Life in a Northern Town

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"Life in a Northern Town"
Single by the Dream Academy
from the album The Dream Academy
B-side
  • "Test Tape No. 3"
  • "Poised on the Edge of Forever"
Released12 March 1985
Recorded1984
Genre
Length4:19
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
The Dream Academy singles chronology
"Life in a Northern Town"
(1985) 		"The Edge of Forever"
(1985)
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 debut studio album, The Dream Academy. Written by Nick Laird-Clowes and Gilbert Gabriel,[5] the song was produced by Laird-Clowes and Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour.[5][6]

"Life in a Northern Town" 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,[7] the US,[8] and Ireland.[9]

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. We started it and when we got to the verse melody, there was something about it that reminded me of Nick Drake."[6][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]

"Life in a Northern Town" was dedicated to singer-songwriter Nick Drake, who died in 1974.[6][16] Laird-Clowes said he wrote the song on the guitar that Drake had been holding on the cover of his 1971 album Bryter Layter.[17]

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."[12] Other lyrics mention the Younger Days of Frank Sinatra, the assassination of John F. Kennedy and The Beatles.

Release

"Life in a Northern Town" was released as a single in 1985. It was included as a track on the band's self-titled album.[5] The single peaked at number seven on the US charts[18] and number 15 on the UK charts.

Two videos were released to promote the single.[6] The earlier version features the group performing the song in various locations in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire.[19] 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.[20]

A new version, sung by Justin Hayward and Mike Batt with backing from the LSO, was released in March 2025. [21]

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]

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

Personnel

Credits sourced from "One Two Testing" and Mix.[25][26]

The Dream Academy

Additional musicians

Chart history

Weekly Charts

Chart (1985–1986) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[27] 4
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[28] 7
Ireland (IRMA)[29] 9
UK Singles (OCC)[30] 15
US Billboard Hot 100[31] 7
U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks 7
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks[32] 2

Year-end charts

Year-end chart (1985) Position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[33] 38
Year-end chart (1986) Position
US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)[34] 78

Sugarland version

"Life in a Northern Town"
Song by Sugarland featuring Little Big Town and Jake Owen
from the album Love on the Inside
Released2008
Recorded2007
GenreCountry
Length4:14
LabelMercury 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.[35]

This performance was included on the Deluxe Fan Edition of Sugarland's 2008 album Love on the Inside[35] 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,[36] Best Country Collaboration with Vocals at the 51st Grammy Awards,[37] and Vocal Event of the Year at the 44th Annual Academy of Country Music awards.[38]

Chart positions

Chart (2008) Peak
position
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[39] 53
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[40] 28
US Billboard Hot 100[41] 43

Other versions

Cultural references

  • The song is used as the theme for Buckley's Angel in King of the Hill Season 3, Episode 23 entitled "Wings Of The Dope".

References

  1. ^ "Top 20 Most Beautiful Songs of the 80s". Listverse. 6 February 2008.
  2. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Various Artists - Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Hits of the 80's, Vol. 15 (1995) Review at AllMusic. Retrieved March 12, 2025.
  3. ^ Monger, James Christopher. "The Dream Academy – Artist Biography". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  4. ^ Durcholz, Daniel; Orski, Allan (1998). "The Dream Academy". In Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds.). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Detroit: Visible Ink Press. p. 361.
  5. ^ a b c "Life in a Northern Town by The Dream Academy". SongFacts.com.
  6. ^ a b c d Simpson, Dave (8 April 2024). "'I wrote it in a bedsit on Nick Drake's guitar': how the Dream Academy made Life in a Northern Town". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  7. ^ "Dream Academy". Official Charts. The Official UK Charts Company.
  8. ^ "The Dream Academy". Billboard.
  9. ^ "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". www.irishcharts.ie.
  10. ^ Higgons, Keith R. (23 February 2021). "Song of the Day — February 23".
  11. ^ a b Michaels, Randolph (2005). Flashbacks to Happiness: Eighties Music Revisited. iUniverse. p. 56. ISBN 978-0-595-37007-8.
  12. ^ a b Dellar, Fred (13 May 2022). "MOJO Time Machine: Dream Academy Break Big With Life In A Northern Town". Mojo. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  13. ^ Robbins, Patrick (16 November 2012). "Five Good Covers: Life In A Northern Town (The Dream Academy)". Cover Me.
  14. ^ Bein, Kat (7 April 2017). "Tritonal 'Hey MaMaMa' Turns Familiar '80s Sample into Dance Floor Gold: Listen". Billboard.
  15. ^ "'Life in a Northern Town' sheet music". MusicNotes.com. 25 August 2008. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  16. ^ McNair, James (26 March 1999). "Apprentice to the stars". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 14 June 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
  17. ^ Hannam, Sean (21 February 2024). "The Dream Academy's Nick Laird-Clowes talks to SDE – SuperDeluxeEdition". Super Deluxe Edition. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  18. ^ "All US Top 40 Singles for 1986". Top40Weekly.com. 31 December 1986.
  19. ^ "80s Life In A Northern Town". Hebden Bridge Web. 18 May 2011. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  20. ^ "The Dream Academy: Life in a Northern Town, Version 2". IMDb. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  21. ^ https://justinhayward.com/blogs/news/justin-hayward-with-mike-batt-life-in-a-northern-town-official-lyric-video
  22. ^ Holden, Stephen (2 April 1986). "THE POP LIFE; FROM DREAM ACADEMY, BEATLES-STYLE ART ROCK". The New York Times.
  23. ^ Jamison, Darren (7 March 2023). "100 Greatest Songs from 1986 - Singersroom.com".
  24. ^ "The 13 greatest pop songs (from a classical music perspective)". Classic FM.
  25. ^ Colbert, Paul (November 1985). "Academic Qualification: The Dream Academy". One Two Testing (Nov 1985): 24–25.
  26. ^ "Classic Tracks: "Life in a Northern Town," Dream Academy". mixonline.com. August 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  27. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (Illustrated ed.). St. Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 96. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. N.B. the Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid 1983 and 19 June 1988.
  28. ^ "Canada peak". Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  29. ^ "Search for Irish peaks". Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  30. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  31. ^ "The Dream Academy Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  32. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–2001. Record Research. p. 82.
  33. ^ "Kent Music Report No 599 – 30 December 1985 > National Top 100 Singles for 1985". Kent Music Report. Retrieved 23 January 2023 – via Imgur.
  34. ^ "1986 The Year in Music & Video: Top Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 98, no. 52. 27 December 1986. p. Y-21.
  35. ^ a b "Sugarland Adds "Life in a Northern Town" to New CD". CMT. 4 June 2008. Archived from the original on 8 June 2008. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
  36. ^ "Stars Shining Over CMAs". Great American Country. 11 September 2008. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
  37. ^ "Alison Krauss, Robert Plant Score at Grammys". Great American Country. 4 December 2008. Archived from the original on 9 December 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2008.
  38. ^ "Academy of Country Music nominees". Academy of Country Music. 11 February 2009. Archived from the original on 27 February 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2009.
  39. ^ "Sugarland Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard.
  40. ^ "Sugarland Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
  41. ^ "Sugarland Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  42. ^ "The Day After Yesterday - Rick Springfield | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic.

Further reading