"Loyal" is a single by New Zealand singer/songwriter

Dave Dobbyn Sir David Joseph Dobbyn (born 3 January 1957) is a New Zealand musician, singer–songwriter and record producer. In his early career he was a member of the rock group Th' Dudes and was the main creative force in pop band DD Smash. Since then he ...

, released in 1988 from the album of the same name. The song reached number 19 on the New Zealand charts and has since become a cult song for the nation.

Background

Dobbyn wrote the song in Sydney, with the opening harmonic progression coming about from playing with a newly bought guitar. He co-produced the single, and in retrospect is not entirely happy with the result, preferring live versions such as that from the Together in Concert: Live tour with

Bic Runga Briolette Kah Bic Runga (born 13 January 1976), recording as Bic Runga, is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist pop artist. Her first three studio albums debuted at number one on the Recording Industry Association of New Ze ...

and

Tim Finn Brian Timothy Finn (born 25 June 1952) is a New Zealand singer and musician. His musical career includes forming 1970s and 1980s New Zealand rock group Split Enz, a number of solo albums, temporary membership in his brother Neil's band Crowde ...

Music video

The music video for Loyal was directed by Kerry Brown and is a one-shot video of Dobbyn and a woman moving out of a house. It was met with mixed reception and there is some argument about the appropriateness of the imagery for the song. Dobbyn's patterned jersey also received some derision.

Legacy

In 2001, Loyal was voted the 3rd best New Zealand song of the 20th century by APRA, and featured on the related ''

Nature's Best ''Nature's Best'' is a two-disc compilation album of thirty New Zealand popular music songs, selected by a panel as the top thirty New Zealand songs of all time. Selection The genesis of the idea was the 75th anniversary of the Australasian Pe ...

'' CD. It was also included on the live album '' Together in Concert: Live'', which was performed with

and

. It was used in 2002 as the official song for the defending New Zealand team in the

2003 America's Cup The 31st America's Cup was contested between the holder, Team New Zealand, and the winner of the 2003 Louis Vuitton Cup, Alinghi. Build Up The 2002–2003 Louis Vuitton Cup, held in the Hauraki Gulf in Auckland, New Zealand saw nine teams fro ...

yachting competition. There was some public unhappiness about the song's association with the campaign (especially given the team's subsequent loss). The song was used to bring to light that 9 of the 18 crew members of Swiss-based team Alinghi were New Zealanders, and all 9 were previously members of Team New Zealand between the years of 1995 and 2000. However, in 2006, voters in an online survey of 3000 voted it NZ's best song. Dobbyn has noted the adoption of "Loyal" into the wider New Zealand psyche:

References

External links

Music Video
(

NZ On Screen NZ On Screen is a state-funded online promotional showcase of New Zealand television and film. Funded by NZ On Air, it provides free worldwide access to NZ-produced television, film and music videos. Content is streamed and the webpages provide ...

)
'The National Anthems'
a commentary on top APRA New Zealand songs including "Loyal" {{authority control 1988 singles APRA Award winners Dave Dobbyn songs 1988 songs CBS Records singles Songs written by Dave Dobbyn