"Manchester" is a single by the British band
The Beautiful South
The Beautiful South were an English pop rock group formed in 1988 by Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway, two former members of the Kingston upon Hull, Hull group the Housemartins, both of whom performed lead and backing vocals. Other members stayin ...
. It reached #41 on the UK charts.
The song also appeared on their album ''
Superbi
''Superbi'' is the tenth and final album by the British group the Beautiful South, released on 15 May 2006 by SonyBMG. The album entered the British chart at No. 6 before dropping to No. 20 and No. 37 in its second and third weeks respectively. I ...
''.
"Manchester" is a song about the city of
Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
in
North West England
North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,4 ...
, known for its apparent notoriety for a rainy climate.
"Manchester" immortalised many towns and settlements in its lyrics:
''"From
Northenden
Northenden is a suburb of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 15,064 at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses, 2021 census. It lies on the south side of the River Mersey, west of Stockport and south of Manchest ...
to
Partington
Partington is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. It is sited south-west of Manchester city centre. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Ches ...
it's rain''
''From
Altrincham
Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...
to
Chadderton
Chadderton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, on the River Irk and Rochdale Canal. It is located in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Oldham, south of Rochdale and north-east of Manchester. The ...
it's rain''
''From
Moss Side
Moss Side is an Inner city, inner-city area of Manchester, England, south of the Manchester city centre, city centre. It had a population of 20,745 at the United Kingdom Census 2021, 2021 census. Moss Side is bounded by Hulme to the north, Cho ...
to
Swinton hardly
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
''
''It's a picture postcard of 'wish they never came"''
The video for this song was filmed in Collyhurst and features maisonettes that are no longer there and the famous Billy Green pub which closed in 2011 and was demolished a few years later. A number of the extras in the video were people who lived in the area.
References
2006 singles
Music in Manchester
Songs about cities
The Beautiful South songs
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