A few weeks ago I talked about discovering the classic Fleetwood Mac album "Rumours". Today I dug into another band I never quite caught up with: the Proclaimers. Described by Wikipedia as "a Scottish duo formed in 1983 by twin brothers Craig and Charlie Reid, who were born on 5 March 1962" they are famous mostly for the song "I'm Gonna Be (500 miles)". Active from 1983 as an acoustic duo, they moved in a rock direction, and have sold over 5 million albums worldwide.
The song that has caught my eye is called "Sunshine on Leith". It is a ballad from 1988 and is deceptively simple. I think it's about someone who meets the love of their life after being hurt in a previous relationship, and unusually it includes thanksgiving to God ("the Chief") for bringing this about. But I think it touches anyone who has been helped by another - spouse, friend, parent, whoever - to get over any hurting situation. From the abrupt, in-your-face and repeated beginning through the simple lyrics, it's real, to use that overused word, and it's very touching. It has come to be the anthem of Hibernians football team who offfer a lusty rendering of it after winning the Scottish Cup Final in 2016, giving the Principality Stadium a run for its money.
Here are the original video and the lyrics:
1. My heart was broken, my heart was broken
Sorrow, sorrow, sorrow, sorrow
You saw it, you claimed it, you touched it, you saved it
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you
Your beauty and kindness made tears clear my blindness
While the Chief puts sunshine on Leith
And your birth and my birth
Yeah, yeah, yeah
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