"Life in a Northern Town" is the debut single by British band the Dream Academy, released in March 1985.

[9] Gilbert Gabriel, a member of the Dream Academy and co-writer of "Life in a Northern Town,” said that the inspiration for the tune came from his experience at Dartington College of Arts.

[10] According to Nick Laird-Clowes, "We had the idea, even before we sat down, to write a folk song with an African-style chorus.

[5][15] Laird-Clowes said he wrote the song on the guitar that Drake had been holding on the cover of his 1971 album Bryter Layter.

[5] The earlier version features the group performing the song in various locations in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire.

[19] Stephen Holden of The New York Times described "Life in a Northern Town" as a "richly textured nostalgic ballad...that looks back warmly on 'winter 1963, when it felt like the world would freeze with John F. Kennedy and the Beatles'".