Last week, Jim (NewEpicAuthor, A Unique Title For Me) set a theme of noise (my choice). This week, theme of primary directions.

I’m taking a bit of a chance this week. When I thought about Jim’s prompt, a song came to me which stems from my mid-teens (1985, to be exact). I loved this song at the time, and have enjoyed it ever since. I hope you will, too.

Now, it is not a blockbuster song. It’s not even my normal type of music. I first heard it when it hit the regular charts, so it was getting airplay on the popular stations, and it is a tune which just stuck with me. The band who performed it, Dream Academy, were not particularly well known – we’d all (myself included!) struggle to name any of their other songs. It only reached #15 in the UK, although it was better-received in the USA, where it reached #7 on Billboard (so maybe there’s a small chance you remember it?) I’ve also heard samples of the tune on more recent music. Regardless, I loved it.

The song was written by band members Nick Laird-Clowes and Gilbert Gabriel as an elegy to a UK folk musician called Nick Drake, who influenced the band but who died in 1974. The sleeve of the single also contained a commemoration to Drake. It fits with Jim’s prompt so I will present it today. My choice is Life In A Northern Town by Dream Academy. Tell me what you think.

Incidentally I am not absolutely sure, but I believe that the video location was Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire.

The Salvation Army band played
And the children drunk lemonade
And the morning lasted all day, all day
And through an open window came
Like Sinatra in a younger day
Pushing the town away, oh

Ah hey ma ma mommy doo-din-nie-ya
Ah hey ma ma ma hey-y-yah
Life in a northern town
Ah hey ma ma ma ma

They sat on the stoney ground
And he took a cigarette out
And everyone else came down to listen
He said in winter 1963
It felt like the world would freeze
With John F. Kennedy
And The Beatles

Yeah, yeah
Ah hey ma ma mommy doo-din-nie-ya
Ah hey ma ma ma hey-y-yah
Life in a northern town
Hey ma ma ma ma
Ah hey ma ma ma
Ah hey ma ma ma hey-y-yah
All the work shut down

The evening turned to rain
Watched the water roll down the drain
As we followed him down to the station
And though he never would wave goodbye
You could see it written in his eyes
As the train rolled out of sight…bye-bye

Ah hey ma ma mommy doo-din-nie-ya
Ah hey ma ma ma hey-y-yah
Life in a northern town
Ah hey ma ma ma ma
Ah hey ma ma mommy doo-din-nie-ya
Ah hey ma ma ma hey-y-yah
Life in a northern town

Ah hey ma ma ma ma
Ah hey ma ma mommy doo-din-nie-ya
Ah hey ma ma ma hey-y-yah
Ah hey ma ma ma ma
Take it easy on yourself
Ah hey ma ma mommy doo-din-nie-ya
Ah hey ma ma ma hey-y-yah

Nick Laird-Clowes and Gilbert Gabriel