"A New England" is a song written and recorded by

Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music is ...

, included on his album ''

Life's a Riot with Spy Vs Spy ''Life's a Riot with Spy vs Spy'' is Billy Bragg's first album, released in 1983. All songs on the original album consisted of Bragg singing to his electric guitar accompaniment. The original album played at 45 rpm rather than the more usu ...

'', released in 1983. It remains a

signature song A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a Handwriting, handwritten (and often Stylization, stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and ...

from the early years of Bragg's recording career. In 1985, a cover version by

Kirsty MacColl Kirsty Anna MacColl (10 October 1959 – 18 December 2000) was a British singer and songwriter, daughter of folk singer Ewan MacColl. She recorded several pop hits in the 1980s and 1990s, including "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He ...

became a hit single.

Background and composition

The opening lines of the song ("I was 21 years when I wrote this song/I'm 22 now, but I won't be for long") are identical to the opening lines of

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...

's song "

Leaves That Are Green "Leaves That Are Green" is a song written and originally recorded by Paul Simon for his 1965 album ''The Paul Simon Songbook''. It was later re-recorded with Art Garfunkel for the 1966 album ''Sounds of Silence'', adding an electric harpsichord, ...

", which appears on

Simon and Garfunkel Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music groups of the 1960s, and their biggest hits—including the electric remix of " ...

's 1966 album ''

Sounds of Silence ''Sounds of Silence'' is the second studio album by American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, released on January 17, 1966. The album's title is a slight modification of the title of the duo's first major hit, " The Sound of Silence", which orig ...

''. During a concert in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, on 26 September 2006, Bragg stated Simon and Garfunkel had a strong influence on him. Bragg has said the song had its origins in seeing two satellites flying alongside each other. Searching for romantic inspiration, he had to make do with "space hardware". He told a BBC interviewer he "stole" the melody from Thin Lizzy's " Cowboy Song".

Kirsty MacColl version

Kirsty MacColl recorded the song the year after its release by Bragg. Her version was produced by her then husband

Steve Lillywhite Stephen Alan Lillywhite, (born 15 March 1955) is a British record producer. Since he began his career in 1977, Lillywhite has been credited on over 500 records, and has collaborated with a variety of musicians including new wave acts XTC, Big ...

. Entering the UK chart in 1985, it was her biggest solo hit, reaching number 7 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and number 8 in the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

. Bragg's original version of the song had only two verses. MacColl thought the song was too short, and so Bragg wrote a further verse for her. The line in the chorus "I'm just looking for another girl" becomes a question: "Are you looking for another girl?" Since MacColl's death, Bragg has included the additional verse in performances of the song as a tribute. The recording of "A New England" was the first collaboration between MacColl and her husband

on one of her own solo recordings.

Background

MacColl discovered Bragg in 1983 when she went to see one of his live performances. One of the songs Bragg played was "A New England", which MacColl immediately identified as having hit potential. MacColl told ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand fo ...

'' in 1985, "I always thought 'A New England' would be great with loads of harmonies, it's such a good melody. Billy does it in a very rough way, and it's like a busker doing a really good

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...

song." She added to Gilbert Blecken in 1994, "I knew the song was fantastic, but ragg'sversion was just the skeleton of the song, so I wanted to dress it up."

Music video

MacColl recalled to ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the ''NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in ''Re ...

'' in 1985, "It was hell making the video, I was seven months pregnant and it was shot out in the freezing cold."

Critical reception

On its release, Richard Cook of ''

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' wrote, "Bragg's 'A New England' proves to be a skimming and vivacious vehicle for MacColl and the song checks for the pop sense of composer and singer; but Lillywhite's production might be too clever where it needs a simple stroke, unassuming when it needs to strike clear and hard." Mike Gardiner of ''

'' stated that MacColl had "admirably tenderised the Billy Bragg original without weakening one of last year's better love songs". He noted the "smart production", the "

Byrds The Byrds () were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining th ...

-style 12-string guitar backing" and "some velvet choral effects". Frank Edmonds of the '' Bury Free Press'' gave the single a 6 out of 10 rating. He described it as a "fast, bright pop song", but did not believe it would become a hit.

Track listing

7-inch and picture disc

12-inch

Charts

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:New England, A 1984 singles Kirsty MacColl songs Billy Bragg songs 1983 songs Songs written by Billy Bragg Song recordings produced by Steve Lillywhite Songs about England Songs about the United Kingdom