Are Reading, Swindon and Northampton spiritually dead?
Hit The North has a dual meaning; punish it, or go there. When we did the video in Blackpool we were in a Yates' Wine Lodge and all these rugby teams were going 'Hit the North? What's that mean then?' And this girl behind the bar was great; she said 'In America they say Let's hit L.A., and they just mean Let's go there..' Eventually all the old dears joined in and everyone was having a big rap about what it meant. My basic attitude is that I'd rather live here than in the South and it always has been. I don't really care where anybody lives, though, and I think this North/South divide is nonsense. I don't envy anyone who lives in Reading, Swindon, or Northampton; they're horrible new towns and the people are spiritually dead down there.
—Mark E. Smith quoted from Dave Haslam in "The Fall" Debris (#16), 1988, pp. 22-23 thefall.org/gigography/88debris16.html
Hit the North is a 1987 song by British post-punk band the Fall. The lyrics were composed by band leader Mark E. Smith with the music written by Simon Rogers and Brix Smith. Released in 1987, Tom Doyle of Sound on Sound described it as a "rousing groove–based anthem which is now regarded by many as both their ultimate statement and best single". en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hit_the_North
Are Reading, Swindon and Northampton spiritually dead?
Hit The North has a dual meaning; punish it, or go there. When we did the video in Blackpool we were in a Yates' Wine Lodge and all these rugby teams were going 'Hit the North? What's that mean then?' And this girl behind the bar was great; she said 'In America they say Let's hit L.A., and they just mean Let's go there..' Eventually all the old dears joined in and everyone was having a big rap about what it meant. My basic attitude is that I'd rather live here than in the South and it always has been. I don't really care where anybody lives, though, and I think this North/South divide is nonsense. I don't envy anyone who lives in Reading, Swindon, or Northampton; they're horrible new towns and the people are spiritually dead down there.
—Mark E. Smith quoted from Dave Haslam in "The Fall" Debris (#16), 1988, pp. 22-23 thefall.org/gigography/88debris16.html
Hit the North is a 1987 song by British post-punk band the Fall. The lyrics were composed by band leader Mark E. Smith with the music written by Simon Rogers and Brix Smith. Released in 1987, Tom Doyle of Sound on Sound described it as a "rousing groove–based anthem which is now regarded by many as both their ultimate statement and best single". en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hit_the_North