LIFE IN A NORTHERN TOWN

"'Life in a Northern Town'" is a song by The Dream Academy, a British folk rock group. The song was the opening track to their 1985 debut album, ''The Dream Academy''. Reaching #7 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in February 1986, it was their biggest hit.
The melancholy folk guitar line is evocative of the beginning to the Beach Boys' "California Girls." The lyrics are references to Tanworth-in-Arden (England) native Nick Drake, who died of an antidepressant overdose in 1974.
The Dream Academy intended the song as a tribute to Drake^[1]. The "Northern Town" in the song is reputedly Drake's hometown, and the references to the young Sinatra figure who lures the people of the village to "sit on the stony ground and listen" is supposedly Drake. The end of the song, where rain falls on the town and the Sinatra figure leaves for good on a train references Drake's death.
The song harkens back to the wistful folk of the 1960s.
There were two different versions of the Music Video. The first one was made in 1984 and was filmed near Halifax in Yorkshire, UK. It was directed by Tim Pope [1]. The second version was filmed in 1985 and was directed by Leslie Libman and Larry Williams [2]. It was filmed in and around Newcastle upon Tyne with some scenes filmed in Manchester in the UK and in the USA. The American scenes were filmed near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the towns of Ambridge and Aliquippa. The video featured footage from one of their first TV appearances, on the British music show, The Tube [3]. Of worthy note is that the second version is actually shorter than the first version.
A dance track sampling the song, "Sunchyme" was released in 1997 by Dario G.
This song was used in King of the Hill's third season episode ''Wings of the Dope''.
In October 2006, the song was ranked 731st out of 2006 songs voted for in the Triple M Essential 2006 Countdown.

Contents

Track listing

References

External links

Track listing

'7" Single'
#Life in a Northern Town - 4:16
#Test Tape No. 3 - 5:01
'12" Single'
#Life in a Northern Town (Extended) - 5:19
#Test Tape No. 3 - 5:03
#Life in a Northern Town (7" mix) - 4:14
#Poised on the Edge of Forever - 3:32

References

1. Apprentice to the stars. The Independent, 26 March 1999

External links

★ The second version of the video. Hosted on ''VH1.com''. ''AVAILABLE IN UNITED STATES ONLY.''

★ Lyrics and chords