Sit Down

About Sit Down

"Sit Down" is a song by English band James, originally released in 1989 by Rough Trade Records. The song's lyrics were written in the autumn of 1988 as a homage to author Doris Lessing and singer Patti Smith, who had inspired the lead singer of James, Tim Booth. In its seven-and-a-half-minute original form, the song only reached number 77 on the UK Singles Chart (although it did make number eight in John Peel's Festive Fifty of that year). After experiencing success as part of the Madchester music scene, a new version was released in March 1991 that was shorter and with new lyrics. It reached number two on the UK Singles Chart, spending three weeks there. It was the 20th best-selling single of 1991 in the UK. In 2013, the song placed 4th in a poll by BBC Radio 2 and the Official Charts Company to find the greatest track to miss out on the number one spot in the UK charts. In the same year, James performed the song with Peter Kay for Comic Relief. On March 30, 2017 a version of the song was used in the promo of the seventh season of the hit HBO series Game of Thrones. more »