This Is Your Land

Charles Burchill, Michael Joseph Macneil, James Kerr | April 1989, Simple Minds

David Sinclair (1989) of Q magazine praised the song in a five-star Street Fighting Years album review: “The utterly beguiling melody of ‘This Is Your Land‘, featuring a deadpan Lou Reed, cloaks a stinging rebuke on the issue of the environment while gently leading the listener up towards the panoramic splendour of the instrumental coda” (Sinclair, 1989).

(Listen to the song on Apple Music or Spotify)

The song is a commentary on environmental issues. Jim Kerr said in New Musical Express (NME) February 4, 1989: “There’s one called ‘This Is Your Land,’ which might sound terribly contrived, but it’s probably because we’ve been up here recording it amongst the very elements, the mountains, the sea the sky. You see all this, and then you see the nuclear submarines passing your window. It’s obscene, and people should take charge of their land and not let it happen.”

This is your land
It’s the way it was planned
Sky to the sea, something to see
Old ancient town, to the old people ground
I wanna know, something to go
This is your land, laid out in your hand

This is your land
Wherever i go, way down here i know
This is your land
Oh churches and steeples, big city people
I wanna know something to hold
Walk down the track, to the old railroad track
I wanna leave something to see
This is your land, laid out in your hand
This is your land
Wherever i go, way down here i know
This is your land

Money can’t buy me
Money can’t buy me
I’ve got time
Time is on my side
You don’t know what you’ve got till the whole thing’s gone
The days are dark and the road is long
And when you walk away, the hope is gone
Tell me what is right and what is wrong

Is this the way it was planned
This is your land, take it in your hand
This is your land
Wherever i go, way down here i know
This is your land, take it in your hand
This is your land
Wherever i go, way down here i know
This is your land

Bibliography

‘Interview with Jim Kerr’. New Musical Express (NME) February 4, 1989

Sinclair, D (1989) ‘Simple Minds ‘Street Fighting Years’ Reviews & Articles. ‘Q’ Magazine (UK). Archived from the original on 2014-03-01. Retrieved 2014-02-28.

© Universal Music Publishing Ltd., Bmg Rights Management (uk) Limited, Jim Kerr Management Consultancy Limited, Jim Kerr Management Consultancy Ltd

Read also

Macintosh, D. (2018) ‘Jim Kerr Of Simple Minds: Writing Through The Good, The Bad And The Indifferent’. Songfacts, Retrieved 2024-04-02. Link

Prato, G. (2015) ‘Jim Kerr Of Simple Minds. Songfacts, Retrieved 2024-04-02. Link

Website simpleminds.com