A friend sent me a link to this video by James, ‘Sit Down’:

He commented: “Interesting that this song was mostly meaningless in its presentation as teenage anthem but as old jaded honest man with no pretensions, it reveals its true beauty.”

The lyrics:

I’ll sing myself to sleep
A song from the darkest hour
Secrets I can’t keep
Inside of the day
Swing from high to deep
Extremes of sweet and sour
Hope that God exists
I hope I pray

Drawn by the undertow
My life is out of control
I believe this wave will bear my weight
So let it flow

Oh sit down
Sit down next to me
Sit down, down, down, down, down
In sympathy

Now I’m relieved to hear
That you’ve been to some far out places
It’s hard to carry on
When you feel all alone
Now I’ve swung back down again
It’s worse than it was before
If I hadn’t seen such riches
I could live with being poor
Oh sit down
Sit down next to me
Sit down, down, down, down, down
In sympathy

Those who feel the breath of sadness
Sit down next to me
Those who find they’re touched by madness
Sit down next to me
Those who find themselves ridiculous
Sit down next to me
Love, in fear, in hate, in tears

Down
Down

Oh sit down
Sit down next to me
Sit down, down, down, down, down
In sympathy

Oh sit down
Sit down next to me
Sit down, down, down, down, down
In sympathy

Down

The 1989 original, which I always disliked:

I feel that the lyrics only make sense sung by an ageing man (Tim Booth was born in 1960, so 29 when the original was released, 60 now in 2020). It’s something to hold onto as I myself age; I lack the brilliance of my early 20s; the raw cognitive drive isn’t there anymore, but I have wrinkles and greying hair to make up for it.