Life In A Northern Town Lyrics
(written by: Nick Laird-Clowes & Gilbert Gabriel)
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A Salvation Army Band played
And 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
Ah-
(chant)
Ah hey ma ma ma
Life in a northern town.
They sat on the stoney ground
And he took out 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."
(Chant)
Ah- hey ma ma ma
Life in a northern town.
Ah hey ma ma ma
All the work shut down.
The evening had turned to rain
Watch 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 pulled out of sight
Bye-bye
(Chant)
Ah hey ma ma ma
Life in a northern town.
Ah hey ma ma ma
Life in a northern town.
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User Comments
14 comment(s) posted
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wtuffs
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23/10/2008
16:08:58
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I found this song on you-tube and listened to it many times, the chorus sounds to me like it goes more like
" Hey-o-ma ma ma
Me-did-e-nie-a
Hey-o-ma ma ma
Hey-A"
also I found an interview where they said this song was dedicated to the great acoustic performer Nick Drake who mixed folk music with classical orcastration and instruments, also The minimalist composer Steve Rike, and thier record label Classics for Pleasure. They then said it was produced by David Gilmore from "Pink Floyd"
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lyricist51
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03/06/2006
01:11:39
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Yes it's very reminiscent of Billy Joel's "Allentown" and to a lesser extent Art Garfunkel's "My Little Town".
It's funny how different artists have homed in on this facet of social life. I guess as we age we look back a lot on the times past, both good and bad. But it's usually the bad that sticks in your mind. Take for instance the reference in the song to the winter of '63. A winter of any degree will take on the deepest, darkest and bleak proportions if you are mentally down during that time, however.
As someone who battles depression on a daily basis I have a love hate relationship with these type of songs. I love the fact that the artist [sic] can paint such a vivid mental picture of whole townships languishing in their newly found poverty and realisation of destitution to come. A picture that should demonstrate how lucky many of us are that we have been spared such a fate.
However its that same picture that draws me to reflect upon my own life. If I let my mind drift too long, I can feel the spectral fingers of the suicide demon tickling my neck in an effort to get me to dance with him.
What did impress me was the comments made by other posters here, alluding to the fact that this song actually brought back good memories for them.
Best regards to all
Paul
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surfsup
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07/08/2005
17:45:31
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i had long forgotten about this song until i heard it playing on that commercial for contact lenses a few years ago. (i think it was AcuVue)... i was also determined to find out more about it, but it wasn't until i saw one of those informercials late at night for the "Pure Moods" cd, that i found out who sings it, etc... great song. it takes me back to my last weeks of college.
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wishyouwerehere
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02/08/2005
07:42:11
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So I first heard this watching King Of The Hill, too. It is kinda depressing once you get the meaning of it. Still, it is freaking awesome. Listen to it at night while driving on some backwoods road.
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wishyouwerehere
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02/08/2005
07:39:52
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Yep, so after watching King Of The Hill on dvd this song was stuck in my head. Great song to listen to while driving on a backroad on a warm night.
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hscali
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06/01/2005
00:52:59
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hey "slowwhand", i saw that episode of King Of The Hill the other night too (for the 2nd time), and it made me want to hear the song over and over again. This *is* a very pretty song..
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dawnmarie
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04/01/2005
04:46:56
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LUANNE: You are an angel! Unless you're just a hallucinogen of my mind. If you're really Buckley's Angel, then tell me something only the real Buckley would know.
BUCKLEY: Uh...you have a birthmark on your butt the shape of a Honda key.
LUANNE: You are a real angel!
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Christoph3D
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02/10/2004
20:58:52
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Back when the song was new and being played on the radio I heard a similar story about it being about a town in northern England with high unemployment, therefor people leaving on the train, the last line being "we'll get by girl" etc... haven't been able to verify that though. This song is great, great melody, a gem of the 80s that many people don't know about. How sad that it ended up on "King of the Hill".
I posted this thread here, but if anyone wants the full (and correct) lyrics, check out the other posting that can be found here at Leo's.
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djb80srocks
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03/11/2003
04:29:48
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I had heard this song was about a northern town in england, when PM Thatcher was in power. the town had high unemployement, etc and was economically depressed, and this song was about a bright day when everyone got together and enjoyed the day, etc..
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dhaffner
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16/08/2003
08:10:25
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Someone asked what this song means...
I was recently told that it is, in part, a tribute to
Nick Drake...a musician from the 60's and 70's.
Nick Drake wrote a song called "Northern Sky" which
was used in the movie Serendipity.
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greenjello
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26/05/2003
17:56:03
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Slowwhand -
I had to post something on this thread after reading what you said about King of the Hill.. I was pretty sure that i had heard the song before, but just like you, after i saw the "Buckly's Angel" Episode of King of the Hill, i was driven to find out what the song that they kept using was acctually called, and download it.
- GJ
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marshare76
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21/05/2003
21:55:09
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Can anyone tell me what this song is about exactly? I love the song - but can't figure out the meaning.
thanks
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Anastasia
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08/04/2003
16:29:48
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This song so pretty.
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SlowwHand
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10/03/2003
23:06:21
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Cool song.
Thanks to King Of The Hill, for bringing to my attention.
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