"Shutting Down Our Town" is a song by Australian rock musician, Jimmy Barnes. It was released on 26 April 2019 as the second single from Barnes' studio album My Criminal Record.
| "Shutting Down Our Town" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Jimmy Barnes | ||||
| from the album My Criminal Record | ||||
| Released | 26 April 2019 | |||
| Length | 4:44 | |||
| Label | BloodLines | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Troy Cassar-Daley | |||
| Jimmy Barnes singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
In the week after its release, the song was the second most added song on radio, behind "Me!" by Taylor Swift.[1]
At the APRA Music Awards of 2020, "Shutting Down Our Town" won the Most Performed Rock Work of the Year.[2][3][4]
Background and release
editTroy Cassar-Daley wrote "Shutting Down Our Town" for Barnes after finding inspiration from the Barnes' 2016 memoir Working Class Boy. Barnes said "I changed a couple of words just because of local knowledge, but it was 99.999% Troy's song” adding "...he played it to me and I immediately felt the connection."[5] Barnes said "This song has a lot of personal meaning. It's about growing up in Elizabeth and the closing down of the Holden factory where I once worked as a young working class boy in North Adelaide" adding "I drove through there not long after I heard the song for the first time, and I felt a pain in my heart for the people there who are battling, trying to make a living when everything is stacked up against them."[6] Barnes admits the song moved him to tears.[7]
"It's sort of a heartland "Working Class Man" anthem... This was written by somebody who feels the pain, and who's writing about the darker side of Australia which I never wanted to face before."[8]
Barnes premiered the song in November 2018 during his One Electric Day concert [9] and was officially released on 26 April 2019.[10]
Music video
editThe music video for "Shutting Down Our Town" was released on 6 May 2019.[11][12]
Charts
edit| Chart (2019) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia Digital Tracks (ARIA)[13] | 35 |
Certifications
edit| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[14] | Gold | 35,000‡ |
|
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
References
edit- ^ "MOST ADDED TO RADIO". The Music Network. April 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
- ^ "Tones and I Leads Nominations for 2020 Virtual APRA Awards". Noise11. 7 April 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
- ^ "2020 Awards". APRA. 7 April 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
- ^ Cooper, Nathanael (25 May 2020). "Tones and I, Hilltop Hoods dominate 2020 APRA Music Awards". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
- ^ "SOTD: Jimmy Barnes unveils hometown single penned by Troy Cassar-Daley". the music network. 30 April 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
- ^ "The Story Behind The New Song From Jimmy Barnes". Triple M. 29 April 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
- ^ "The Story Behind The New Song From Jimmy Barnes". 92.5 Gold FM. 29 April 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
- ^ "JIMMY BARNES RELEASES NEW SINGLE 'SHUTTING DOWN OUR TOWN'". Mushroom Promotions. 29 April 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
- ^ "Jimmy Barnes Introduces Two New Songs at One Electric Day". noise11. 26 November 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
- ^ "New Jimmy Barnes 'Shutting Down Our Town' Is About Elizabeth, South Australia #Listen". noise11. 29 April 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
- ^ "Jimmy Barnes – Shutting Down Our Town (Official Video)". YouTube. 6 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
- ^ "JIMMY BARNES HAS RELEASED A FILM CLIP FOR HIS NEW SONG ABOUT ELIZABETH". Five AA. 7 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
- ^ "ARIA Australian Top 40 Digital Tracks" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. 10 June 2019. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
- ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2024 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 18 April 2024.