A New England

1984 single by Billy Bragg

This article is about the 1983 song. For various New Englands, see New England (disambiguation).

"A New England"

Song by Billy Bragg
from the album  Life's a Riot with Spy Vs Spy
Released| November 1983 (1983-11)
Recorded| 2–4 February 1983
Studio| Chappell Music, London
Length| 2:14
Label| Utility
Songwriter(s)| Billy Bragg
Producer(s)| Oliver Hitch

"A New England" is a song written and recorded by Billy Bragg, released with his album Life's a Riot with Spy Vs Spy in 1983. It remains a signature song from the early years of Bragg's recording career.[1]

In 1985, a cover version by Kirsty MacColl became a hit single.

## Background and composition

[edit]

Bragg borrowed 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") from Paul Simon's song "Leaves That Are Green", which appears on Simon and Garfunkel's 1966 album Sounds of Silence.[2]

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".[3] He told a BBC interviewer he "stole" the melody from Thin Lizzy's "Cowboy Song".[3]

## Kirsty MacColl version

[edit]

"A New England"

Single by Kirsty MacColl
B-side|

* "Patrick"
* "I'm Going Out with an 80-Year-Old Millionaire"

Released| December 1984 (1984-12)
Recorded| 1984
Genre| New wave
Length| 3:49
Label| Stiff
Songwriter(s)| Billy Bragg
Producer(s)| Steve Lillywhite
Kirsty MacColl singles chronology
| "Terry"
(1983)  | "A New England"
(1984)  | "He's on the Beach"
(1985)

|
|

Kirsty MacColl recorded the song the year after its release by Bragg. Her version was produced by her then husband Steve Lillywhite.[4] Entering the UK chart in 1985, it was her biggest solo hit, reaching number 7 in the UK Singles Chart[5] and number 8 in the Irish Singles Chart.[6]

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?"[7] Since MacColl's death, Bragg has included the additional verse in performances of the song as a tribute.[8]

The recording of "A New England" was the first collaboration between MacColl and her husband Steve Lillywhite on one of her own solo recordings.[9]

### Background

[edit]

MacColl discovered Bragg in 1983 when she went to see one of his live performances.[10] One of the songs Bragg played was "A New England", which MacColl immediately identified as having hit potential. MacColl told Smash Hits 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 song."[10] She added to Gilbert Blecken in 1994, "I knew the song was fantastic, but [Bragg's] version was just the skeleton of the song, so I wanted to dress it up."[11]

### Music video

[edit]

MacColl recalled to Record Mirror in 1985, "It was hell making the video, I was seven months pregnant and it was shot out in the freezing cold."[12]

### Critical reception

[edit]

On its release, Richard Cook of New Musical Express 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."[13] Mike Gardiner of Record Mirror 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-style 12-string guitar backing" and "some velvet choral effects".[14] 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.[15] Bill Black of Sounds was negative in his review, noting that MacColl and Lillywhite were "not content to stick with the anorexic arrangement" of Bragg's original, but opted to "feed the song up with a crippling bpm and at least two skyward leaps at a change of mood". He felt the result had "come down hard on a simple tale that asks only to be told, not trampled underfoot by an over-fed mix".[16]

### Track listing

[edit]

#### 7-inch and picture disc

[edit]

Side ANo.| Title| Writer(s)| Length

|
|
|

1.| "A New England"| Billy Bragg| 3:51

Side BNo.| Title| Writer(s)| Length

|
|
|

2.| "Patrick"| Kirsty MacColl| 3:07

#### 12-inch

[edit]

Side ANo.| Title| Writer(s)| Length

|
|
|

1.| "A New England (Extended Version)"| Bragg| 7:56

Side BNo.| Title| Writer(s)| Length

|
|
|

2.| "Patrick"| MacColl| 3:07
3.| "I'm Going Out with an Eighty Year Old Millionaire"| MacColl| 2:52

### Charts

[edit]

Chart (1985)  | Peak
position

|

Ireland (IRMA)[17] | 8
Netherlands (Tipparade)[18] | 10
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[19] | 18
UK Singles (OCC)[20] | 7

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Fiona Shepherd. "Billy Bragg has new look, new tech, but the same message". Retrieved 26 July 2013.
2. ^ "Paul Simon's Political Storm". Artworks. 29 April 2025. Event occurs at 11:18. BBC. Radio 4. Retrieved 6 May 2025. "I've always been a huge fan of Paul Simon: I still am. I borrowed a line from a Simon and Garfunkel song called 'The Leaves That Are Green' for the opening line of my song 'A New England'"
3. ^ a b "Billy Bragg in an interview with Alan Thompson". BBC. Archived from the original on 14 November 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
4. ^ "Freeworld – Kirsty MacColl: Official Releases". Retrieved 30 October 2014.
5. ^ "The Official Charts Company – Kirsty MacColl – A New England". Official Charts. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
6. ^ "irishcharts.ie search results for A New England". Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
7. ^ Webb, Robert (2013). 100 Greatest Cover Versions. McNidder and Grace Limited. p. 98\. ISBN 9780857160577 – via Google Books.
8. ^ "Freeworld – Kirsty MacColl: singles". Retrieved 30 October 2014.
9. ^ "Interviews 1985 - On the Beach - Kirsty MacColl". www.kirstymaccoll.com.
10. ^ a b MacDonald, Vici (14 February 1985). "She was on the front cover of Smash Hits in June 1981. Then what happened?". Smash Hits.
11. ^ "Interviews 1994 - Titanic Days - Kirsty MacColl". www.kirstymaccoll.com.
12. ^ Smith, Robin (6 July 1985). "Beach Baby". Record Mirror. pp. 22–23.
13. ^ Cook, Richard (5 January 1985). "Singles". New Musical Express. p. 18.
14. ^ Gardiner, Mike (12 January 1985). "Singles". Record Mirror. p. 6\. ISSN 0144-5804.
15. ^ Edmonds, Frank (11 January 1985). "Soundscene". Bury Free Press. p. 10.
16. ^ Black, Bill (22 December 1984). "Singles". Sounds. p. 12\. ISSN 0144-5774.
17. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – A New England". Irish Singles Chart.
18. ^ "Kirsty MacColl - A New England" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
19. ^ "Kirsty MacColl – A New England". Singles Top 100.
20. ^ "Kirsty MacColl: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.

## External links

[edit]

* "A New England" at Discogs (list of releases)

* v
* t
* e

Billy Bragg

Studio albums|

* Life's a Riot with Spy vs Spy
* Brewing Up with Billy Bragg
* Talking with the Taxman About Poetry
* Workers Playtime
* The Internationale
* Don't Try This at Home
* William Bloke
* Mermaid Avenue
* Mermaid Avenue Vol. II
* England, Half-English
* Mr Love & Justice
* Mermaid Avenue Vol. III
* Tooth & Nail
* Shine a Light
* Bridges Not Walls
* The Million Things That Never Happened

Compilations
and boxsets|

* Back to Basics
* The Peel Sessions Album
* Victim of Geography
* Bloke on Bloke
* Reaching to the Converted
* Must I Paint You a Picture? The Essential Billy Bragg
* Volume 1
* Volume 2
* Fight Songs
* Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions
* The Roaring Forty (1983–2023)

Singles and EPs|

* Between the Wars EP
* "Levi Stubbs' Tears"
* "Greetings to the New Brunette"
* "Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards"
* "Sexuality"
* "We Laughed"

Related articles|

* Discography
* Red Wedge
* "A New England"
* Wilco
* Man in the Sand

* v
* t
* e

Kirsty MacColl

Studio albums|

* Desperate Character
* Kirsty MacColl
* Kite
* Electric Landlady
* Titanic Days
* Tropical Brainstorm
* Real

Compilations|

* The Essential Collection
* Galore
* What Do Pretty Girls Do?
* The One and Only
* From Croydon to Cuba: An Anthology
* The Best of Kirsty MacColl
* A New England: The Very Best of Kirsty MacColl
* All I Ever Wanted: The Anthology
* See That Girl 1979–2000

Singles|

* "They Don't Know"
* "You Caught Me Out"
* "Keep Your Hands off My Baby"
* "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis"
* "See That Girl"
* "You Still Believe in Me"
* "I Want Out"
* "Terry"
* "A New England"
* "He's on the Beach"
* "Free World"
* "Days"
* "Innocence"
* "Don't Come the Cowboy with Me Sonny Jim!"
* "Walking Down Madison"
* "My Affair"
* "All I Ever Wanted"
* "Angel"
* "Can't Stop Killing You"
* "Caroline"
* "Perfect Day"
* "Mambo de la Luna"
* "In These Shoes?"

With The Pogues|

* "Fairytale of New York"

Related articles|

* Discography
* Ewan MacColl
* Steve Lillywhite
* "Dear John"

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz work
* MusicBrainz release group

|

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