Life in a Northern Town
"Life in a Northern Town" | ||||
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File:The Dream Academy - Life In A Northern Town.jpg | ||||
Single by the Dream Academy | ||||
from the album The Dream Academy | ||||
Released | March 1985 | |||
Recorded | 1984 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 4:19 | |||
Label |
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Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) |
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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 is from their 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,[3] the song was produced by Laird-Clowes with help from Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour.[3] The single reached No. 7 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in February 1986. It is the band's highest charting single in the UK,[4] the US,[5] and Ireland.[6] A cover version released in 2008 and recorded live by the American country music artists Sugarland, Little Big Town, and Jake Owen was also a minor American hit that year.
Contents
Original version
The Dream Academy released the original version of "Life in a Northern Town" as a single in 1985. The song appeared on their self-titled album.[3] The single peaked at number seven on the US charts.[7]
Composition
"Life in a Northern Town" was written as an elegy to British folk musician Nick Drake, who died in 1974.[8][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]
The song, which took a year to record, includes elements of classical music, 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,[11] and hints of psychedelia.[10] The song is written in the key of E major with a main chord pattern of E-Amaj7-E.[12]
Track listing
7" single
- "Life in a Northern Town" – 4:17
- "Test Tape No. 3" – 5:01
12" single
- "Life in a Northern Town" (Extended) – 5:19
- "Test Tape No. 3" – 5:03
- "Life in a Northern Town" (7" Mix) – 4:14
- "Poised on the Edge of Forever" – 3:32
Music video
Released in November 1985, the video features the group performing at a concert while clips play featuring footage of Newcastle upon Tyne, Manchester, and Aliquippa, Pennsylvania.[13]
Chart history
Chart (1985–86) | Peak position |
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Australia (Kent Music Report)[14] | 4 |
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[15] | 7 |
Ireland (IRMA)[16] | 9 |
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[17] | 15 |
US Billboard Hot 100[18] | 7 |
U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks | 7 |
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks[19] | 2 |
Year-end chart (1986) | Rank |
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US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)[20] | 78 |
Sugarland cover version
"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.[21]
This performance was included on the Deluxe Fan Edition of Sugarland's 2008 album Love on the Inside[21] 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,[22] Best Country Collaboration with Vocals at the 51st Grammy Awards,[23] and Vocal Event of the Year at the 44th Annual Academy of Country Music awards.[24]
Chart positions
Chart (2008) | Peak position |
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Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[25] | 53 |
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[26] | 28 |
US Billboard Hot 100[27] | 43 |
Other versions
- In 2005, Rick Springfield made a version of the song on the covers album The Day After Yesterday.[28]
References
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- ↑ 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.
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- ↑ "Archive Chart: 1985-04-14" UK Singles Chart.
- ↑ "The Dream Academy – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for The Dream Academy.
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- ↑ "Sugarland – Chart history" Canadian Hot 100 for Sugarland.
- ↑ "Sugarland – Chart history" Billboard Hot Country Songs for Sugarland.
- ↑ "Sugarland – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Sugarland.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
- Video of Sugarland version at CMT
- Articles with short description
- Use British English from July 2012
- Use dmy dates from January 2021
- Articles with invalid date parameter in template
- Pages with broken file links
- Singlechart usages for UK
- Singlechart called without artist
- Singlechart called without song
- Singlechart usages for Billboardcountrysongs
- 1984 songs
- 1985 debut singles
- 2008 singles
- Songs written by Nick Laird-Clowes
- The Dream Academy songs
- British new wave songs
- Baroque pop songs
- New wave ballads
- Rock ballads
- Pop ballads
- Sugarland songs
- Little Big Town songs
- Jake Owen songs
- Warner Records singles
- Mercury Records singles
- Song recordings produced by Byron Gallimore
- Blanco y Negro Records singles
- Music videos directed by Tim Pope
- Song recordings produced by David Gilmour
- Songs about England
- Songs about the United Kingdom
- Songs in memory of deceased persons
- Vocal collaborations