THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

490-James-Sit Down.

1991-Number 2 single.

Best Bit-At 3.03. It’s the second most popular song in the world ever for sitting on the floor to dance to. ‘Oops upside your head, say oops upside your head.’

James’ (see also best songs 109) were formed in Whalley Range, Manchester, England, in 1982, they were active until 2001, but then reformed in 2007, in total there have been 13 different members come and go, their musical output has been described as ‘Indie Pop,’ ‘Madchester,’ ‘Alternative Rock,’ and ‘Britpop.’ ‘James’ were formed when Paul Gilbertson persuaded his friend Jim Glennie to buy a bass guitar, and form a band with him, they were soon joined by Gavan Whelan. They met future lead singer Tim Booth at the ‘University of Manchester’ later in 1982, and after playing live under various names including ‘Venereal and the Diseases,’ ‘Volume Distortion,’ and ‘Model Team International,’ they settled on ‘James,’ Jim Glennie, who is the bands one constant has said, ‘No one ever calls me James, so I don’t associate it with my name in that respect. We couldn’t use Tim because he’s the singer and that would be weird. Our drummer was called Gavan, and we thought it sounded too ‘heavy metal,’ and the other one was Paul, so it was either James or Paul, so we went with James. It didn’t seem like a big deal at the time we just thought, ‘Cool let’s call the band ‘James.” Paul Gilbertson had to leave the group in 1985 due to drug problems, and he was replaced by Larry Gott, who remained a band member until 2015. Drummer Gavan Whelan left in 1988, and his place was taken by David Baynton-Power, who at the time of writing is still an official member. The other three group members who played on this 1991 recording of ‘Sit Down’ were, Saul Davies, Mark Hunter, and Andy Diagram, who all joined the band in 1989.

The discography of ‘James’ includes 18 studio Albums released between 1986-2024, and 37 singles released between 1986-2021, there are also four official compilation Albums, four extended plays, (EP’s) and four live Albums available. In the UK, their 18th studio Album ‘Yummy,’ from April 2024, finally gave them their first ever studio Number 1 Album, (although their 1998 ‘The Best Of’ compilation had previously made Number 1) while in America on Billboard, their 1993 Album ‘Laid,’ has been their most successful, reaching Number 72. In the UK, 19 of their singles have reached the top 40, with the 1991 re-recorded version of ‘Sit Down’ peaking the highest at Number 2 for three consecutive weeks. Their only charting song on the Billboard Hot 100 singles is ‘Laid,’ which made Number 61 in 1993.

‘Sit Down’ was the last of five singles released from ‘Gold Mother,’ the third studio Album by ‘James,’ from June 1990, the song was co-written by Jim Glennie, Larry Gott, Tim Booth, and Gavan Whelan, with the production being by Steve Power (see also best songs 406.) The original version of ‘Sit Down’ was first released in 1989 as a stand alone single, and stalled at Number 77 on the UK top 100, it was issued as an edited 7 inch single, and also on 12 inch, with a running time of 8.31, this original first recording was produced by the English music producer Gil Norton (see also best songs 904 and 292.) Even so the song had badly failed commercially ‘James’ still had faith, and bought the rights to the track just before their record label ‘Rough Trade’ went bankrupt. When ‘James’ signed with ‘Fontana Records,’ the band and producer Gill Norton gave ‘Sit Down’ the overhaul that we all know today, making it more uptempo, which was the way it had originally been performed when played live. In 1998 the English ‘Electronic Rock’ group ‘Apollo 440’ remixed ‘Sit Down’ as part of the promotion for the ‘2002 Commonwealth Games’ launch in Manchester, England, and this time the song made Number 7 on the UK top 40 singles chart.

The lyrics to ‘Sit Down’ are mainly the work of the bands lead singer Tim Booth, who was born on February 4th, 1960, in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. He remained with ‘James’ as their lead singer until 2001, when the group went on hiatus, but rejoined in 2007. Away from ‘James’ he has released the Album ‘Booth and the Bad Angel,’ with the American composer Angelo Badalamenti in 1996, and two solo Albums in 2004, and 2011. Tim Booth has said that he wrote ‘Sit Down’ in 1988 at a time when he was feeling lonely and depressed. He credits the British novelist Doris Lessing, (1919-2013) and the American Rock singer Patti Smith as his inspirations. ‘They both connected to me when I felt very alone and misunderstood. Throughout my teens, I’d had an undiagnosed illness, and my skin was almost yellow. When I was 21 I’d almost died, so I was feeling pretty tortured in those days.’ He has also said, ”Sit Down’ is about me feeling so alone in my 20’s, and reading books by a writer called Doris Lessing, which made me realise I wasn’t. It was about being awake at 4.0.am, and having no one to talk to.’

‘I sing myself to sleep, a song from the darkest hour. Secrets I can’t keep, in sight of the day, swing from high to deep, extremes of sweet and sour. Hope that God exists, I hope, I pray.’