Wikipedia article
"'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 Singles Chart.[ The single was backed by a cover version of The Who's song "So Sad About Us", and the song "The Night", written by Bruce Foxton.
]
Production
Originally Paul Weller had wanted to exclude the song from the 'All Mod Cons' album,[ on the grounds that the arrangement had not sufficiently developed during the recording sessions.][ He was persuaded to include it by the record's producer Vic Coppersmith-Heaven.][
]
Lyrical theme and musical composition
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.[ The song starts with the atmospheric sounds of a London Underground station, then a tense, syncopated beat carried by the bass guitar. The lyrics are sentimental, contrasting the warmth of home and domestic life with the dangers of 1970s London's urban decay and casual late-night violence. Tension is heightened by a heartbeat audio effect in the left stereo channel at points during the song.][
]
The sound of an Underground train at the beginning and end of the song was recorded at St John's Wood Station.[
]
Cover art
The front cover photograph was taken at Bond Street tube station, on the westbound Central line. On the back cover was a portrait photograph of Keith Moon who had died a month prior to the single's release.[ The Who's "So Sad About Us" was included as a tribute to Moon.][
]
Cover versions
* Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine released a version of it as the B-side of their single release "Do Re Me So Far So Good" (1992).
* The Bad Shepherds covered the song in their album 'Yan, Tyan, Tethra, Methra!' (2009).
References
Category:1978 singles
Category:The Jam songs
Category:Songs about London
Category:Songs written by Paul Weller
Category:1978 songs
Category:Song recordings produced by Vic Coppersmith-Heaven
Category:Polydor Records singles
|