Life in a Northern Town

"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,[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 and reached No. 15 on the UK charts. It is the band's highest charting single in the UK,[4] the US,[5] and Ireland.[6]

"Life in a Northern Town"
Single by The Dream Academy
from the album The Dream Academy
ReleasedMarch 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

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.[3] The single peaked at number seven on the US charts[7] and number 15 on the UK charts.

Composition

"Life in a Northern Town" was written as an elegy to British folk musician Nick Drake, who died in 1974.[1][8]

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.[9] 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."[10] Laird-Clowes has stated that the song is about the collapse of the shipping industry in the United Kingdom.[11]

The song includes elements of classical music,[12] 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),[13] and hints of psychedelia.[9] "Life in a Northern Town" is written in the key of E major with a main chord pattern of E-Amaj7-E.[14]

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.”[10]

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. The earlier version features the group performing the song in various locations in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire.[15] 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.[16]

Personnel

Credits sourced from "One Two Testing" and Mix.[17][18]

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'".[19]

According to SingersRoom.com, the song's "haunting, ethereal melody and poetic lyrics...create a sense of wistfulness..."[20] ClassicFM.com describes the song as "brimming with nostalgia, something that's mainly achieved, somewhat unexpectedly, with the wistful sound of an oboe".[21]

Weekly Charts
Chart (1985–1986) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[22] 4
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[23] 7
Ireland (IRMA)[24] 9
UK Singles (OCC)[25] 15
US Billboard Hot 100[26] 7
U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks 7
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks[27] 2

Year-end Charts
Year-end chart (1985)Position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[28] 38
Year-end chart (1986)Position
US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)[29] 78

Sugarland cover 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.[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]

Chart positions
Chart (2008) Peak
position
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[34] 53
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[35] 28
US Billboard Hot 100[36] 43

Other versions

The song was featured in the Season 3 King of the Hill episode "Wings of the Dope."[38]

References
  1. Monger, James Christopher. "The Dream Academy – Artist Biography". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  2. "Top 20 Most Beautiful Songs of the 80s". Listverse. 6 February 2008.
  3. "Life in a Northern Town by The Dream Academy". SongFacts.com.
  4. "Dream Academy". Official Charts. The Official UK Charts Company.
  5. "The Dream Academy". Billboard.
  6. "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". www.irishcharts.ie.
  7. "All US Top 40 Singles for 1986". Top40Weekly.com.
  8. McNair, James (26 March 1999). "Apprentice to the stars". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 14 June 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
  9. Michaels, Randolph (2005). Flashbacks to Happiness: Eighties Music Revisited. iUniverse. p. 56. ISBN 978-0-595-37007-8.
  10. Dellar, Fred (13 May 2022). "MOJO Time Machine: Dream Academy Break Big With Life In A Northern Town". Mojo. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  11. Higgons, Keith R. (23 February 2021). "Song of the Day — February 23".
  12. Robbins, Patrick (16 November 2012). "Five Good Covers: Life In A Northern Town (The Dream Academy)". Cover Me.
  13. Bein, Kat (7 April 2017). "Tritonal 'Hey MaMaMa' Turns Familiar '80s Sample into Dance Floor Gold: Listen". Billboard.
  14. "'Life in a Northern Town' sheet music". MusicNotes.com. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  15. "80s Life In A Northern Town". Hebden Bridge Web. 18 May 2011. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  16. "The Dream Academy: Life in a Northern Town, Version 2". IMDb. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  17. Colbert, Paul (November 1985). "Academic Qualification: The Dream Academy". One Two Testing (Nov 1985): 24–25.
  18. "Classic Tracks: "Life in a Northern Town," Dream Academy". mixonline.com. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  19. Holden, Stephen (2 April 1986). "THE POP LIFE; FROM DREAM ACADEMY, BEATLES-STYLE ART ROCK". NYTimes.com.
  20. Jamison, Darren (7 March 2023). "100 Greatest Songs from 1986 - Singersroom.com".
  21. "The 13 greatest pop songs (from a classical music perspective)". Classic FM.
  22. 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.
  23. "Canada peak". Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  24. "Search for Irish peaks". Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  25. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  26. "The Dream Academy Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  27. Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–2001. Record Research. p. 82.
  28. "Kent Music Report No 599 – 30 December 1985 > National Top 100 Singles for 1985". Kent Music Report. Retrieved 23 January 2023 – via Imgur.
  29. "1986 The Year in Music & Video: Top Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 98, no. 52. 27 December 1986. p. Y-21.
  30. "Sugarland Adds "Life in a Northern Town" to New CD". CMT. 4 June 2008. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
  31. "Stars Shining Over CMAs". Great American Country. 11 September 2008. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
  32. "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.
  33. "Academy of Country Music nominees". Academy of Country Music. 11 February 2009. Archived from the original on 27 February 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2009.
  34. "Sugarland Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard.
  35. "Sugarland Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
  36. "Sugarland Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  37. "The Day After Yesterday - Rick Springfield | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic.
  38. "King of the Hill: Wings of the Dope". 4 May 1999. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
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