‘In a Big Country’ is a song by Scottish rock band Big Country. It was released in May 1983 as the third single from their debut studio album The Crossing. The song reached No. 17 on the UK Singles Chart in June 1983. It was released in the US in the autumn of 1983 and peaked at No. 3 on the Top Rock Tracks chart and No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December of that year. It reached No. 3 on the RPM Top Singles Chart in Canada on 26 November 1983.
Stuart Adamson was inspired to write ‘In A Big Country’ after hearing what producer Steve Lillywhite was able to achieve on Big Country's ‘Fields of Fire’ single. Adamson later wrote in liner notes for a re-release of their debut album, The Crossing, "The music I felt wasn't like the music I had grown up hearing, or rather, not like any one of them. It was all of them jumbled up and drawn into something I could understand as mine. I found I could play this music and connect the guitar directly to my heart. I found others who could make the same connection, who could see the music as well as play it."
Big Country was formed in Dunfermline, Scotland by ex-Skids Stuart Adamson (guitar/synthesizer/vocals), Bruce Watson (guitar), Tony Butler (bass), and Mark Brezicki (drums). They made their mark in the UK with ‘Fields of Fire’ a #10 hit in that territory. ‘In A Big Country’ was their next single; they went on to have three more UK Top 10 hits: ‘Chance,’ ‘Wonderland’ and ‘Look Away.’
The music video for the song received heavy airplay on MTV. Directed by Lindsey Clennell, it follows the four band members as they track down an unspecified treasure, while constantly being pursued and bested by a woman who appears to be a rival treasure-hunter. ‘In A Big Country’ was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal, but lost out to ‘Synchronicity’ by the Police.
The Smashing Pumpkins' James Iha named the song to his "mixtape for dreamers," commenting, "I love this song. I used to watch the video when it was on MTV. When MTV played videos. ... The music is super-anthemic, the guitars are awesome and bagpipe-like, and it's somehow incorporating the band's name, that they're in a big country and then dreams stay with you like a lover's voice. It's sounds like Braveheart or something."
Label – Mercury
Songwriters – Stuart Adamson, Mark Brzezicki, Tony Butler, Bruce Watson
Producer – Steve Lillywhite
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]I've never seen you look like this without a reason
Another promise fallen through
Another season passes by you
I never took the smile away from anybody's face
And that's a desperate way to look for someone who is still a child
[Chorus]
In a big country dreams stay with you
Like a lover's voice fires the mountainside
Stay alive, here we go
[Verse 2]
I thought that pain and truth were things that really mattered
But you can't stay here with every single hope you had shattered
I'm not expecting to grow flowers in the desert
But I can live and breathe and see the sun in wintertime
[Chorus]
In a big country dreams stay with you
Like a lover's voice fires the mountainside
Stay alive
[Chorus]
In a big country dreams stay with you
Like a lover's voice fires the mountainside
Stay alive
[Bridge]
So, take that look out of here, it doesn't fit you
Because it's happened doesn't mean you've been discarded
Pull up your head off the floor, come up screaming
Cry out for everything you ever might have wanted
[Verse 3]
I thought that pain and truth were things that really mattered
But you can't stay here with every single hope you had shattered
I'm not expecting to grow flowers in the desert
But I can live and breathe and see the sun in wintertime
[Chorus]
In a big country dreams stay with you
Like a lover's voice fires the mountainside
Stay alive
Ha! Ha!
[Chorus]
In a big country dreams stay with you
Like a lover's voice fires the mountainside
Stay alive
[Chorus]
In a big country dreams stay with you
Like a lover's voice fires the mountainside
Stay alive