“Love My Way” by The Psychedelic Furs

“Love My Way” is one of those defiant love songs in which, as implied in the second verse leading into the third, the vocalist and addressee are apparently doing their mutual thing against the criticism of others. 

Or perhaps Richard Butler, who sings and co-wrote this piece, may describe it as a ‘song of love’ instead of a love song. And that may be an ample description, in that from his perspective this was not meant to be your run-of-the-mill romantic piece.

Instead, this may be the earliest song we have thus far come across which was written in support of the gay community. But this was during the early 1980s, when what was acceptable in the music industry was noticeably different than it is today. 

So it wouldn’t necessarily be easy to figure out said backdrop solely based on the lyrics. But Richard Butler has clarified that such is the case.

Therefore, from his perspective the reason the vocalist’s romance with the addressee is being persecuted is because it is a homosexual one. And what the former is putting forth, first as far as the chorus goes, is that he’s the type of person who ‘follows where his mind goes’. We we will take that, in context, to mean that Richard is intent on doing his own thing regardless of how others may feel. 

But secondly – and we can also say relatedly – he is telling his lover not to get bent out of shape due to the way people may treat them. Or as he puts it, “you can never win or lose if you don’t run the race”. This means that he’s willing to give their romance a chance, in spite of all challenges, to see where it goes and is likewise encouraging the addressee.

The Psychedelic Furs

The Psychedelic Furs are a group from late 1970s’ London that specializes in a genre from that era known as post-punk. This may not be a band that many of us outside of the UK have heard of, but they’re still around to this day and circa the early 1990s scored a number of notable hits in the United States.

“Love My Way”, which Columbia Records released on 1 June 1982, stands as one of The Psychedelic Furs’ most-successful singles from their early history. At that point in their tenure, this song marked the highest they ever reached on the UK Singles Chart, where it peaked at number 42. 

It also charted in a couple of other countries, including the US, where it appeared on the Cashbox Top 100 in addition to Billboard’s Dance Music/Club Play and Mainstream Rock list. But where this song fared most impressively on a single ranking was in New Zealand. In NZ, it made it onto the top 10 of the RIANZ Singles Chart.

Facts about “Love My Way”

The two constant members throughout the years The Psychedelic Furs have been extant are frontman Richard Butler and his little brother, bassist Tim Butler. Both are officially acknowledged as writers of “Love My Way” alongside their bandmates at that time, John Ashton (guitars) and Vince Ely (drums). 

And the producer of the track is an American musician by the name of Todd Rundgren. Moreover, this song is featured on the group’s third album, “Forever Now”, also acting as the lead single from that project.

This track does have its own video, which Tim Pope directed and that did get airplay during the early days of MTV.  And that would perhaps account for why this track marked The Psychedelic Furs’ first chart success in the United States.

It has been noted that the instrumental of this song is unconventionally led by a marimba, which is an old world instrument that resembles a xylophone.

Amongst the pop media usages this tune has enjoyed was being featured on the 2017 gay romance film “Call Me by Your Name”. And it was well received by fans of the flick – so much so that “Love My Way” subsequently set a personal record in terms of its weekly downloads.

Other instances in which this track has been utilized in movies include Nicolas Cage’s 1983 film Valley Girl and Adam Sandler’s 1998 flick The Wedding Singer. To note, it also made an appearance on the ever popular Grand Theft Auto videogame series and more specifically on its 2002 Vice City installment.