Readers Choice/Tom’s Top Tunes: Song #36/250…Sunshine on Leith by The Proclaimers

Chances are that if you know of The Proclaimers at all it is because of their #1 hit song “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)”. You know, the song that states that the singer is going to walk 500 miles to be with you and then walk 500 more. That one. For many people, that is the only view they have into the career of Scottish twins Craig and Charlie Reid. The bi-spectacled brothers often appear on North American lists of one-hit wonder bands. But truth be told, The Proclaimers, like many one-hit wonders, are actually way more interesting and impactful than the music industry may have led you to believe. For that reason, with today’s post I am taking the opportunity to delve into the splendid history of one such band so that, perhaps, we may come to view other such artists and bands with new eyes. Without further delay, here are The Proclaimers in all their glory. Enjoy.

Craig and Charlie Reid were born in 1963 in Leith, Scotland. Leith is a suburb of Edinburgh and sits on the Firth of Forth (which is an estuary where several rivers meet which, in turn, leads to the North Sea). Like many young men born in the 1960s, they came of age musically at a time when punk, alternative and new wave music was exploding all across England and the world. That their musical influences include The Jam, The Clash and Ian Drury and the Blockheads may come as a surprise to those who may have watched the video for “I’m Gonna Be (500 MIles)” and pre-judged them as lovable dorks based on their clean cut appearance. But we make such superficial judgments at our peril. The truth was that the Reid brothers were both invested in the political scene in Scotland and are fervent Scottish Nationalists. Northern Ireland is not the only place that harbours resentment toward the British. Many places in Scotland do as well. Charlie and Craig Reid grew up in that sort of atmosphere. From the very beginning they saw music as a means of helping them to have the greatest impact on life in their own northern town.

Initially, the brothers played acoustically and were considered more of a folk rock act in Scotland. But as they matured as people and as musicians, they began to broaden their sound by playing more instruments and doing so with more musicians than merely themselves. One of the biggest musical influences on The Proclaimers came from Kevin Rowland of Dexy’s Midnight Runners fame. You may recall that band from their own one hit “Come On Eileen”. Dexy’s Midnight Runners was a sprawling band that was home to anywhere from 6-10 musicians at any one time. The big assist that Rowland gave to The Proclaimers was in how to create a larger, more Pop-oriented, fan-friendly sound. Rowland produced their second record which was called Sunshine on Leith. This album was the one that broke The Proclaimers across the planet. It contained their very biggest hit “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)”, along with the follow up song “I’m On My Way” which was a minor hit in North America as well. While “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” is their biggest selling single (selling almost ten million copies throughout the world), their most impactful and important song was one that didn’t chart at all. It was the title track from the album and was called “Sunshine on Leith”. 

On the whole, the songs on the album Sunshine on Leith fit together as part of a cohesive story of love, redemption, family and community. As songwriters, Craig and Charlie Reid aren’t usually of the mindset of creating perfect Pop singles. Instead, they are storytellers. They view their obligation as performers as being the telling of stories about their lives and the lives of those around them. A perfect example of this can be found in their very first charting song called “Letter From America”. This is a song that chronicles the history of Scottish emigration to Canada and the United States as told through the eyes of those making the journey to a new world and a new life. Consequently, when the time came to record their second album with Kevin Rowland, they entered the studio with a cohesive vision that told the story of the pride the boys felt at being Scottish and being from the Edinburgh area. “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” combines the wanderlust that many young Scots embody, along with the fidelity that is shown in so many families in Leith and in towns and villages like it. “Sunshine on Leith” was written about the importance of unity and community during hard times. The song thanks God (who is referred to as “Chief”) for bringing “sunshine on Leith” (meaning, good fortune). When the song was first recorded and released, it was warmly received by those who bought the album. However, at the time, no one could have predicted how important and loved this song was to become. This post is really dedicated to telling that story. In these times we all find ourselves in, the story of how “Sunshine on Leith” became an anthem is one we all need to hear. While this story starts out being about sports, it has transcended that to be so much more. It is all so very heartwarming.

Craig and Charlie Reid are both big supporters of the Hibernian Football Club that plays out of Edinburgh. The team is simply known as Hibs to their fans. As you may know, football (soccer) is a huge sport in Scotland, just as it is in England and most of the rest of the world. So, not surprisingly, many of Edinburgh’s citizens are highly invested in the fortunes of their local teams. Today’s story starts a decade ago when Hibs fell on hard financial times. The team was perched precariously on the brink of insolvency. As dire as that was, the situation was made even worse by virtue of the fact that an offer of financial salvation was made by the owner of the rival Edinburgh football team, Hearts. *(To compare, that would be like the owner of the Montreal Canadians seeking to buy the Toronto Maple Leafs or vice versa. To fans of either side, that proposal would be utterly outrageous!) The owner of Hibernian FC tried several financial maneuvers to save the team such as listing it on the stock exchange. In 2011, in a desperate, last-ditch effort, the owner offered supporters of the team the chance to raise the money necessary to acquire a majority stock share. This is where The Proclaimers come in.

Investment in a local sporting team is never just about money. Fans invest their hearts and their hopes in the play of their sporting heroes. It is one of the surest ways to build unity through community. When the local team wins, the whole community feels it. When times are tough for the players, the whole community feels those tough times, too. With their team on the brink of bankruptcy, Hibs supporters rallied to the cause. There were fundraising drives and auctions. There were raffles and lotteries. There were autograph sessions held by team players, past and present, with all funds raised going toward the community investment fund. Being proud citizens of Leith themselves, Charlie and Craig Reid approached organizers of the investment drive and offered to personally finance their own benefit concert to help raise money for the cause. The Proclaimers had remained in the area all through their heyday of “I’m Gonna Be (500 MIles)” fame and were highly respected by the locals. The concert was played to a sellout crowd. The song that The Proclaimers sang as the finale was “Sunshine on Leith”. Originally, this was a song written about marriage. The song speaks of broken hearts and tears and redemption through unconditional love. As mentioned earlier, the song thanks God for the good fortune families receive when marriages are blessed and communities grow stronger as a result. When “Sunshine on Leith” was sung at the benefit concert by a band seeking to help their community, the music became anthemic. Those in the audience felt the song’s message of resiliency and strength through hardship as applying to them. The words resonated deeply in their hearts, and as a result, the whole of the audience sang along, the lyrics echoing throughout all of Edinburgh. In the end, the community managed to raise the necessary funds to rescue their team. When the shares were purchased and calamity averted, many reflected on the journey that it took to get there and stated that their efforts solidified into a unified cause once The Proclaimers led the audience in song with “Sunshine on Leith”. To add an additional element of emotion to this tale, in 2016 the Hibs managed to win the Scottish Premiership. At the conclusion of the championship-winning match, an entire stadium of Hibs supporters who had helped save the team all joined in song and sang “Sunshine on Leith” as one. It is a spine-tingling moment that I encourage you all to stop and experience now by clicking here.

But it doesn’t end there.

In 2013, the songs that made up the album Sunshine on Leith were taken and turned into a musical of the same name. That stage musical, in turn, was made into a movie. From my eye, the movie has that same sort of peppy, uplifting vibe that Mamma Mia! had when it used ABBA’s song catalogue as the basis of a rich, emotional family story.  Sunshine on Leith, the movie, is a joyful exploration of daily life in Scotland and is a must-see by anyone who likes their entertainment to come from the heart and to be about family and love and kinship and all good things like that.   

Like I said off of the top of this post, we label artists and bands as one-hit wonders at our peril. I realize that life is busy and there often isn’t time to dig more deeply into the real story of a band who has that one song that seems to always be on the radio. But the story of many so-called one-hit wonders often goes beyond being lottery lucky and capturing musical greatness one time only. Sometimes, there is much more to an artist’s legacy than what is presented by mainstream media for easy public consumption. So, if you find yourself listening to a song like “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” and thinking that these nice young men seem like good guys, maybe you can take a moment or two and check out their website and/or some online articles about who they really are, how they came to create the music that you are drawn to and what other things they may be up to. Who knows? That short investment of time may yield richness and you may discover something that touches your heart and makes life seem better. For me, the story behind “Sunshine on Leith”, a song that I had never listened to before researching this post, brings a tear to my eye. This post was originally going to focus on “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)”. But that small investment of time I gave to this project was well worth it. Finding a song/story that combines the emotions I feel as a sports fan with the emotions I feel about my homeland of Cape Breton Island is like finding pure golden treasure. I have come away extremely impressed with The Proclaimers as a band and with Charlie and Craig Reid as human beings. I hope that this post will help you to arrive at a similar conclusion. 

The link to the official website for The Proclaimers can be found here.   

The link to the video for the song “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” by The Proclaimers can be found here. ***Lyrics video can be found here.

The link to the video for the song “Sunshine on Leith” by The Proclaimers can be found here. ***Lyrics video can be found here. The violinist is a lady named Lucy J. Morgan who plays in the band Dexy’s Midnight Runners.

The link to the video for the trailer to the movie “Sunshine on Leith” can be found here.

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