The Belle of St. Mark
The belle of St. Mark was a fair but a passionate creature ebony hair and eyes of deep blue-green The belle of St. Mark wore clothes that belonged to his father even though he was only a mere seventeen
Chorus:
I´m in love I´m in love I´m in love with the belle of St. Mark. It tears me apart whenever I hear him cry. I´m in love I´m in love I´m in love with the belle of St. Mark And if he doesn´t love me I think I´ll probably die.
You can tell from expressions that he makes public that he suffers from a badly broken heart. He smiles as he feeds the afternoon pigeons but he cries as he walks the night streets of St. Mark
Chorus
Bridge: The belle of St. Mark he don´t talk to strangers He´s so mysterious His erotic persuasion provokes me like no other man The fire I have for him is undoubtably serious (spoken): I must make him see that he needs love to forget And if anyone can help him, I can I can help. I can help you.
His Paris hair blows in the warm Parisian air It blows whenever his Paris hair is there The woman who hurt him surely must have trouble sleeping ´cause the belle of St. Mark is a beauty extraordinaire
― Grandpont Genie, Wednesday, 27 June 2007 10:17 (eighteen years ago)
an eighties classic, and a song I have always found most mysterious. Why is a man referred to as a "belle"? Should it not be "beau"?
― Grandpont Genie, Wednesday, 27 June 2007 10:19 (eighteen years ago)
and what is Paris hair?
― blueski, Wednesday, 27 June 2007 10:20 (eighteen years ago)
Simon Bates predicted that it would be a number one. It peaked at #18.
― Marcello Carlin, Wednesday, 27 June 2007 10:34 (eighteen years ago)
I like the spoken word bit, there seemed to be lot of that at the time (see also Pat Benatar).
don't recall the video at all.
― Grandpont Genie, Wednesday, 27 June 2007 10:36 (eighteen years ago)
classic
― Alan, Wednesday, 27 June 2007 10:38 (eighteen years ago)
"The Glamorous Life" should have been number one forever.
Dale did play "The Belle of St Mark" once on POTP. His comment: "Good record, that."
― Marcello Carlin, Wednesday, 27 June 2007 10:39 (eighteen years ago)
Sheila E's The Belle of St. Mark < Scarlet Fantastic's No Memories tho
― Alan, Wednesday, 27 June 2007 10:39 (eighteen years ago)
(for randomness's sake)
Oh that's one of those songs that has an intro where you go "I don't know this one..... oh it's that old thing!"
(No Memory, I mean)
― Mark G, Wednesday, 27 June 2007 10:44 (eighteen years ago)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzla7xofxes Sheila E. "The Belle of St. Mark (Parisian Air Remix)"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW5phls41vI Scarlet Fantastic
there is no connection, except the one in my head
― Alan, Wednesday, 27 June 2007 10:52 (eighteen years ago)
'Belle Of St. Mark' used to get late 80s Capital airplay as if it had been much bigger. i heard it a lot for a non-top 10 hit.
― blueski, Wednesday, 27 June 2007 10:58 (eighteen years ago)
the glamorous life ep from which this song comes is a damn fine -- nearly perfect -- record. there should be more discussion on ILM about "next time wipe the lipstick off your collar."
― fact checking cuz, Wednesday, 27 June 2007 14:41 (eighteen years ago)
A great song, my favorite on that record. You can hear Prince's guide vocal on the chorus.
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Wednesday, 27 June 2007 15:24 (eighteen years ago)
ep? mini album no? i mean i don't want to split hairs.
― pisces, Wednesday, 27 June 2007 17:16 (eighteen years ago)
The cover band of my dreams plays "The Belle..." in a Chuck Berry-type arrangement. It would be perfect.
― The Deacon, Wednesday, 27 June 2007 17:17 (eighteen years ago)
this is my all-time favorite Jamie Starr production. it's also my favorite latter-day girl-group homage/ripoff.
― Matos W.K., Wednesday, 27 June 2007 18:04 (eighteen years ago)
Mark G. OTM - I thought I didn't know this and then "oh yeah..." the lightbulb came on.
― Bimble, Thursday, 28 June 2007 02:53 (eighteen years ago)
This song should never have to go eight years between having its brilliance acknowledged.
― rhymes with "blondie blast" (cryptosicko), Monday, 20 June 2016 03:03 (nine years ago)
it is perfect
― fact checking cuz, Monday, 20 June 2016 05:31 (nine years ago)
Like Grandpont Genie, I've always found it curious that the "belle" in the song is a young man... My guess is that Prince originally wrote for himself, with the song being sung about a woman, but when she decided to give it to Sheila, they changed the pronouns but for some reason they couldn't be arsed to change the "belle" bit. Though IMO the gender change (if that is indeed what happened) makes the song more interesting, because there are a lot of tropes used to describe the belle that are stereotypically associated with women (wearing the parent's clothes, hair blowing in the wind, crying of a broken heart, being a "passionate creature"), which makes him an interestingly feminine (but not gay, apparently) figure.
― Tuomas, Monday, 20 June 2016 23:16 (nine years ago)
This would be a perfect theme song for a bishounen anime.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 20 June 2016 23:36 (nine years ago)
this song should never have to go nine years between having its brilliance acknowledged.
― fact checking cuz, Monday, 14 April 2025 18:49 (ten months ago)
Rather. I'm surprised I didn't post on here already, I remember hearing it a few times on the radio then and wondering why it wasn't a bigger hit.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 14 April 2025 18:56 (ten months ago)
Oh wait I did. Well I stand by that earlier assessment.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 14 April 2025 18:57 (ten months ago)