My researches yesterday turned up a wealth of songs with ‘down’ in the title and so it seemed appropriate to take a second bite at the cherry. So here is our second post on the subject of ‘down’ in song.
Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard” is a song by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was the second single from his second selftit;ed studio album (1972), released on Columbia. The song is about two boys (“Me and Julio”) who have broken a law, although the exact law that has been broken is not stated in the song. When “the mama pajama” finds out what they have done, she goes to the police station to report the crime. The individuals are later arrested, but released when a “radical priest” intervenes.
“Get Down Tonight” is a song released in 1975 on the eponymous album by KC and the Sunshine Band. The song became widely successful, becoming the first of their five No. 1 hits on the Billboard. It also reached the top of the Hot Soul Singles chart and was an international chart hit, reaching No. 1 in Canada and charting in Australia (No. 44), Belgium (No. 11), the Netherlands (No. 5), and the UK (No. 21).
Down in the Tube Station at Midnight” is a single by The Jam, and was the second single from their third album, All Mod Cons. Released in October 1978, it reached No. 15 in the UK. The song tells the story of an unnamed narrator travelling on his own who enters a London Underground tube station at midnight to get the last train home, where he is attacked by a gang of men who ‘smell like pubs, and Wormwood Scrubs, and too many right-wing meetings’ as he buys a ticket from an automated machine.
“Don’t Bring Me Down” is the ninth and final track on the English band the Electric Light Orchestra’s 1979 album Discovery. It is their highest-charting hit in the United States to date. “Don’t Bring Me Down” is the band’s second-highest-charting hit in the UK, where it peaked at number 3. This was the first song by ELO not to include a string section.
“Get Down on It” is a 1981 song by American band Kool and the Gang. It was originally released on their Something Special album in 1981. The single was certified Gold by the RIAA. The song hit the top 10 on the Billboard in early 1982. It entered the UK charts in December 1981 and reached number three, their highest-charting hit in the UK at that time. It spent a total of 12 weeks on the British play list. Ten years later, it was re-released in the UK charts – on the Mercury label – but only charted for a week (at number 69).
“There’s a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He’s Elvis” is a song by British singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl, which was released as the lead single from her debut studio album Desperate Character. The song was written by MacColl and Philip Rambow, and produced by Barry Farmer. It reached No. 14 in the UK and remained in the charts for nine weeks. In the US, the song’s British chip shop reference was changed to truck stop.
“Never Let Me Down Again” is a song by English band Depeche Mode. It was released as the second single from their sixth studio album, Music for the Masses in August 1987. It reached No. 22 in the UK, No. 2 in West Germany, and the top-10 in several other European countries such as Sweden and Switzerland. The cover art features fragments of a Soviet map map of Russia and Europe, with different fragments used for the different editions of the single.
