"Streets Of Your Town" is a song by Australian indie group
The Go-Betweens
The Go-Betweens were an Australian indie rock band formed in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1977. The band was co-founded and led by singer-songwriters and guitarists Robert Forster and Grant McLennan, who were its only constant members throughout ...
that was released as the lead single from their 1988 album ''
16 Lovers Lane
''16 Lovers Lane'' is the sixth album by Australian indie rock group The Go-Betweens, released in 1988 by Beggars Banquet Records. Prior to the recording of the album, longtime bassist Robert Vickers left the band when the other group members ...
''. Featuring polished production, a prominent backing vocal by Amanda Brown and a guitar solo by bassist John Willsteed, "Streets of Your Town" is one of the band's most recognised songs. It was released in July 1988 in the UK on Beggars Banquet, where it reached #80 on the singles charts and in Australia in August 1988 on
Mushroom
A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans.
The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...
, where it reached #68. In New Zealand, the song was issued in November 1988, and was a top 40 hit, peaking at #30–the band's highest-ever placing on any national chart.
The single was re-released in the UK in 1989, in an attempt by Beggars Banquet to encourage the band's commercial momentum. However, it only peaked at No. 82.
Composition and recording
Written by
Grant McLennan
Grant William McLennan (12 February 19586 May 2006) was an Australian alternative rock singer-songwriter-guitarist. He co-founded the Go-Betweens with Robert Forster in Brisbane in 1977. In addition to his work with the Go-Betweens (1977–89, ...
, the sunny, upbeat music is contrasted with darker lyrics: "Don't the sun look good today but the rain is on its way, watch the butcher shine his knives, and this town is full of battered wives". McLennan said of writing the song, "I was listening to '
Under the Milky Way
"Under the Milky Way" is a single by Australian alternative rock band The Church, released on 15 February 1988, and appears on their fifth studio album ''Starfish''. The song was written by bass guitarist and lead vocalist Steve Kilbey and h ...
' and I was just working it out–cause I'm a big fan of The Church. And that afternoon I came up with a chord progression and a chorus." The song was written in McLennan and Amanda Brown's apartment in Bondi. Brown said, "It was written in, I would say, 10 minutes. I was singing along and I sung that "shine" line, which is like the call and response answer in the verses. And I don’t collect any songwriting royalties for that song, because that was a condition of my joining the band."
Mclennan had not played the song to Forster before entering the studio. "It remains an odd fact - the one Go-Betweens song Grant and I never played before recording," Forster wrote.
Lindy Morrison
Belinda "Lindy" Morrison (born 2 November 1951) is an Australian musician originally from Brisbane, Queensland. She was the drummer in indie rock group the Go-Betweens from 1980 to 1989, appearing on all of the band's releases from their first L ...
said, "We were in a park in Glebe when Amanda and Grant played the song to us for the first time, and I guess I was hearing it through Robert’s reaction, because Robert was so shocked. So I was feeling his pain, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t see how magnificent that song was."John Willsteed played the "gorgeous Spanish-inflected acoustic guitar solo" on a nylon-stringed classical guitar that belonged to Brown. The band were unable to replicate it live where Willsteed played bass. Forster noted, "It was much more of a studio construction, and maybe the best version of it ever is on the album."
Forster later said, "This was obviously the most commercial thing we'd ever done, and it came out around October '88, which caught the summer here. It was re-released in summer and it sat fantastically on Australian summer radio and then it sat well on English summer radio. We were walking around Soho and we'd hear it on the radio, every jean shop and café. It was on
Radio 1 Radio 1 or Radio One most commonly refers to:
*BBC Radio 1, a music radio station from the BBC
** BBC Radio 1Xtra, a digital radio station broadcasting black music
*CBC Radio One, a talk radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporatio ...
and so we were hearing it as we were walking around."
Video
There were two video clips filmed to promote the song. One, directed by Paul Goldman and filmed in black-and-white which is included on the CD remaster, featuring footage of the band performing the song and the town of
Rainbow, Victoria
Rainbow is a town in the Shire of Hindmarsh in northwest Victoria, Australia, from Melbourne. The nearest large towns are Warracknabeal, Dimboola and Nhill, all to the south. At the , Rainbow had a population of 683.
History
In 1899 the railwa ...
, and the Melbourne suburb of
Yarraville, Victoria
Yarraville is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Maribyrnong local government area. Yarraville recorded a population of 15,636 at the .
Yarravil ...
. The other, more often played videoclip, directed by
Kriv Stenders
Kriv Stenders is an Australian writer, producer and director best known for the film '' Red Dog'' and the thriller film ''Kill Me Three Times''.
He started off directing music videos for many famous Australian bands, including Go Betweens, M ...
, mixes evocative city images of
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
. ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' describes it as, "slabs of bright blue sky behind terrace houses, telephone lines, clock towers, apartment blocks and train stations. There are glimpses of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, overhead tram lines in Melbourne and buildings in central Brisbane. And lots of sun glittering on water."
Reception
Reviewed at the time of release, '' Melody Maker'' said, "More skilled story telling. As ever. The Go-Betweens tell a tall, and a small, tale well. The Go-Betweens are fine, basically, for their sense of understatement and this knack they have of translating a resigned shrug to music. Very occasionally, they're great."
Maura Johnston
Maura K. Johnston (born May 28, 1975) is a writer, editor and music critic. A member of Boston College's journalism faculty, she has written for ''Rolling Stone'', ''The Boston Globe'', ''Pitchfork'', ''The Awl'', ''The New York Times'', ''Spin' ...
wrote for
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
, "The shimmering "Streets of Your Town," a saudade-infused saunter that's highlighted by Brown's sun-dappled backing vocal, is an especially summery offering."
Andrew Stafford wrote in the ''
Griffith Review
''Griffith Review'' is a quarterly publication featuring essays, reportage, memoir, fiction, poetry and artwork from established and emerging writers and artists. Each edition focuses on a contemporary theme, enabling pertinent issues to be aired ...
'' that the song, "was one of McLennan's simplest and most direct songs. The song's circular chorus captures suburban humdrum with effortless ease – recognising that mundanity and the comforts of home often go hand in hand – and although it's open-ended enough that anyone could hum it in any city in the world, it's not hard to recognise Brisbane."
In January 2018, as part of
Triple M
Triple M is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 40 radio stations broadcasting a mainstream rock music format and 5 digital radio stations.
The network dates back to ...
's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "Streets of Your Town" was ranked number 100.
Other versions
Lines from the song were included by U2 when they played "Elevation" and "
With or Without You
"With or Without You" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the third track on their fifth studio album, '' The Joshua Tree'' (1987), and was released as the album's lead single on 16 March 1987. The song was the group's most successful sing ...
" on the opening of the Pacific leg of their
Vertigo World Tour
The Vertigo World Tour was Irish recording artist Eden's third concert tour, supporting his debut studio album ''Vertigo''. The tour began March 2018 in North America and ended in Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally conside ...
in
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
, in dedication to McLennan. The song was also played after the band's second encore. The opening guitar chords from the song are sampled on " Just the Way You Are" by Italian dance production group
Milky
Milky is an Italian dance music production group consisting of producers Giordano Trivellato and Giuliano Sacchetto, with Italian singer Giuditta serving as their lead singer on their album ''Star''.Billboard
Hot Dance Airplay
Dance/Mix Show Airplay (formerly Hot Dance Airplay) is a monitored electronic dance music radio chart that is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine.
History
The chart came about as a result of the small but influential impact of electronic d ...
chart in October, 2003.
This song was used as the theme song for
Prime Television
Prime7, formerly Prime Television and other names, was an Australian television network. Prime Television launched on 17 March 1962 as '' CBN-8'' in Orange, and later expanded to cover regional New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Cap ...
in Australia in 2001-2002 and for television advertisements for ''
The Courier Mail
''The Courier-Mail'' is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner northern ...
'' in 2006/2007, though in both cases the song was edited so that the darker lyrics were omitted. The song was also featured in the 2008
Australian
Australian(s) may refer to:
Australia
* Australia, a country
* Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia
** European Australians
** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists
** Aboriginal A ...
/
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
AFI award
The Australian Film Institute (AFI) was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Australian film industry. It is responsi ...
-winning drama-based
feature film
A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...
Dave McCormack
David Liam McCormack (born 25 October 1968) is an Australian musician and singer-songwriter. He is best known as frontman of Brisbane-based rock group Custard,McFarlan'Custard'entry. Retrieved 23 February 2010.Spencer et al, (2007McCormack, ...
featured in the soundtrack to the film ''
All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane
''All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane'' is a 2007 Australian romantic comedy film directed by Louise Alston and written by Stephen Vagg. It follows Anthea, a 25-year-old girl who hates her job and has to sit back and watch as all her friends mo ...
'' (2007).
Track listing
Original 7" Vinyl release
# "Streets of Your Town" - 3:34
# "Wait Until June" - 3:05
Original 12" Vinyl release
# "Streets of Your Town" - 3:34
# "Quiet Heart" - 5:20
# "Bow Down" - 3:45
# "The House that Jack Kerouac Built" - 4:46
Original CD single release
# "Streets of Your Town" - 3:34
# " Spring Rain" - 3:06
# "Right Here" - 3:53
# "Wait Until June" - 3:05
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
MusicBrainz
MusicBrainz is a MetaBrainz project that aims to create a collaborative music database that is similar to the freedb project. MusicBrainz was founded in response to the restrictions placed on the Compact Disc Database (CDDB), a database for so ...
Discogs
Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...