Art of the Cover - The Dream Academy's "Life In A Northern Town"

Though he never would wave goodbye, you could see it written in his eyes as the train rolled out of sight. Bye-bye.

Nice minimalist artwork adorns the seminal debut single Life In A Northern Town. - a stunning athmospheric and evocative work from the sadly neglected 80's British group The Dream Academy.

Dedicated to Nick Drake and Steve Reich, "Life In A Northern Town" was the lead single from The Dream Academy's 1985 eponymous debut LP.

Life In A Northern Town - indeed, the entire album - was co-produced by Pink Floyd's David Gilmour.

Amazingly - given the extreme dross of the 80's charts - the song reached a dizzying #7 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Written by band founders Gilbert Gabriel and Nick Laird-Clowes, the song's a piece of powerful, beautiful duende. A gorgeous evocation of childhood days and an era long gone.

A timeless classic!

The song was brought back into the limelight in recent times via a cover version by the country music duo Sugarland with guest vocals from Little Big Town and Jake Owen, which was a Top 40 Country hit a few years back.

Their version was included on the Deluxe Fan Edition of Love on the Inside and on the re-release of Little Big Town's album A Place to Land.

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The Song - The Dream Academy's "Life In A Northern Town"

Watched the water roll down the drain, as we followed him down to the station

A stunning athmospheric and evocative work from the sadly neglected 80's British group The Dream Academy.

A timeless classic! A soing that reminds me in many ways of the Grant McLennan masterpiece Cattle and Cane.

"Life In A Northern Town" was the lead single from The Dream Academy's 1985 self-titled debut LP. Amazingly - given the extreme dross of the 80's charts - the song reached a dizzying #7 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Written by band founders Gilbert Gabriel and Nick Laird-Clowes, the song's a piece of powerful, beautiful duende. A gorgeous evocation of childhood days and an era long gone.

Not just the good days - those seemingly endless days of youth ("the children drank lemonade and the morning lasted all day") - but too those intensely painful days; here the day of heartbreak when having to say goodbye to a beloved stoic family member going far away, for God knows how long ... "though he never would wave goodbye, you could see it written in his eyes as the train rolled out of sight. Bye-bye."

As well as the poetic lyrics, Northern Town's got a wonderfully unique sound too with an array of unusual being instruments used. The song includes hints of psychedelia as well as elements of classical music and even an "African-esque" chant (one later sampled by Dario G for their track "Sunchyme".)

Meanwhile, the feeling of a winter snowstorm is created by the amount of overdubbing onto the original recording.

So complex, musically, was it that the song took a year to record.

"Life In A Northern Town" was dedicated to Nick Drake and minimalist composer Steve Reich.

Reportedly, Warner Bros. Records initially did not want to release this single! They thought the song needed more drums but Laird-Clowes and Gabriel were adamant that it was perfect as was.

Life In A Northern Town - indeed, the entire album - was co-produced by Pink Floyd's David Gilmour.

The song was initially called "Morning Lasted All Day" but was changed when Paul Simon told Laird-Clowes (to whom he was giving songwriting lessons) that it was not a good title.

The Dream Academy's eponymous debut album reached a wide audience in the U.S. on the back of this great single. However, their two subsequent albums - although excellent collections - did not match the initial success.

The song was brought back into the limelight in recent times via a cover version by the country music duo Sugarland with guest vocals from Little Big Town and Jake Owen, which was a Top 40 Country hit a few years back.

Their version was included on the Deluxe Fan Edition of Love on the Inside and on the re-release of Little Big Town's album A Place to Land.

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