See You (Big Country song)

Last updated
"See You"
Big Country See You 1999 single cover.jpg
Single by Big Country
from the album Driving to Damascus
A-side "Perfect World" (double A-side)
Released25 October 1999
Length3:50
Label Track Record
Songwriter(s) Stuart Adamson
Producer(s)
  • Rafe McKenna
  • Big Country
Big Country singles chronology
"Fragile Thing"
(1999)		"See You"
(1999)		"Somebody Else"
(2000)

"See You" is a song by Scottish rock band Big Country, released in 1999 as a double A-side single with "Perfect World". It was the second single to be released from their eighth studio album Driving to Damascus and reached number 77 in the UK Singles Chart. "See You" was written by Stuart Adamson and "Perfect World" was written by Adamson, Mark Brzezicki, Tony Butler and Bruce Watson. Both tracks were produced by Rafe McKenna and Big Country.

Contents

Background

In 2006, bassist Tony Butler described "See You" as a "beautiful track" and added, "I thought Stuart's vocal on this song was so in tune with the sentiment, it totally works for me." Speaking of "Perfect World", the song which "See You" was paired with as a double A-side single, Butler recalled how the band had tried to adopt a contemporary edge to their sound: "[It] was a quest to add something different to the Big Country sound. We had by this time, a very strong musical identity, but there was always an ambition to move forward, but not lose the essence of what we were about. I think this was Rafe McKenna's finest moment; introducing the loops and other noises. It added a contemporary drive to the track that made it very cool." [1]

Release

"See You" was issued with "Perfect World" as a double A-side single in the UK on 25 October 1999. [2] Two editions of the single were issued on CD. CD1 contained the additional, exclusive track "This Blood's for You" and a pair of postcards of the band photographed in Nashville. CD2 contained an additional track, "Camp Smedley's Theme", which was also exclusive to the release, and two postcards of the band photographed in Kosovo. The single was also issued on 7-inch vinyl in a generic white sleeve. [3] CD2's front cover is a photograph taken during the band's visit to Kosovo. It shows a Kosovan orphan playing guitarist Bruce Watson's mandolin, with a ruined building, a result of the Kosovo War, in the background. [4]

"See You" received airplay on BBC Radio 2. It was on the station's 'C-List' for the week commencing 18 October. [5]

Music videos

No music video was made for "See You", but two music videos were shot for "Perfect World" to promote the double A-side single. The first video was shot at Stockley Park and is interspersed with footage of the band performing at their 1999 fan club convention in Egham. The second video features footage filmed during the band's time in Kosovo, as well as clips from the fan club convention shoot. [3]

Critical reception

In a 2011 review of Driving to Damascus, Tim Jones of Record Collector called "See You" "amiable US rock radio fodder". [6] Nick James of God Is in the TV , in a review of the album's 2023 deluxe edition release, described "Perfect World" as being a "track of particular note" and commented that it features the "prowess of Brzezicki's sticks, just over four minutes of pure magic, played at a frantic pace". [7]

Track listing

7-inch single [8]

  1. "See You" – 3:50
  2. "Perfect World" – 4:02

CD single (#1) [9]

  1. "See You" – 3:50
  2. "Perfect World" – 4:02
  3. "This Blood's for You" – 3:43

CD single (#2) [10]

  1. "See You" – 3:50
  2. "Perfect World" – 4:02
  3. "Camp Smedley's Theme" – 3:56

Personnel

Big Country

Additional musicians

Production

Other

Charts

Chart (1999)Peak
position
UK Singles (OCC) [11] 77
UK Independent Singles Chart (OCC) [12] 16

Related Research Articles

<i>The Crossing</i> (Big Country album) 1983 studio album by Big Country

The Crossing is the debut album released by Scottish band Big Country. The album reached #3 in the UK; overseas, it hit #4 in Canada on the RPM national Top Albums Chart and #18 in the US on the Billboard 200 in 1983. It went on to be certified platinum in the UK and Canada. It contains the song "In a Big Country" which is their only U.S. Top 40 hit single. Stuart Adamson and fellow guitarist Bruce Watson used the MXR Pitch Transposer 129 effect pedal to create a guitar sound reminiscent of bagpipes. Also contributing to the band's unique sound was their use of the e-bow, a hand-held device which, through the use of magnets, causes the strings of an electric guitar to vibrate producing a soft attack which sounds more like strings or synthesizer.

<i>Steeltown</i> 1984 studio album by Big Country

Steeltown is the second studio album by Scottish band Big Country. The album was recorded at ABBA's Polar Studios in Stockholm with Steve Lillywhite producing. It was released on 19 October 1984, in the UK and 29 October 1984, in the United States. It was released on CD only in Germany, as well as remastered and reissued there.

<i>The Seer</i> (Big Country album) 1986 studio album by Big Country

The Seer is the third studio album by the Scottish band Big Country, released in 1986. The album featured very traditional Scottish musical settings, reminiscent of the band's debut album The Crossing (1983). Kate Bush worked on the title song in a duet with lead singer and lyricist Stuart Adamson. The album's first single, "Look Away", was an Irish number one, and was also the group's biggest hit single in the UK, reaching #7.

<i>No Place Like Home</i> (Big Country album) 1991 studio album by Big Country

No Place Like Home is the fifth studio album by Scottish band Big Country, released in 1991.. Its title derives from a quote in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which is referenced by the first track, "We're Not in Kansas". Dorothy's statement was in turn taken from the famous poem and song Home! Sweet Home! by John Howard Payne and Henry Bishop.

<i>Without the Aid of a Safety Net</i> 1994 live album by Big Country

Without the Aid of a Safety Net is the first live album by the Scottish band Big Country, released in 1994. It contains a portion of the tracks from a concert at The Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow, and was recorded on 29 December 1993. The full concert was released in 2005, labelled as 2CD Expanded Edition: The Complete Concert. This version features eight tracks not on the original release.

<i>Why the Long Face</i> (album) 1995 studio album by Big Country

Why the Long Face is the seventh studio album by Scottish band Big Country, released in 1995. It was produced by Chris Sheldon and members of the band.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stuart Adamson</span> Scottish guitarist, songwriter and vocalist (1958–2001)

William Stuart Adamson was a Scottish rock guitarist and singer. Adamson began his career in the late 1970s as a founding member and performer with the punk rock band Skids. After leaving Skids in 1981, he formed Big Country and was the band's lead singer and guitarist. The group's commercial heyday was in the 1980s. In the 1990s, he was a member of the alternative country band The Raphaels. In the late 1970s the British music journalist John Peel referred to his musical virtuosity as a guitarist as "a new Jimi Hendrix".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Butler (musician)</span> British musician and rock bassist

Anthony Earle Peter Butler is a British bassist, best known for his work with Scottish rock band Big Country. He has also worked with On the Air, The Pretenders, Roger Daltrey, and Pete Townshend, among others.

The discography of Big Country, a Scottish rock band which formed in 1981, consists of nine studio albums, eighteen live albums, twenty-five compilation albums, one extended play (EP), and twenty-nine singles released on Mercury Records, Reprise Records, Vertigo Records and Cherry Red Records.

<i>Driving to Damascus</i> 1999 studio album by Big Country

Driving to Damascus is the eighth studio album by Scottish rock band Big Country. It was released in 1999 as both a standard edition and a limited edition digipack, and with bonus tracks in 2002. In the U.S., it was released under a different name, John Wayne's Dream. The limited edition version featured different cover artwork, and included two tracks by Stuart Adamson's alt-country side project, The Raphaels, although there was no indication in the credits that these were not by Big Country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big Country</span> Scottish rock band

Big Country are a Scottish rock band formed in Dunfermline, Fife, in 1981.

"Irresistible" is a song written and recorded by British singer-songwriter Steve Harley. It was released three times as a single; the first being in 1985 as a non-album single under his band's name Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel In 1986, a remixed version of the song was released by Harley as a solo single in the UK, and in 1992, he re-released this version as a single in Europe from his solo album Yes You Can. "Irresistible" was written by Harley and produced by English producer Mickie Most.

<i>The Journey</i> (Big Country album) 2013 studio album by Big Country

The Journey is the ninth studio album by Scottish rock band Big Country, released on 8 April 2013 through Cherry Red Records. The Journey is the first and only Big Country album with The Alarm vocalist Mike Peters taking over for the late Stuart Adamson, who died on 16 December 2001 at the age of 43, and former Simple Minds bassist Derek Forbes replacing Tony Butler, who retired in 2012. It is also the first album to feature Jamie Watson, who joins his father Bruce Watson on guitar. The elder Watson along with drummer Mark Brzezicki are the sole remaining members of the band's classic lineup present on this album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Save Me (Big Country song)</span> 1990 single by Big Country

"Save Me" is a song by Scottish rock band Big Country, which was released in 1990 as a single from their compilation album Through a Big Country: Greatest Hits. The song was written by Stuart Adamson and produced by Tim Palmer. It reached No. 41 on the UK Singles Chart and remained in the Top 100 for three weeks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fragile Thing</span> 1999 single by Big Country featuring Eddi Reader

"Fragile Thing" is a song by Scottish rock band Big Country, released in 1999 as the lead single from their eighth studio album Driving to Damascus. It was written by Stuart Adamson and Bruce Watson, and produced by Rafe McKenna and Big Country. "Fragile Thing" reached number 69 in the UK Singles Chart. A music video was filmed to promote the single.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heart of the World (song)</span> 1990 single by Big Country

"Heart of the World" is a song by Scottish rock band Big Country, which was released in 1990 as a non-album single. It was written by Stuart Adamson and produced by Tim Palmer. "Heart of the World" reached No. 50 on the UK Singles Chart and remained in the Top 100 for three weeks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I'm Not Ashamed (song)</span> 1995 single by Big Country

"I'm Not Ashamed" is a song by Scottish rock band Big Country, which was released in 1995 as the lead single from their seventh studio album Why the Long Face. It was written by Stuart Adamson, and produced by Big Country and Chris Sheldon. "I'm Not Ashamed" reached No. 69 on the UK Singles Chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">You Dreamer</span> 1995 single by Big Country

"You Dreamer" is a song by Scottish rock band Big Country, which was released in 1995 as the second and final single from their seventh studio album Why the Long Face. It was written by Stuart Adamson, and produced by Big Country and Chris Sheldon. "You Dreamer" reached No. 68 on the UK Singles Chart.

<i>Non!</i> (Big Country EP) 1995 EP by Big Country

Non! is an extended play by Scottish rock band Big Country, which was released in the UK in 1995 as an action awareness record for Greenpeace. Non! reached No. 77 in the UK Singles Chart in December 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Somebody Else (Big Country song)</span> 2000 single by Big Country

"Somebody Else" is a song by Scottish rock band Big Country, released in 2000 as the third and final single from their eighth studio album Driving to Damascus (1999). The song was written by Stuart Adamson and Ray Davies, and was produced by Rafe McKenna and Big Country. "Somebody Else" reached number 126 in the UK Singles Chart and was the band's final single release prior to lead vocalist and guitarist Stuart Adamson's suicide in 2001.

References

  1. ↑ "Driving to Damascus: Notes by Tony Butler". bigcountryinfo.com. 2006. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  2. ↑ "HMV: First for Singles" . Daily Record . 22 October 1999. p. 33. Retrieved 7 July 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. 1 2 "New Single". Country Club. No. 46. October 1999. p. 2. Retrieved 7 July 2023– via bigcountry.info.
  4. ↑ "News, rumours and gossip from the Damascus news desk". Country Club. No. 46. October 1999. p. 3. Retrieved 7 July 2023– via bigcountry.info.
  5. ↑ "Radio Two Playlists" (PDF). Music Week . 23 October 1999. p. 22. Retrieved 7 July 2023– via World Radio History.
  6. ↑ Jones, Tim (27 October 2011). "Driving to Damascus". Record Collector . No. 395. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  7. ↑ James, Nick (5 July 2023). "Big Country - Driving to Damascus: Deluxe Edition (Cherry Red Records)". God Is in the TV . Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  8. ↑ See You / Perfect World (UK 7-inch single sleeve). Big Country. Track Record. 1999. TRACK0005C.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  9. ↑ See You / Perfect World (UK CD single #1 liner notes). Big Country. Track Record. 1999. TRACK005A.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  10. ↑ See You / Perfect World (UK CD single #2 liner notes). Big Country. Track Record. 1999. TRACK005B.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  11. ↑ "Big Country: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  12. ↑ "Official Charts - See You/Perfect World". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 19 July 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.