"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. After experiencing success as part of the Madchestermusic 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.
Background
In an interview with Dave Simpson of The Guardian on the effect of the song, James guitarist Larry Gott stated, “Sit Down is one of those songs that encourages people to put their arms around strangers. As soon as we launch into the opening bars, they start smiling. Then they turn to someone next to them or their girlfriend or boyfriend and hug them, and then they start singing every single word. As a musician, that's incredibly humbling.”
In 2006, Sit Down was used as a featured song in BBC Three's Manchester Passion, in which lead singer Tim Booth also appeared as Judas Iscariot. Darren Morfitt in the role of Jesus sang a less upbeat rendition of the piece to his resting disciples while the presenter signalled the audience to sit down. Booth sang the song in an encore after the credits. On 4 June 2017, Coldplay performed "Sit down" at the One Love Manchesterbenefit concert for the victims of the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing before performing their song Fix You. Fans of Premier League club Liverpool rewrote the lyrics of this song in 2018 as a new terrace chant for 2017-18Premier League Golden Boot winner Mohamed Salah. James' lead singer Tim Booth thought the version was witty and welcomed its use for one of the world's best footballers.
