Released 25 June 1982 Label Mercury | Format 7"
12" | |
B-side "Dubious" (7" & 12")
"Liars A to E (New Version)" (on 12" only) Genre New wave
Celtic folk
pop
blue-eyed soul Length 4:16 (US single version)
4:48 (album version)
4:02 (UK 7" single)
3:28 (Short version) | ||
"Come On Eileen" is a song by English group Dexys Midnight Runners (credited to Dexys Midnight Runners and the Emerald Express), released in the UK on 25 June 1982 as a single from their album Too-Rye-Ay. It reached number one in the US, and was their second number one hit in the UK, following 1980's "Geno". The song was written by Kevin Rowland, Jim Paterson and Billy Adams; it was produced by Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley.
Contents
"Come On Eileen" won Best British Single at the 1983 Brit Awards and in 2015 the song was voted by the British public as the nation's sixth favourite 1980s number one in a poll for ITV. It was ranked number 18 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '80s.
Composition
There are various versions of the song, some in addition to the main section featuring either an intro of a Celtic fiddle solo, or an a cappella coda both based on Thomas Moore's Irish folk song "Believe Me, if All Those Endearing Young Charms".
The main section begins with a Celtic-style fiddle played over a drum beat, with the bass guitar and piano providing accompaniment.
The lyrics of the song begin with the lines:
The phrase "Come on Eileen" is used as the chorus to the song, which was loosely inspired by the song "A Man Like Me" by the 1960s British soul group Jimmy James and the Vagabonds.
The bridge of "Come On Eileen" features an improvised counter-melody which begins in a slow tempo and gets faster and faster over an accelerando vocal backing. The chord sequence of the bridge is actually the same as the verses, but transposed up by a whole tone.
Throughout the song, there are numerous tempo changes and key changes:
Although often believed to have been inspired by a childhood friend with whom Kevin Rowland had a romantic, and later sexual, relationship in his teens, there was actually no real Eileen; "In fact she was composite, to make a point about Catholic repression."
Single and album versions
Dexys Midnight Runners' CD compilations again omit the introduction and coda but use the unedited main section (4.06).
Chart success
In a poll by Channel 4, a UK TV channel, the song was placed at number 38 in the 100 greatest number one singles of all time. Similar polls by the music channel VH1 placed the song at number three in the 100 Greatest One-hit Wonders of all time, number 18 in VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 1980's and number one in the 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80s, despite the fact that the group had a previous number-one single in the UK, that being "Geno" in 1980. It has sold 1.33 million copies in the UK as of June 2013.
The song reached number one in the United States on the Billboard Hot 100 charts during the week ending 23 April 1983. "Come on Eileen" prevented Michael Jackson from having back-to-back number one hits in the US: "Billie Jean" was the number one single the previous week, while "Beat It" was the number one song the following week.
Other uses
In 1997, ska band Save Ferris released a cover of the song as a single.
In 2004, the band 4-4-2 was formed to cover the song as "Come On England" with altered lyrics to support the England national football team during their appearance in the 2004 European Championships.
On 7 August 2005, the song was used to wake the astronauts of Space Shuttle Discovery on the final day of STS-114 in reference to commander Eileen Collins.
The song was used in the films Tommy Boy (1995), Take Me Home Tonight (2011) and The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012).