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street fighting years
composer
Words and music: Simple Minds
publisher
© 1989 Virgin Music (Publishers) Ltd
background
Street Fighting Years started life as an instrumental by Mick. He
brought it along to the band's Loch Earn studio on the first day of the album sessions in September 1987.
"The first demo we heard was dead basic, but that was the format from the start. This was the first song they wrote at Loch
Earn for the whole project, so that really set the flame for someone. It set the flavour and it made crystal clear their intentions
of not having a big rhythm section. It was the first track we recorded and it occured to me straightaway that it should be the
opening track of the album - a statement of intent." - Stephen Lipson - Street Fighting Years book.
"My first reaction: the demo's very long and it's not a song. I don't know what it is. The demo was similar to how it ended up,
the most difficult thing was to keep what they had and substantiate to ourselves that it wasn't a song and still make
it interesting. It took ages, yet it didn't change very much." - Stephen Lipson - Street Fighting Years book.
"I suppose what happened was that the dynamics changed. The biggest problem area was the little orchestral piece after
the line "here comes a hurricane." That was impossible. Here comes a hurricane: but where's the hurricane? We didn't know what to
do. Lovely music but really soft and Jim sings about a hurricane, which implies something
else. There are two bars where nothing happened. How to fill that space? Mick
wanted it orchestral but whatever sound he used, it smudged the front of the notes and you didn't hear the melody
properly. We suggested an orchestra but they didn't want an orcehstra. In the end we used one. I still don't understand
how to make that bit better, how to get that to be up but still with that piece of music. It was an interesting
challenge. - Stephen Lipson - Street Fighting Years book.
"I see 'Street Fighting Years' as a theme in two parts. the first part, for sure, is for this absent friend, the
friend who was murdered. No revenge, just a kind of resignation and the hard belief that he's not there when I was writing
it. It was almost a year later, and it was
summer again. I felt strong. The second part is talking to some absent lvoe and it goes without saying that's what that's
about. Love wars are also part of the street fighting years." - Jim Kerr - Street Fighting Years book.
"For the end section, they wanted the feeling of a glider, pulled up by another airplane, to ten thousand feet and
then - let go, let it fall apart, that was the idea." - Stephen Lipson - Street Fighting Years book.
"The coda is an orchestral idea Mick had. It's very minor but it gets major,
it's an odd symphonic change. We'd still be thinking about this Aurora Borealis idea, just instrumental music. When
you're not writing for Simple Minds, that opens up completely new frontiers, that's why 'Street Fighting Years' exists
as it is because it was meant to be a bit like an odyssey. It set teh tone for the record.
It's a river meandering through the mountains." - Charlie Burchill - Street Fighting Years book.
"We took quite a while with the title track, building it up, getting the guitars right at the front.
Jim sang it six or seven times before he'd written the lyrics; every take
I wrote down a sketch of what he sung - no-one had ever done that for him before, and it gave him a bit of a leg up
to do the lyrics. When somebody scats something you occasionally get great lines - there were great lines
in those seven takes." - Trevor - Street Fighting Years Super Deluxe
The song opened both the Street Fighting Years album and the
Street Fighting Years Tour concerts of 1989. It has been played
sporadically live ever since.
"In 1988 a younger friend of ours, the brother of one of my closest friends, was stabbed to death. In the wrong place at
the right time there was no apparent reason for the attack other than the fact that the guilty ones were high on glue
and brandishing knives."
"A horrifying experience for all who knew him, as well as for his family whom I know have never been
able to get over the death of their youngest son, it was the pointlessness of the whole act that reverberated
the most, chilling me even now as I look back on it."
"Speechless at the time and with no words that I could conjure to offer the depth of my sympathy, I did
later somehow manage to write something that was part poem and part letter, which in turn surfaced as the basis
for the lyric that I used on the title track of our Street Fighting Years album, released a year or so later."
Jim
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"... Some years later, a song called "Street Fighting Years" took a lot more out of me. Never in a million
years coming across as a radio tune, it was a stunning piece. But it followed no previous musical path that I was
familiar with, and as will be plain to you who know the track, I was no longer in the world of simple pop arrangements.
Indeed where I was on that occasion as I grasped with the challenge of writing something complementary that would
sit with it - is better described as unknown territory."
"To explain. Mick MacNeil had come up yet again with this "thing"
that was beautiful and dramatic, but also far too long-winded to be a regular song. It had no real certified
verse or chorus parts that would work to any regular degree, and as it unfolded it sounded more like the
soundtrack to a widescreen movie – one that is yet to be made."
"The melody was glorious and proud for sure. It was sublime in fact. But somehow, like most
(national) anthems, it was not in anyway comfortable to sing with. My problem in truth was that I had no
idea what the "movie it suggested" would be about - nevermind how it could begin to be told. But begin I did,
sat by a window in a house on the edge of Loch Earn in March’ 88."
"Thinking about it again, there is no other song that I can think of that is reminiscent in its
shape and form - to "Street Fighting Years". And as a puzzle, it nearly got the better of me."
"Recalling now the instrumental music to "Street Fighting Years" as originally presented, the crux
of the problem was that I could not tell if what I was listening to was a happy song, or a sad song,
a song of victory or a lament? The mood of the tune seemed to contain various experiences, like the same
photographic landscape shot in all four seasons and then superimposed on each other. The feel of it
reminded me of the expression of duality that the Japanese have and refer to as the "Day Of The Fox’s Marriage."
Used to describe those days typically witnessed at end of March/April when it can be both bright and sunny
as well as cold and rainy, and all at the same time."
"In the end with "Street Fighting Years" and due to its scope, I decided it would be a song mirroring
someone’s inner emotions during a massive end of summer storm. Occurring outside the window and from a position
of relative safety, the character of the song in turn is using the display on show as a metaphor for the
turbulence often so real within his and all our lives."
"The fact that the track shifted in many different musical parts meant that I had the chance to use
a different kind of narrative than that of the stock rock song. One that was primarily detailing the character’s
thoughts as they moved through his brain, slowly at first, before then racing to an emotional climax."
"The final part of "Street Fighting Years" hopefully evokes a feeling that is known to anyone who has
witnessed true and personal tragedy, and knows not whether to feel victorious having survived, or be swallowed
in the sense of loss that has fallen on others either close to us, or those with whom we cannot help but empathise."
Jim
17th January 2010
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"Blue skies with a snow topped volcano that stretches all the way down to what seems like an endless coastline? It is a view that
captivates every bit as much now as it did when I first witnessed it back in the Spring of 1988.
"On that occasion I had taken a trip by car through southern Italy, descending from Rome to Sicily via various stop offs in Naples and Calabria.
With plenty of sunlight en route, I felt invigorated and full of fortune to have escaped the then on going freeze in Scotland. That said, it was
still possible to feel chills in the air, more so while crossing some of the wild mountain ranges on the road south to the very southern tip of Italy.
"Back in those times I liked to go on endless drives. With no particular destination planned, it all seems a bit mad now. But there was method
to the madness at least, as I very much liked the feeling of escape involved, and above all the freedom of having no fixed schedule.
That is something I would never get to experience while on tour with Simple Minds, and in those days we seemed to tour endlessly.
"I also liked the isolation of the solo trip. Don't get me wrong, I love working in a group, and the more intense the better. But as soon as
the work finishes it has always been my nature to retreat, indulge in my own company to an extent, alone with my thoughts for a short while at least.
"The music I was listening to en-route to Sicily involved one C60 cassette tape only. Within that tape I could listen to a bunch of semi-formed demo tunes that
Charlie Burchill and Mick MacNeil had been working on. Among them one in
particular stood out, causing me to mediate on it endlessly as I listened non stop while travelling through previously unknown landscapes.
"It was to that tune that I worked on as soon as arriving in Sicily. The entire lyric had seemed to formulate within my head during that road trip
and I felt excited at the prospect of writing it down, almost certain I would probably forget some of the stream of conscious lyrics.
And so I recall ever so clearly, sitting in a courtyard of a smallish hotel in the port of Messina armed with note pad and pen, Sony Walkman, and a set of
cheap headphones. Pot of black coffee, inevitably by my side. And the treat of all treats? A huge bag of Sicilian blood oranges that I began devouring,
having bought them minutes before from the fruit stall across the street.
Sicily felt like paradise to me that day. As it does now. And as for that song I completed work on? The song that since then always creates images
of blood oranges in my mind when I hear it? That became known as Street Fighting Years."
Jim
19th March 2018
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lyrics
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Chased you out of this world, didn't mean to stop,
I turned around and suddenly you were gone.
Like some bird from paradise, the fire and ice,
We turned around and suddenly you where gone, gone, gone.
And now summer burns a hole inside and years are golden once again,
My thoughts return to you my dear young friend.
Oh come this way.
Will you look down this way?
I go down on the street,
Where the wild wind's blowing,
Here comes a hurricane.
I say come down this way.
Will you look down this way?
I need you tonight.
I need you around me.
I'm looking through the windows,
And my mind goes in a whirl,
Well there's a multitude of candles,
Burning in the windows of this world.
I'm looking at the colours,
Checking out the straights,
I'm counting out the numbers,
Will tomorrow never change?
Still I hear you and I love you,
And I'll follow you elsewhere,
And I'll remember this occasion,
I'll remember being aware.
'Cause we've got panic in the evening,
We've got fall-out in the streets,
And I hear you and I follow you,
And I'll call out and I'll say.
That I can hear your sister call out,
And I hear her call your name,
They're calling sweet surrender,
And things won't be the same.
And don't you think that I don't care,
And don't you think that I don't know,
And don't you hear them calling out,
In a place not far from here.
And I hear big wheels are turning,
Some things are not to fear.
They say this is the time and place,
They call street fighting years.
And I love you, I look for you,
And I walk to you, I walk to you.
And I hear big wheels are turning,
Is there no way out of here?
They'll be calling out tomorrow.
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discography
Album Version (6:26)
Produced by: Stephen Lipson and Trevor Horn
Engineers: Heff Moraes, Robin Hancock
Assistant Engineers: Danton Supple, Martin Plant
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Live Version (15th September 1989) (8:02)
Recorded: Verona, Italy
Producer: Stephen Lipson
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Live Version (3rd November 2009) (7:12)
Recorded: Arena, Vienna, Austria
Mixed By Concert Online
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Live Version (5th November 2009) (7:11)
Recorded: Saschall, Florence, Italy
Mixed By Concert Online
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Live Version (6th November 2009) (7:13)
Recorded: Neon Concept Club, Ancona, Italy
Mixed By Concert Online
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Live Version (7th November 2009) (7:08)
Recorded: Atlantico, Rome, Italy
Mixed By Concert Online
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Live Version (8th November 2009) (7:06)
Recorded: Gran Teatro Di Padova, Padova, Italy
Mixed By Concert Online
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Live Version (18th November 2009) (6:55)
Recorded: La Riviera, Madrid, Spain
Mixed By Concert Online
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Live Version (19th November 2009) (6:46)
Recorded: Kursaal, San Sebastian, Spain
Mixed By Concert Online
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Live Version (22nd November 2009) (7:26)
Recorded: Falconer Theatre, Copenhagen, Denmark
Mixed By Concert Online
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Live Version (23rd November 2009) (7:04)
Recorded: Solnahallen, Stockholm, Sweden
Mixed By Concert Online
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Live Version (26th November 2009) (7:24)
Recorded: Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Mixed By Concert Online
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Live Version (28th November 2009) (6:42)
Recorded: Forest National, Brussels, Belgium
Mixed By Concert Online
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Live Version (2nd December 2009) (6:52)
Recorded: NEC, Birmingham, UK
Mixed By Concert Online
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Live Version (29th March 2013) (7:06)
Recorded: Sands Centre, Carlisle, UK
Mixed By Concert Live
Remastered By Derrick Carter
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videography
downloads
Live Version (3rd November 2009) (7:12)
Recorded: Arena, Vienna, Austria
Mixed By Concert Online
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Live Version (5th November 2009) (7:11)
Recorded: Saschall, Florence, Italy
Mixed By Concert Online
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Live Version (6th November 2009) (7:13)
Recorded: Neon Concept Club, Ancona, Italy
Mixed By Concert Online
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Live Version (7th November 2009) (7:08)
Recorded: Atlantico, Rome, Italy
Mixed By Concert Online
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Live Version (8th November 2009) (7:06)
Recorded: Gran Teatro Di Padova, Padova, Italy
Mixed By Concert Online
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Live Version (18th November 2009) (6:55)
Recorded: La Riviera, Madrid, Spain
Mixed By Concert Online
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Live Version (19th November 2009) (6:46)
Recorded: Kursaal, San Sebastian, Spain
Mixed By Concert Online
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Live Version (22nd November 2009) (7:26)
Recorded: Falconer Theatre, Copenhagen, Denmark
Mixed By Concert Online
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Live Version (23rd November 2009) (7:04)
Recorded: Solnahallen, Stockholm, Sweden
Mixed By Concert Online
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Live Version (26th November 2009) (7:24)
Recorded: Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Mixed By Concert Online
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Live Version (28th November 2009) (6:42)
Recorded: Forest National, Brussels, Belgium
Mixed By Concert Online
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Live Version (2nd December 2009) (6:52)
Recorded: NEC, Birmingham, UK
Mixed By Concert Online
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live history
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