"Life in a Northern Town" | ||||
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Single by The Dream Academy | ||||
from the album The Dream Academy | ||||
Released | 12 March 1985 | |||
Recorded | 1984 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 4:19 | |||
Label |
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Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) |
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The Dream Academy singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Life in a Northern Town" on YouTube |
"Life in a Northern Town" is the debut single by British band The Dream Academy, released in March 1985. It appears on the band's self-titled debut studio album, The Dream Academy. The song was written as an elegy to British folk musician Nick Drake. Written by band members Nick Laird-Clowes and Gilbert Gabriel, [4] the song was produced by Laird-Clowes with help from Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour. [4] The single reached No. 7 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in February 1986 and reached No. 15 on the UK charts. It is the band's highest charting single in the UK, [5] the US, [6] and Ireland. [7]
American country music artists Sugarland, Little Big Town, and Jake Owen recorded a live cover version of "Life in a Northern Town" that became a minor U.S. hit in 2008.
The Dream Academy released the original version of "Life in a Northern Town" as a single in 1985. The song was included as a track on the band's self-titled album. [4] The single peaked at number seven on the US charts [8] and number 15 on the UK charts.
"Life in a Northern Town" was written as an elegy to British folk musician Nick Drake, who died in 1974. [1] [9]
Gilbert Gabriel, a member of the Dream Academy and co-writer of "Life in a Northern Town,” said that the inspiration for the tune came from his experience at Dartington College of Arts. [10] According to Nick Laird-Clowes, "We had the idea, even before we sat down, to write a folk song with an African-style chorus. We started it and when we got to the verse melody, there was something about it that reminded me of Nick Drake." [11] Laird-Clowes has stated that the song is about the collapse of the shipping industry in the United Kingdom. [12]
The song includes elements of classical music, [13] an "African-esque" chant of "hey ma ma ma ma” (which was later sampled by dance duo Dario G for their track " Sunchyme" and by the duo Tritonal), [14] and hints of psychedelia. [10] "Life in a Northern Town" is written in the key of E major with a main chord pattern of E-Amaj7-E. [15]
Laird-Clowes told Mojo that his mentor Paul Simon spurred him to come up with the title. “I played him the song and he asked, 'What are you going to call it – Ah Hey Ma Ma Ma?' I told him that we intended to name it 'Morning Lasted All Day.' 'That’s no good,' he said and so I came up with 'Life In A Northern Town,' which he thought was a great title.” [11]
7" single
12" single
Two videos were released to promote the single. The earlier version features the group performing the song in various locations in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire. [16] The second version, released in November 1985, features the group performing at a concert while clips play featuring footage of Newcastle upon Tyne, Manchester, and Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. [17]
Credits sourced from "One Two Testing" and Mix. [18] [19]
The Dream Academy
Additional Musicians
Stephen Holden of The New York Times described "Life in a Northern Town" as a "richly textured nostalgic ballad...that looks back warmly on 'winter 1963, when it felt like the world would freeze with John F. Kennedy and the Beatles'". [20]
According to SingersRoom.com, the song's "haunting, ethereal melody and poetic lyrics...create a sense of wistfulness..." [21] ClassicFM.com describes the song as "brimming with nostalgia, something that's mainly achieved, somewhat unexpectedly, with the wistful sound of an oboe". [22]
Chart (1985–1986) | Peak position |
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Australia ( Kent Music Report) [23] | 4 |
Canada Top Singles ( RPM) [24] | 7 |
Ireland ( IRMA) [25] | 9 |
UK Singles ( OCC) [26] | 15 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [27] | 7 |
U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks | 7 |
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks [28] | 2 |
Year-end chart (1985) | Position |
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Australia ( Kent Music Report) [29] | 38 |
Year-end chart (1986) | Position |
US Top Pop Singles (Billboard) [30] | 78 |
"Life in a Northern Town" | |
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Song by Sugarland featuring Little Big Town and Jake Owen | |
from the album Love on the Inside | |
Released | 2008 |
Recorded | 2007 |
Genre | Country |
Length | 4:14 |
Label | Mercury Nashville |
Songwriter(s) | Gilbert Gabriel Nick Laird-Clowes |
Producer(s) |
Byron Gallimore Sugarland |
The song was covered in 2007 by the country music duo Sugarland, along with Little Big Town and Jake Owen, on the Sugarland Change for Change Tour. A live performance from 2007 was made into a music video by Becky Fluke for the network Country Music Television. [31]
This performance was included on the Deluxe Fan Edition of Sugarland's 2008 album Love on the Inside [31] and on Capitol Records' late 2008 re-release of Little Big Town's 2007 album A Place to Land. It was nominated for Vocal Event of the Year at the Country Music Association awards, [32] Best Country Collaboration with Vocals at the 51st Grammy Awards, [33] and Vocal Event of the Year at the 44th Annual Academy of Country Music awards. [34]
Chart (2008) | Peak position |
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Canada ( Canadian Hot 100) [35] | 53 |
US Hot Country Songs ( Billboard) [36] | 28 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [37] | 43 |