Come on Eileen
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"Come on Eileen" by Dexys Midnight Runners was the biggest-selling British single of 1982. The song was written by Kevin Rowland, "Big" Jim Paterson, and Billy Adams; it was produced by Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley. It originally appeared on the album Too-Rye-Ay.
Come on Eileen is spry and merry, cobbled together from fine plucked mandolins, sawn fiddles and tack piano and still retains that Geno-style northen soul refrain from the chorus.
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[edit] Composition and video
The song begins with Celtic-style fiddle played over a drum beat, with the bass guitar and piano providing accompaniment. An extended version has an additional intro of a Celtic fiddle solo, playing the Irish song "Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms", by Matthew Locke.
The chorus was loosely inspired by the song "A Man Like Me" by the 1960s British soul group Jimmy James and the Vagabonds.[1]
The bridge of "Come on Eileen" features an improvised counter-melody which begins in a slow tempo and gets faster and faster over an accelerando vocal backing. The chord sequence of the bridge is actually the same as the verses but transposed up by a whole tone.
Throughout the song, there are numerous tempo changes and key changes:
| Section | Introduction | Verses | Chorus | Bridge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Key | F major | C major | D major | D major |
The music video to accompany the single features members of the band wearing sleeveless shirts and overalls (often called "dungarees" in the UK). The video has been referred to as a tribute to the armpit.
[edit] Chart success
In the British charts, the song spent four weeks at number one in August 1982. This success was repeated around the globe; spending five weeks as the Kent Report's number one in Australia and reaching number one in April 1983 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. It is a common example of a one-hit wonder in the U.S., as the band failed to reach similar popularity with any of their future songs, though in the UK they had already reached number one two years earlier with "Geno", and went on to have further hits.
[edit] Cover versions
The song has since been covered by artists including Save Ferris (often confused with No Doubt or Reel Big Fish), Skyclad, Blackthorn, the Japanese band nil, and Badly Drawn Boy. In June 2004 in the UK, the tune was used for the song "Come on England", by a group of football fans calling themselves "4-4-2". The song was intended to support the England football team during the Euro 2004 competition.
[edit] Trivia
'Eileen' as featured in the video and on the record sleeve is Marie Fahey, sister of Siobhan Fahey, former singer with Bananarama and Shakespear's Sister. The American singer Johnnie Ray, an early rock-and-roll crooner, is also featured in the video and mentioned in the opening lyrics.
Shelton was fired from the band during the filming of the "Come on Eileen" video. Rowland ordered his bandmates not to do any bathing of any kind or shaving of any kind. Shelton did not follow the orders and Rowland fired him. That is the reason he is missing at the end of the video.
The AFL Footy Show showed the music video of "Come on Eileen" in the 'Sam's Mailbag' part of the show as Kevin Rowland was a look-a-like to co-host Garry Lyon. After the music video was performed, another video was shown with hosts Garry Lyon (as Kevin Rowland), James Brayshaw (as Banjo player), Sam Newman (as Violin player) and Trevor Marmalade (as Accordian player) performing a copy of the original video as themselves.
The song was used as the Space Shuttle Discovery crew wake-up call in August 2005, on STS-114 Flight Day 14, in honour of the flight commander, Eileen Collins. The ground control team selected the song to remind the crew "that it is time for your return back home to planet Earth" (a return which turned out to be delayed by a day due to weather).
A common misconception is that The Cure has covered and/or written the song. They have in fact done no such thing.
The song's title was parodied in Clerks as a porno film titled "Cum On Eileen".
[edit] Musicians (band members)
- Kevin Rowland — vocals
- Billy Adams — banjo and backing vocals
- Giorgio Kilkenny — bass and backing vocals
- Seb Shelton — drums
- Micky Billingham — piano, accordion, and backing vocals
- Helen O'Hara — fiddle
- Steve Brennan — fiddle
- Roger MacDuff — fiddle
- "Big" Jim Paterson — trombone
- Paul Speare — tenor saxophone
- Brian Maurice — alto saxophone
| Preceded by: "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single April 23, 1983 |
Succeeded by: "Beat It" by Michael Jackson |
| Preceded by: "Fame" by Irene Cara |
UK number one single August 1, 1982 |
Succeeded by: "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor |
