Craig Reid and Charlie Reid were born in Leith, Scotland in 1962, and grew up in Edinburgh, Cornwall and Auchtermuchty. After several punk rock bands at school they formed The Proclaimers in 1983.
The pair came to public attention when an Inverness based fan sent their demo to the British band The Housemartins, who were impressed enough to invite The Proclaimers on their 1986 UK tour. The exposure of the tour won them a January 1987 appearance on the British pop music television programme The Tube on Channel Four; "Letter from America" peaked at number 3 in the UK Singles Chart, whilst the album This is the Story went gold. The follow-up album Sunshine on Leith featured "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" and "I'm On My Way". They had a hit with their EP King of the Road, which reached number 9 in UK in 1990.
In March 2007 they recorded a new version of "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" with television comedy characters Andy Pipkin (played by Matt Lucas) and Brian Potter (Peter Kay) for the Comic Relief charity. A long list of celebrities were featured in the music video for this new version, including David Bellamy, Rod, Jane and Freddy, Paul O'Grady, David Tennant, Frank Sidebottom and many more. This new version of the song reached number 1 in the UK Singles Chart.
The band was one of The B-52s' touring partners on their Funplex tour in Australia and New Zealand in November 2009, alongside Mental as Anything.
The brothers are fans of Hibernian Football Club, and "Sunshine on Leith" has become a theme song for the club, being played at home matches for important fixtures, such as the Edinburgh derby versus Heart of Midlothian FC, the club's city rivals. Charlie and Craig Reid appeared at their Easter Road stadium for the 'Hands Off Hibs' campaign in 1990 when Wallace Mercer, a wealthly Edinburgh businessman with direct connections to Hearts FC, attempted a takeover of the club but was defeated by fan pressure.
They are also well-known supporters of Scottish independence and have at various stages of their lives been activists for the Scottish National Party, expressing such views during their promotional tour of Britain in March 2007. However in April 2007 Charlie Reid announced that he had switched his allegiance to the Scottish Socialist Party in protest at the Scottish National Party's receipt of funding from big business. Many of their songs reflect their political views, such as "Letter from America" and "Cap in Hand".
On 16 May 2006 the twins announced their participation in a campaign to free a fellow Scot, Kenny Richey, from his death row sentence in Ohio, including an appearance at a charity concert. Also, in 2010 they participated with Billy Bragg in a show supporting Reprieve, charity that fights the death penalty. The Proclaimers also support other charities such as The Lighthouse Foundation (addiction victims), AICR (cancer research), Drake Music Scotland (help disabled people through music) or 500 miles (amputees or disabled people in Africa).
Twenty Flight Rock
The Proclaimers Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Oh, I've got a girl with a record machine
When it comes to rockin' she's a queen
Love to dance on a Saturday night
All alone, I can hold her tight
But she lives on a twentieth floor up town
The elevator's broken down
Five, six, seven flight, about eight flight more
On the twelfth I started to drag
By the fifteenth floor I'm ready to sag
Get to the top, But I'm too tired to rock
She called me up on the telephone
She said c'mon over, Cause I'm all alone
I said baby, you're mighty sweet
But I'm in the bed with a-achin' feet
This went on for a couple of days
(But I) But I couldn't stay away
So I claimed two, three, four
Five, six, seven flight, about eight flight more
On the twelfth I'm starting to drag
By the fifteenth floor I ready to sag
Get to the top, But I'm too tired to rock
Sent to Glasgow for repairs
'Till it's fixed I'm using the stairs
I hope they hurry up before it's too late
Because I don't want my baby too much to wait
All this climbin' is gettin' me down
You'll find my corpse draped over the rail
But I climbed two, three, four
Five, six, seven flight, about eight flight more
On the twelfth I'm starting to drag
By the fifteenth floor I ready to sag
Get to the top, But I'm too tired to rock
Yeah, I climbed two, three, four
Five, six, seven flight, about eight flight more
On the twelfth I'm starting to drag
By the fifteenth floor I ready to sag
Get to the top, but I'm too tired
Get to the top, but I'm too tired
Get to the top, but I'm too tired to rock
The Proclaimers’ song “Twenty Flight Rock” revolves around a man’s desire to see his lover, who lives on the twentieth floor uptown. Unfortunately, the elevator is broken, forcing him to climb up the stairs, which drains his energy before he even reaches the apartment. Despite his exhaustion, however, he remains fond of his lover and keeps coming back to her. The lyrics suggest that the singer is obsessed with his lover and is willing to go through any challenge to see her. Overall, the song celebrates the power of love and the lengths one would go to be with the person they care about.
The lyrics of "Twenty Flight Rock" are based on an actual event that happened to its writer, Eddie Cochran. In 1956, Cochran had a date with his girlfriend who lived on the 25th floor of an apartment building. Due to a broken elevator, he had to climb the stairs all the way up, which inspired the song's lyrics.
The song appeared in the 1987 movie "Some Kind of Wonderful," directed by John Hughes. The character of Keith, played by Eric Stoltz, is listening to the song through his headphones when he's being bullied by his classmates.
The Proclaimers' version of the song appears on their 1994 album "Hit the Highway."
Before The Proclaimers, the song was popularized by Eddie Cochran, who released it in 1957.
The song's title is a nod to the fact that the singer has to climb twenty flights of stairs to see his girlfriend.
In the song, the singer mentions dragging and sagging, which implies extreme physical exhaustion.
The song has a fast-paced rockabilly beat, similar to the original recording by Eddie Cochran.
The song was also covered by Paul McCartney in 1999 for the album "Run Devil Run."
The song's lyrics reflect the optimistic and upbeat attitude of 1950s rock and roll.
The chords of the song, in the key of E, are E, A, and B7, with variations throughout the song.
Line by Line Meaning
1, 2, a 1, 2, 3, 4
Counting off the beat to start the song
Oh, I've got a girl with a record machine
The singer has a girlfriend who owns a record player
When it comes to rockin' she's a queen
The girlfriend is great at dancing to rock music
Love to dance on a Saturday night
The girlfriend enjoys dancing on Saturday nights
All alone, I can hold her tight
When they're alone, the singer can hold his girlfriend close
But she lives on a twentieth floor up town
The girlfriend lives in a high-rise building
The elevator's broken down
The elevator in the building isn't working
So I climbed one, two flight, three flight, four
The singer starts climbing the stairs to his girlfriend's apartment
Five, six, seven flight, about eight flight more
He continues climbing many flights of stairs
On the twelfth I started to drag
By the twelfth floor, he's getting tired and starting to slow down
By the fifteenth floor I'm ready to sag
By the fifteenth floor, he's exhausted and needs a break
Get to the top, But I'm too tired to rock
He finally reaches the top, but is too tired to enjoy himself
She called me up on the telephone
The girlfriend calls the singer on the phone
She said c'mon over, Cause I'm all alone
She invites him over because she's alone
I said baby, you're mighty sweet
The singer compliments his girlfriend
But I'm in the bed with a-achin' feet
He declines because his feet hurt from all the climbing
This went on for a couple of days
The girlfriend keeps inviting him over, but he's still too tired from climbing
(But I) But I couldn't stay away
The singer can't resist his girlfriend's invitations
So I claimed two, three, four
He starts climbing the stairs again
Five, six, seven flight, about eight flight more
He climbs many more flights of stairs
On the twelfth I'm starting to drag
He's getting tired again by the twelfth floor
By the fifteenth floor I ready to sag
He's exhausted again by the fifteenth floor
Get to the top, But I'm too tired to rock
He reaches the top, but is still too tired to enjoy himself
Sent to Glasgow for repairs
The elevator is eventually sent to Glasgow for repairs
'Till it's fixed I'm using the stairs
In the meantime, the singer has to keep climbing the stairs
I hope they hurry up before it's too late
He's hoping the elevator is fixed soon before he collapses from exhaustion
Because I don't want my baby too much to wait
He doesn't want to keep his girlfriend waiting too long
All this climbin' is gettin' me down
The constant climbing is making him feel hopeless
You'll find my corpse draped over the rail
He jokes that he might die from exhaustion and fall over the railing
But I climbed two, three, four
He starts climbing the stairs again one more time
Five, six, seven flight, about eight flight more
He climbs many more flights
On the twelfth I'm starting to drag
He's getting tired again by the twelfth floor
By the fifteenth floor I ready to sag
He's exhausted again by the fifteenth floor
Get to the top, But I'm too tired
He finally reaches the top of the stairs, but is still too tired to enjoy himself
Get to the top, but I'm too tired
Repeating the previous line
Get to the top, but I'm too tired to rock
He's too exhausted to dance with his girlfriend, even though he made it to the top
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Eddie Cochran, Ned Fairchild
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
TV
on Role Model
"Lower set of lips" is not making reference to lips on the face, but those in the lower part of her body.