Life in a Northern Town

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"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][5] 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,[6] the US,[7] and Ireland.[8]

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.

Original version

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[9] and number 15 on the UK charts.

Composition

Laird-Clowes has stated that the song is about the collapse of the shipping industry in the United Kingdom.[10]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.[11]

According to Nick Laird-Clowes, "We had the idea, even before we sat down, to write a folk song with an African-style chorus.[5] We started it and when we got to the verse melody, there was something about it that reminded me of Nick Drake."[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.[11] "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 said he wrote the song on a guitar that Nick Drake had been holding on one of his album covers, that Laird-Clowes "bought for £100 and still had his tuning ... I still have that guitar."[5]

Title

Laird-Clowes told Mojo that his mentor Paul Simon spurred him to come up with the title.[5] “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.”[12]

Dedication to Nick Drake

"Life in a Northern Town" was dedicated to Nick Drake, who died in 1974.[16][1][17]

Track listing

7" single

  1. "Life in a Northern Town" – 4:17
  2. "Test Tape No. 3" – 5:01

12" single

  1. "Life in a Northern Town" (Extended) – 5:19
  2. "Test Tape No. 3" – 5:03
  3. "Life in a Northern Town" (7" Mix) – 4:14
  4. "Poised on the Edge of Forever" – 3:32

Music video

Two videos were released to promote the single.[5] The earlier version features the group performing the song in various locations in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire.[18] 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.[19]

Personnel

Credits sourced from "One Two Testing" and Mix.[20][21]

The Dream Academy

Additional Musicians

Reception

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'".[22]

According to SingersRoom.com, the song's "haunting, ethereal melody and poetic lyrics...create a sense of wistfulness..."[23] ClassicFM.com describes the song as "brimming with nostalgia, something that's mainly achieved, somewhat unexpectedly, with the wistful sound of an oboe".[24]

Chart history

Weekly Charts

Chart (1985–1986) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[25] 4
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[26] 7
Ireland (IRMA)[27] 9
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[28] 15
US Billboard Hot 100[29] 7
U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks 7
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks[30] 2

Year-end Charts

Year-end chart (1985) Position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[31] 38
Year-end chart (1986) Position
US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)[32] 78

Sugarland cover version

Lua error in Module:Infobox at line 235: malformed pattern (missing ']'). 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.[33]

This performance was included on the Deluxe Fan Edition of Sugarland's 2008 album Love on the Inside[33] 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,[34] Best Country Collaboration with Vocals at the 51st Grammy Awards,[35] and Vocal Event of the Year at the 44th Annual Academy of Country Music awards.[36]

Chart positions

Chart (2008) Peak
position
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[37] 53
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[38] 28
US Billboard Hot 100[39] 43

Other versions

References

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Further reading

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External links

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. N.B. the Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid 1983 and 19 June 1988.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ "April 1985/ Archive Chart: 14 April 1985" UK Singles Chart.
  29. ↑ "The Dream Academy – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for The Dream Academy.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ "Sugarland – Chart history" Canadian Hot 100 for Sugarland.
  38. ↑ "Sugarland – Chart history" Billboard Hot Country Songs for Sugarland.
  39. ↑ "Sugarland – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Sugarland.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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