50 songs to take to my grave #48: Sit Down

I first wrote about this song in March 2014, back in the early days of this blog. It's the one article I periodically revisit and read through in full, along with the comments left. It's like some kind of therapy, I suppose. I did think about being lazy and instead of writing something new, that I would lift part of that previous article instead. But it just wouldn't work. That piece was way too personal to be rehashed just to fill another article. Besides, while my connection with Sit Down is largely down to sentimental reasons, the reason I bought it in the first place was because it is such a bloody good pop song, so that's what I'm going to concentrate on here.

You all know Sit Down, of course. You also probably know the original that I'm referring to here as well as the smash hit remake. It was the first James track I heard. I think it was on the same video compilation as that Wolfgang Press track I posted a couple weeks back. The full 12" version, which I promptly rushed out and bought from my local indie store, was just glorious. And so it remains. Songs like Sit Down have a tendency to sound all self-righteous and cringey. The thing is though that the way James did it, and especially the way Tim Booth sang it, it actually sounds genuine and warm.

OK, so if I'm being honest here, this song makes it into my grave for mainly sentimental reasons. If I were to choose a James song to listen to right now, it would probably be Sometimes. Or Laid. Or Government Walls. Or Skullduggery (there's an onscure one). Or even something from the new album (which is actually very good). But whatever - a bit of sentimentality never hurt anyone, and I just have too many thoughts and memories attached to Sit Down to leave it out. It kept me going at certain times, this song, and this version remains the best. The remake by the expanded seven-piece line-up just sounded too earnest and, if I may dare, pompous. And don't get me started on those stupid bloody remixes. This is how Sit Down should sound.




I'm not posting the video here as it is for the cruelly butchered 7" edit which should never have seen the light of day. However, here's an article in which Larry Gott and Tim Booth talk about how Sit Down was written. The vid is in the middle of the piece if you dare.