"Downhearted" is the third single released by Australian surf rock band Australian Crawl from their debut album The Boys Light Up. The song was written by Sean Higgins, Guy McDonoughand Bill McDonough.[1] All three songwriters had been bandmates in The Flatheads, but at the time only Bill McDonough was a member of Australian Crawl.[2]
"Downhearted" was released in May, 1980 and reached #12 on the Australian Singles Chart in July, 1980.[3]
Different B-sides were released in different markets.[4] Australian B-side was "Way I've Been" written by Australian Crawl member Brad Robinson and his father James Robinson.[1] James Robinson was a Federal Arbitration Court Justice.[5] Canadian B-side was "Indisposed" was co-written by the Robinsons with James Reyne and Bill McDonough.[1] The song describes the car accident which resulted in Reyne breaking both wrists immediately before they recorded their first single "Beautiful People" (1979).[6] The B-side for the UK release was "Letter From Zimbabwe" (Reyne).[1]
"Downhearted" was covered by Dutch prog rock band Solution and appeared on their 1982 album Runaway, while they added a 'bridge' to the song; Australian pop singer John Farnham sang it on his 2005 covers album I Remember When I Was Young.
Track listing[]
- "Downhearted" (Sean Higgins, Guy McDonough, Bill McDonough)[1] – 3:09
- "Way I've Been" (Brad Robinson, James Robinson)[1] – 2:17
Charts[]
Chart (1980) | Peak
Position [3] |
Weeks In |
---|---|---|
Australian Singles Chart | 12 | 17 |