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Sit Down (song)
1989 single by James
1989 single by James
| Field | Value | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| name | Sit Down | ||
| cover | James_Sit_Down_Rough_Trade.jpg | ||
| type | single | ||
| artist | James | ||
| album | Gold Mother (re-recorded version) | ||
| released | |||
| written | Late 1988 | ||
| * indie dance<ref name | "Stanley 2013" | ||
| * {{Duration | m | 8 | s=39}} (original) |
| prev_title | Ya Ho | ||
| prev_year | 1988 | ||
| next_title | Come Home | ||
| next_year | 1989 | ||
| misc | |||
| header | Re-release cover | ||
| type | Single | ||
| cover | James_sit_down.jpg | ||
| caption | Cover of the 1991 release on Fontana | ||
| artist | James re-release | ||
| type | single | ||
| prev_title | Lose Control | ||
| prev_year | 1990 | ||
| title | Sit Down (re-recording) | ||
| year | 1991 | ||
| next_title | Sound | ||
| next_year | 1991 | ||
| artist | James late-1990s | ||
| type | single | ||
| prev_title | Runaground | ||
| prev_year | 1998 | ||
| title | Sit Down '98 (Apollo 440 mix) | ||
| year | 1998 | ||
| next_title | I Know What I'm Here For | ||
| next_year | 1999 |
- Madchester
- indie dance
- (original)
- 4:05 (re-release)
- Rough Trade (1989)
- Fontana
- Jim Glennie
- Larry Gott
- Tim Booth
- Gavan Whelan
- Gil Norton
- Steve Power (1991 version) "Sit Down" is a song by English band James, originally released in June 1989 by Rough Trade Records. In its eight-and-a-half-minute original form, the song reached number 77 in the UK Singles Chart and was ranked number eight in John Peel's end of year BBC Radio 1 show Festive Fifty of 1989.
A remix by Apollo 440 was released as a standalone single in 1998, reaching No.7 in the band's native UK.
After experiencing success as part of the Madchester music scene, a new version was released in March 1991 that was shorter and with new lyrics. Released via Fontana Records, "Sit Down" reached number two on the UK Singles Chart, spending three weeks there. It was the 20th best-selling single of 1991 in the UK.
In 2013, the song placed fourth in a poll by BBC Radio 2 and the Official Charts Company to find the greatest track to miss out on the number-one spot in the UK charts. In the same year, James performed the song with Peter Kay for Comic Relief. On 30 March 2017 a version of the song was used in the promo of the seventh season of the hit HBO series Game of Thrones.
Background
The song's lyrics were written in late 1988 as a homage to author Doris Lessing and singer Patti Smith, who had inspired James' lead singer Tim Booth. Booth told the Daily Record in June 2004: "Sit Down is about me feeling so alone in my 20s and reading books by a writer called Doris Lessing which made me realise I wasn't. It was about being awake at 4am and having no-one to talk to."
In a 2014 interview with Dave Simpson of The Guardian on the effect of the song, James guitarist Larry Gott stated, "Sit Down is one of those songs that encourages people to put their arms around strangers. As soon as we launch into the opening bars, they start smiling. Then they turn to someone next to them or their girlfriend or boyfriend and hug them, and then they start singing every single word. As a musician, that's incredibly humbling." The original cover depicts an image of the former Fulham goalkeeper Tony Macedo.
Music videos
The music video for the original 1989 Rough Trade release was directed by Ed Barton. It features Booth wearing a kaftan, against a white background, with the band performing the song. At one stage Booth hugs a sheep. The video was banned for two weeks by the Musicians Union as Jim Glennie took the role of a drummer, which the union felt displaced a professional musician.
Another video was made for the 1991 re-release, which featured the band performing the song in front of a live audience.
Track listings
1989 original release
- "Sit Down" (7-inch and 8:31 extended version on 12-inch)
- "Goin' Away" (12-inch and CD)
- "Sound Investment" (12-inch and CD)
- "Sky Is Falling" (7-inch, 12-inch and CD)
1991 release
- "Sit Down" (new version) (7-inch, 12-inch and CD)
- "Tonight" (12-inch and CD)
- "Sunday Morning" (Canadian CD)
- "Sit Down" (live at G-Mex) (7-inch, 12-inch and CD)
"Sit Down '98"
- CD1
- "Sit Down '98" (Apollo 440 remix)
- "Sit Down" (original)
- "China Girl" (Radio One Iggy Pop tribute)
- CD2
- "Sit Down '98" (Apollo 440 remix)
- "What For" (Glr Session)
- "Sit Down" (Glr Session)
Charts
Weekly charts
"Sit Down"
| Chart (1989) | Peak | |
|---|---|---|
| position | Australia (ARIA) | |
| 88 |
| Chart (1991) | Peak | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| position | Europe (Eurochart Hot 100) | Europe (European Hit Radio) | Luxembourg (Radio Luxembourg) | Netherlands (Dutch Top 40 Tipparade) | UK Airplay (*Music Week*) | |
| 6 | ||||||
| 14 | ||||||
| 3 | ||||||
| 9 | ||||||
| 8 |
"Sit Down '98"
| Chart (1998) | Peak | |
|---|---|---|
| position | Europe (Eurochart Hot 100) | |
| 32 |
Year-end charts
"Sit Down"
| Chart (1991) | Position | Europe (Eurochart Hot 100) | Europe (European Hit Radio) | UK Singles (OCC) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 93 | ||||
| 85 | ||||
| 20 |
"Sit Down '98"
| Chart (1998) | Position | UK Singles (OCC) |
|---|---|---|
| 200 |
Certifications
Release history
| Region | Version | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref(s). | United Kingdom | Australia | United Kingdom |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 19 June 1989 | Rough Trade | ||||||
| 26 June 1989 | CD | |||||||
| 1991 version | 18 March 1991 | Fontana | ||||||
| 24 June 1991 | ||||||||
| "Sit Down '98" | 9 November 1998 |
In popular culture
On 4 June 2017, Coldplay performed "Sit Down" at the One Love Manchester benefit concert for the victims of the Manchester Arena bombing, before performing their song "Fix You".
Fans of Premier League club Liverpool rewrote the lyrics of this song in 2018 as a new terrace chant for 2017–18 Premier League Golden Boot winner Mohamed Salah. Booth thought the version was witty and welcomed its use for Salah.
References
References
- Stanley, Bob. (13 September 2013). "Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop". Faber & Faber.
- (1 January 2013). "Ultravox's Vienna tops 'number two' poll". BBC News.
- Roots, Kimberly. (30 March 2017). "''Game of Thrones'': Watch the Haunting First Season 7 Teaser Trailer Now". [[TVLine]].
- James. "The song Sit Down wasn't written about Patti Smith but she & the writings of Doris Lessing made Tim feel less alone & crazy—the same as the song has made Kristin feel.
Kristin is right: #YouAreNotAlone
@kexp @realtimbooth". - "Sit Down by James".
- Kemp, Sam. (10 November 2022). "The song that makes Arctic Monkeys' Matt Helders "feel sick"".
- Simpson, Dave. (12 May 2014). "Tim Booth and Larry Gott of James: how we made Sit Down". The Guardian.
- "James – Sit Down (1989). Cover star is goalkeeper, Tony Macedo. (Fulham player during the 1950s–1960s)".
- (19 June 1989). "Sit Down (1989)".
- Ryan, Gavin. (2011). "Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010". Moonlight Publishing.
- (4 May 1991). "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles".
- (18 May 1991). "European Hit Radio".
- [http://www.umdmusic.com/default.asp?Lang=English&Chart=F&ChDate=19910421&ChMode=N Radio Luxembourg Singles. 28 April 1991.]
- "Tipparade-lijst van week 20, 1991". [[Dutch Top 40]].
- (20 April 1991). "Playlist Chart".
- (28 November 1998). "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles".
- (21 December 1991). "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles".
- (21 December 1991). "EHR Year-End Top 100".
- (11 January 1992). "1991 Top 100 Singles".
- "Najlepsze single na UK Top 40–1998 wg sprzedaży".
- (June 1989). "Sit Down – Press Release". Rough Trade Records.
- (17 June 1989). "New Singles".
- (24 June 1989). "New Singles".
- (16 March 1991). "New Releases: Singles".
- (23 June 1991). "New Release Summary – Product Available from : 24/06/91: Singles".
- (7 November 1998). "New Releases: Singles".
- James. "If you missed @coldplay's moving Sit Down intro at #OneLoveManchester–. Thanks lads, made us feel part of it 💗🐝".
- Newman, Vicki. (4 June 2017). "One Love Manchester viewers overcome with emotion as Coldplay give moving performance of Fix You".
- Walsh, Kristian. (24 April 2018). "Liverpool fans have brilliant Mohamed Salah song". Liverpool Echo.
- Shaw, Chris. (25 May 2018). "Salah's Kop song gets official James seal of approval". Liverpool FC.
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
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