| Life in a Northern Town | |
| Cover: | The Dream Academy - Life In A Northern Town.jpg |
| Border: | yes |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | The Dream Academy |
| Album: | The Dream Academy |
| Released: | 12 March 1985 |
| Recorded: | 1984 |
| Genre: | |
| Length: | 4:19 |
| Next Title: | The Edge of Forever |
| Next Year: | 1985 |
"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.[9] Nick Laird-Clowes said he wrote it on a guitar that 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."
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-A-E.[15]
Laird-Clowes told Mojo that his mentor Paul Simon spurred him to come up with the title.[16] “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.[16] The earlier version features the group performing the song in various locations in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire.[17] 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.[18]
Credits sourced from "One Two Testing" and Mix.[19] [20]
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'".[21]
According to SingersRoom.com, the song's "haunting, ethereal melody and poetic lyrics...create a sense of wistfulness..."[22] ClassicFM.com describes the song as "brimming with nostalgia, something that's mainly achieved, somewhat unexpectedly, with the wistful sound of an oboe".[23]
| Chart (1985–1986) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[24] | 4 | |
| Canada Top Singles (RPM)[25] | 7 | |
| Ireland (IRMA)[26] | 9 | |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks | 7 | |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks[27] | 2 |
| Year-end chart (1985) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[28] | 38 | |
| Year-end chart (1986) | Position | |
| US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)[29] | 78 |
| Life in a Northern Town | |
| Artist: | Sugarland featuring Little Big Town and Jake Owen |
| Album: | Love on the Inside |
| Released: | 2008 |
| Recorded: | 2007 |
| Genre: | Country |
| Length: | 4:14 |
| Label: | Mercury Nashville |
| Producer: | 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.[30]
This performance was included on the Deluxe Fan Edition of Sugarland's 2008 album Love on the Inside[30] 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,[31] Best Country Collaboration with Vocals at the 51st Grammy Awards,[32] and Vocal Event of the Year at the 44th Annual Academy of Country Music awards.[33]
