Music Break – Sugarland – Life in a Northern Town

July 13, 2012 Jaye Ryan Uncategorized 12

Southerners Singing About Life in a Northern Town


OK, it’s the hot summer doldrums. Politics s****. Romney is pandering to the NAACP and the *$&*#($# “powers that be” are floating Black woman Condoleezza Rice as the GOP’s Vice President – to increase the GOP’s Black voting support from 0 % to 1 %. Yeah, very depressing. The hard cold truth is that our people just aren’t very good at competing in racial politics this year of our Lord 2012 – but , again – it’s just the worst, hot weeks of the summer. Maybe our people will do better in the Fall.

So, it’s a good time for a music break.

Here’s Sugarland doing a good, no GREAT cover of the Dream Academy’s “Life in a Northern Town” (link)

Lyrics

“A Salvation Army band played
And the children drank 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, away

Ah-heya ma ma ma, into the night-ahh
Hey ma ma ma, hey-ay-ay-ay, ah
Life in a northern town
Ah hey ma ma ma ma

They sat on the stony ground
And he took a cigarette out
And everyone else came down to listen
It was the winter 1963
It felt like the world would freeze
With John F. Kennedy and the Beatles, yeah, yeah

Ah-heya ma ma ma, into the night-ahh
Hey ma ma ma, hey-ay-ay-ay, ah
Life in a northern town
Ah hey ma ma ma ma

Ah-heya ma ma ma, into the night-ahh
Hey ma ma ma, hey-ay-ay-ay, ah
They shut the factory down
Ah hey ma ma ma ma

The evening had turned to rain
Watched the water roll down the drain
As we followed him down… to the station
And he would never wave goodbye
You could see it written in his eyes
As the train pulled out of sight, right by

Ah-heya ma ma ma, into the night-ahh
Heya ma ma ma, hey-ay-ay-ay, ah
Life in a northern town
Ah-hey ma ma ma, take it easy on yourself
Ah-heya ma ma ma, into the night-ahh
Heya ma ma ma, hey-ay-ay-ay, ah
Life in a northern town
Ah hey ma ma ma ma
Ah-heya ma ma ma, into the night-ahh
Heya ma ma ma, hey-ay-ay-ay, ah
Life in a northern town
Ah hey ma ma ma ma
Ah-heya ma ma ma, into the night-ahh
Hey ma ma ma, hey-ay-ay-ay, ah
Life in a northern town
Ah hey ma ma ma ma”

11 Comments

  1. I read those lyrics and they convey essentially zero information. Band plays, he sits on the ground with a cigarette, he takes the train. That’s it. What’s the point of a song like that?

  6. WG says:
    July 13, 2012 at 2:40 pm
    @ Stonelifter

    The song refers to a town in the North of England.

    JR replies – that’s certainly a “Northern town”

  7. How so? since it references two american “icons”. I’m a little puzzled on how it refers to a town in England

  8. Stonelifter says:
    July 13, 2012 at 3:38 pm (Edit)
    How so? since it references two american “icons”. I’m a little puzzled on how it refers to a town in England

    Jack Ryan replies:

    I believe the subject of this song is a Presidential visit by the handsome, young American President John F Kennedy to a “Northern town” in England as remembered by the song writer for the musical group called “The Dream Academy”. It’s basic nostalgia for a simpler time of innocent, White youth and I note that it is an all White world and the popular international and national icons mentioned (JFK, Sinatra in his younger days, the Beatles) are all youthful, White.

    No, it isn’t something extremely “deep”, not a war song for our people, instead it’s…..

    A music break – something to get our minds off the depressing political news of the day. That’s what good popular music should be – escapism.

  9. Thanks for taking the time Jack. I would have never pieced that together. well there’s a reason I never read fiction or poems and what not.

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