April Showers - Abandon Ship (1984) + Lyrics

April Showers were a short-lived Glaswegian pop duo comprised of Jonathan Bernstein and Beatrice Colin. Releasing their only known single “Abandon Ship” on Big Star, a subsidiary of Chrysalis, in 1984 it quickly gained a cult following due to it’s sparkling production from Anne Dudley (Art of Noise) and string-heavy arrangements. This quality was echoed on B-side “Everytime We Say Goodbye” with the 12-inch featuring an instrumental of Abandon Ship. - Tunesbag

At the time Abandon Ship was released, she was the girlfriend of James Grant who was then part of Friends Again and later the lead in the acclaimed Love & Money - thevinylvillain

Beatrice Colin is also a novelist who also writes for radio. Her novel, The Luminous Life of Lilly Aphrodite (John Murray), has been published in the UK in July 2008 and in the US as The Glimmer Palace (Riverhead).

Beatrice was born in London and moved to Scotland as a child. After graduating from the University of Glasgow, she worked as a journalist for the arts and features pages of publications including The Scotsman, Sunday Herald and The Guardian. Her first novel, Nude Untitled, (Toby Press, 2000) was short-listed for a Saltire Award. Her second, Disappearing Act (Toby Press, 2001) was published in the US. She has written six plays and dramatised three novels for BBC Radio 4, and her short stories have been broadcast and published in anthologies and literary magazines such as Ontario Review and The London Magazine.

She has taught creative writing for Strathclyde University’s English Studies Dept and for Glasgow University’s Department of Adult and Continuing Education, and completed her doctorate in 2008. She currently works at Strathclyde University as a Royal Literary Fund Fellow. She lives in Glasgow with her two children.

Abandon Ship 7″
1984
APRIL SHOWERS
Jonatahn Bernstein/Beatrice Colin

TRACK LISTING

Side one: Abandon Ship .

Side two: Everytime We Say Goodbye .

Beatrice Colin of April Showers

NWU Bonus

1. "Abandon Ship [Abandon Ship 12" 1984]
2. "Abandon Ship (Instrumental) [Abandon Ship 12" 1984]
3. "Abandon Ship (Extended)"
4. "Contrary To Pular Belief (..I Beg To Differ)" [While The City Sleeps]
5. "Alone Means Perfect" [While The City Sleeps]
6. "Wide Awake:Asleep All Day" [While The City Sleeps]

ABANDON SHIP

Midnight bells are ringing now,

Another year dissolves,

While everybody's hand in hand and singing now,

I don't feel too involved.

Clinging to my seat as others,

Laugh all long and loud,

Oh would you send me someone somewhere,

Who can help me escape from the crowd?

Abandon Ship,

Before my troubles,

Starts to rise above me,

Abandon Ship,

Why don't you come on in?

The water's lovely.

Take my hand and dance with me,

And please don't say a word,

All you have to do is take a chance with me,

I don't know if you've heard?

I might not be here tomorrow,

Might you surely plead,

So why not spend the time that isn't ours to borrow,

And before you speak.

Abandon Ship,

Before my troubles,

Starts to rise above me,

Abandon Ship,

Why don't you come on in?

The water's lovely.

Follow me I know a place where we could be,

All alone for a million years.

We could be,

It only take with destiny,

Close the door,

Make sure that no one hears.

Then one year and out the other,

We're running all our rest,

While everyone around me seems to run for cover,

I can't get out of bed.

Meet me here,

This time next year,

We must do this again,

While everybody else,

Is drowning in their tears,

I still remember when.

Abandon Ship,

Before my troubles,

Starts to rise above me,

Abandon Ship,

Why don't you come on in?

The water's lovely.

Abandon Ship,

Before my troubles,

Starts to rise above me,

Abandon Ship,

Why don't you come on in?

The water's lovely.