<P> "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" was arranged and conducted by John Altman and recorded at Chappell's Studio with a full orchestra and the Fred Tomlinson Singers . The song appeared on the film soundtrack album, listed as "Look on the Bright Side of Life (All Things Dull and Ugly)". The subtitle does not appear in the actual song, and is only used on the soundtrack album . "All Things Dull and Ugly" was also the title of an unrelated track on Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album (released only a few months later), which is a parody of the popular hymn "All Things Bright and Beautiful". The song was also released as a Double A side single with "Brian", the film's opening theme (performed by Sonia Jones). </P> <P> The song touched a chord with the British trait of stoicism and the' stiff upper lip' in the face of disaster, and became immensely popular . When the destroyer HMS Sheffield was struck by an Exocet cruise missile on 4 May 1982 in the Falklands War, her crew sang it while waiting to be rescued from their sinking ship, as did the crew of HMS Coventry, with the line from the song "Worse things happen at sea, you know" being especially ironic . </P> <P> When Chapman died on 4 October 1989, the five remaining Pythons, as well as Chapman's close friends and family, came together at his public memorial service to sing "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" as part of Idle's eulogy . In 2005, a survey by Music Choice showed that it was the third most popular song Britons would like played at their funerals . </P> <P> "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" was first issued as a single as a double A-side with "Brian" in the UK on 16 November 1979 to promote Monty Python's Life of Brian and its soundtrack album, but did not chart . Nine years later when the film was released on VHS, the song was reissued on 21 November 1988 in an edited form to remove profanity, with a full version of "Brian" on the B side . Once again it failed to chart . </P>

Monty python on the bright side of life