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dirty old town
composers
Ewan McColl
publisher
© Cooking Vinyl Limited
background
Written by Ewan McColl, the modern folk song Diry Old Town was probably made most famous by
The Pogues.
It was recorded by Simple Minds as a tribue to Celtic football legend Jimmy Johnstone who was battling
Motor Neurone Disease. The song appeared on the soundtrack of a film about his life (Lord Of The Wing) but
Simple Minds first released it on Live And Rare.
Billy Sloan got the exclusive though and first played it on his Sunday night show on the
1st December, 2003.
Two versions were recorded in Glasgow during rehearsals for the Alive And Kicking 2003 tour. The first,
featuring just Jim on vocals, appeared on the
album. The second version, featuring
Jim and Jimmy Johnstone sharing the singing,
turned up on the single.
Feeling that the song needed more,
Mick MacNeil was called in and added accordian to the song. It was his
first recording with Simple Minds since 1989.
Jim also changed the lyrics. Instead of singing "Saw a train set the night on fire" he sang "Saw Jimmy Johnson set the night on fire."
On the 22nd May 2017, a terrorist denoted a bomb at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester. 23 people were killed including
the bomber. Simple Minds were on their
Acoustic Tour when the atrocity occurred. They played
Dirty Old Town at the Nottingham, London, Bristol and Cardiff concerts in memory of the victims
and the people of Manchester. The night at the London Palladium was recorded, and the live performance of Dirty Old Town
was released on some of the formats of Walk Between Worlds.
PP: "One thing with collaborating is that you always do well sharing your vocals in the spotlight. Whether it's
backup singers or something like that live version of Dirty Old Town..."
JK: "It's great. She's great.. That Dirty Old Town was quite emotional. About six months ago
that terrible thing in Manchester – that bomb going off at the concert – we were at Manchester and that was less
than twenty four hours later, less than a mile from the event. Dirty Old Town
was written by Ewan MacColl back in the 1960s about Manchester and about the soul of Manchester. And twenty
four hours later there was even some doubt as to whether the gig was going to go on, or whether it should go on. It did
and at the sound-check we said "Let's do a one off." And I think Sarah had
never sung it. She sang it a couple of times at the sound-check. So what you're getting really is the emotion of the night."
Goldmine Interview
January 2018
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"The song was poignant because of that horrible incident that happened in Manchester last year. There was a bombing at
the concert. There were terrorists, and a lot of kids were killed. We were playing that night close by in Liverpool, so
it was about 45 minutes drive away, maybe 50. We did the gig in Liverpool and we were on route to Manchester. We were due
to play the next night, and the coach driver said to us, 'We may have problems getting into Manchester. Something terrible's happened there.'"
"We went to Manchester. We did get in, and we had to hang around the next day because the city was in a state of emergency. We
had to see, first, if the concert was going to go on, and also, we had to figure out if playing music was appropriate, given the mood
of the city. Anyway, the concert was allowed to go on and we wanted to play because that's our response to everything. We always want
to play. But the theater we were in was less than 10 minutes from where the tragedy happened. And at the soundcheck, we said,
'We've got to do something positive, something for Manchester.'"
"'Dirty Old Town' was written by Ewan MacColl back in the 1950s about Manchester. But even within that, he's loving the city.
He's loving the town, despite the grime, the dirt and the industrial landscape. We did it and we recorded it at the soundcheck. Played
it at the gig and caught the moment. We just felt it would be good to let the world hear it, especially with the vocal
Sarah Brown did on the track."
Songfacts Interview
March 2018
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"As featured on our most recent album Walk Between Worlds,
Simple Minds' version of the Ewan MacColl classic
Dirty Old Town sung by the magnificent
Sarah Brown has received a fair amount of plaudits particularly
from critics in the US.
On any given night of
this current Simple Minds tour you can watch and listen as
Sarah "brings the house down" with her interpretation, that for my money
is as good as any that already exists. Great singers of course, always rely on great songs.
Dirty Old Town is as good a song as it gets." - Jim, 17th October 2018
lyrics
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I met my love by the gas works croft
Dreamed a dream by the old canal
I kissed my girl by the factory wall
Dirty old town
Dirty old town
Clouds are drifting across the moon
Cats a prowling on their beat
Spring's a girl from the streets at night
Dirty old town
Dirty old town
I heard a siren from the docks
Saw a train set the night on fire
Smelled the spring on the smoky wind
Dirty old town
Dirty old town
I'm going to make me a good sharp axe
Shining steel tempered in the fire
I'll chop you down like an old dead tree
Dirty old town
Dirty old town
I met my love by the gas works croft
Dreamed a dream by the old canal
I Kissed my girl by the factory wall
Dirty old town
Dirty old town
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discography
live history
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