc | |||
| Recorded | Park Gate Studios, Battle, East Sussex, September/October 1982 | |||
| Length | 8:52 (7"), 26:07 (12") | |||
| Label | EMI | |||
| Producer(s) | David Hitchcock | |||
| Marillion singles chronology | ||||
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"Market Square Heroes" is the debut single by the British neo-progressive rock band Marillion, released in 1982 with "Three Boats Down from the Candy" as the B-side. The 12-inch single included an additional track, the 17:15-minute-long "Grendel", making it an EP in terms of overall length.
The A-side is an anthemic rock song whose lyric vaguely describes the rise of civil unrest under some charismatic leader in the face of increasing unemployment; the original title was "UB 2,000,001". According to Marillion's singer and lyricist Fish, the "market square hero" is a "would-be revolutionary with all the necessary charisma and presence of a leader without direction or goals, just a sense of frustration and anger". The track was the band's "first attempt at deliberately writing a hit record and a 'simple' rock song to juxtapose against our meandering but dynamic 'epics'."
Members of the band have attributed the inspiration behind the main character in the song lyrics to a person they knew in Aylesbury who went by the nickname of 'Brick'. In a 2009 interview, Mark Kelly stated: "I don't know whether Brick was a leftie, a militant or a skinhead but he was the inspiration for the character singing, "I'm a Market Square Hero" Fish made reference to this theme and introduced Brick as a "leftie hero" before he performed the song with his former Marillion bandmates in Aylesbury at the 'Hobble on the Cobbles' concert in 2007. Brick died in 2011.
Musically, "Three Boats Down from the Candy" (the first song co-written by keyboardist Mark Kelly) and "Grendel" are more typical of the progressive rock style. "Grendel" is a long and complex composition that drew frequent (mostly unfavourable) comparisons with "Supper's Ready" by Genesis. As Fish himself admitted later,
"We were concerned about the similarity to the lengthy composition by Genesis called "Supper's Ready" which also meandered and burst into sections, the end one in particular, which would add conviction to the many critics opinions that Marillion were more than influenced by Genesis."
Inspired by John Gardner's novel Grendel, the lyric looks at the Beowulf myth from the perspective of the monster. Neither Marillion nor Fish have ever played the track live after 1983. In spite (or possibly because) of this, it developed into a cult favourite among die-hard fans; it is not uncommon to hear someone in the audience yell "Grendel!" at Marillion's or Fish's concerts even in the late 2000s.
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Wikipedia