"When I'm Up (I Can't Get Down)" is a song written by English

folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...

group

Oysterband Oysterband (originally The Oyster Band) is a British folk rock and folk punk band formed in Canterbury around 1976. History Early history The band formed in parallel to Fiddler's Dram, and under the name "Oyster Ceilidh Band" played purely as ...

and later made famous in Canada by

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

folk rock band

Great Big Sea Great Big Sea was a Canadian folk rock band from Newfoundland and Labrador, best known for performing energetic rock interpretations of traditional Newfoundland folk songs including sea shanties, which draw from the island's 500-year Irish, Scott ...

. It first appeared as track 1 on Oysterband's 1993 album ''

Holy Bandits ''Holy Bandits'' is a 1993 album by British folk rock band Oysterband Oysterband (originally The Oyster Band) is a British folk rock and folk punk band formed in Canterbury around 1976. History Early history The band formed in parallel to F ...

''. It was released in May 1997 as the lead single from Great Big Sea's ''

Play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

''. It peaked at No. 13 on the Canadian ''RPM'' adult contemporary chart and at No. 6 on the Canadian ''RPM'' Top Singles, making it their highest peaking song on the Top Singles chart.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:When I'm Up (I Can't Get Down) 1997 singles Great Big Sea songs Music videos directed by Andrew MacNaughtan 1993 songs Warner Records singles