Song of the Day — February 23
Dream Academy — “Life in a Northern Town” — 1985
23.February.2021
Dream Academy
“Life in a Northern Town”
1985
All these years and I had just presumed that “Life in a Northern Town” was about the UK miners' strike in 1984–85.
It turns out it’s not. Well, not exactly anyway.
“Life in a Northern Town” was written by Dream Academy members Nick Laird-Clowes and Gilbert Gabriel at the very start of their career.
In a 2011 interview with Mojo Magazine, Laird-Clowes recalled how the song was written on two guitars in Gabriels flat. One had three nylon strings on it, and the other was the same guitar used on the cover of Nick Drake’s second studio album, Bryter Layter.
Like many British musicians then and now, Nick Drake had a profound influence on them. So much so with Nick Laird-Clowes and Gilbert Gabriel dedicated the song “Life in a Northern Town” to Nick Drake.
Over the years, many have thought the song was about Nick Drake, but it isn’t. The writers dedicated the song to Drake.
In the same Mojo interview, Laird-Clowes said the song was really about “the long lines of people unemployed and the shipyards that…
