Sit Down (song)

1989 single by James

"Sit Down" is a song by English band James, originally released in June 1989 by Rough Trade Records. In its eight and a half minute original form, the song reached number 77 on the UK Singles Chart and was ranked number eight in John Peel's Festive Fifty of that year. After experiencing success as part of the Madchester music scene, a new version was released in March 1991 that was shorter and with new lyrics. Released via Fontana Records, it reached number two on the UK Singles Chart, spending three weeks there. It was the 20th best selling single of 1991 in the UK. In 2013, the song placed fourth in a poll by BBC Radio 2 and the Official Charts Company to find the greatest track to miss out on the number one spot in the UK charts. In the same year, James performed the song with Peter Kay for Comic Relief. On 30 March 2017 a version of the song was used in the promo of the seventh season of the hit HBO series Game of Thrones.

The song's lyrics were written in late 1988 as a homage to author Doris Lessing and singer Patti Smith, who had inspired James' lead singer Tim Booth. Booth told the Daily Record in June 2004: "Sit Down is about me feeling so alone in my 20s and reading books by a writer called Doris Lessing which made me realise I wasn't. It was about being awake at 4am and having no one to talk to." In a 2014 interview with Dave Simpson of The Guardian on the effect of the song, James guitarist Larry Gott stated, "Sit Down is one of those songs that encourages people to put their arms around strangers. As soon as we launch into the opening bars, they start smiling. Then they turn to someone next to them or their girlfriend or boyfriend and hug them, and then they start singing every single word. As a musician, that's incredibly humbling." The original cover depicts an image of the former Fulham goalkeeper Tony Macedo.

The music video for the original 1989 Rough Trade release was directed by Ed Barton. It features Booth wearing a kaftan, against a white background, with the band performing the song. At one stage Booth hugs a sheep. The video was banned for two weeks by the Musicians Union as Jim Glennie took the role of a drummer, which the union felt displaced a professional musician.

RegionVersionDateFormat(s)Label(s)Ref(s). (Reference(s))United KingdomOriginal19 June 19897 inch vinyl, 12 inch vinylRough Trade26 June 1989CD1991 version18 March 19917 inch vinyl, 12 inch vinyl, CD, cassetteFontana"Sit Down '98"9 November 1998CD, cassette

On 4 June 2017, Coldplay performed "Sit Down" at the One Love Manchester benefit concert for the victims of the Manchester Arena bombing, before performing their song "Fix You". Fans of Premier League club Liverpool rewrote the lyrics of this song in 2018 as a new terrace chant for 2017–18 Premier League Golden Boot winner Mohamed Salah. Booth thought the version was witty and welcomed its use for Salah.