"Belfast Child" is a 1989

1989 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1989.-Events:*January 14 – Paul McCartney releases Снова в СССР exclusively in the USSR...

 Number 1 UK Charts

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

  hit single by Simple Minds

Simple Minds

Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band who achieved worldwide popularity from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. The band produced a handful of critically acclaimed albums in the early 1980s and best known for their #1 US, Canada and Netherlands hit single "Don't You ", from the soundtrack of the...

 from their album Street Fighting Years

Street Fighting Years

Street Fighting Years is the eighth studio album by Simple Minds, released in 1989.Produced by Trevor Horn and Stephen Lipson, the album was a major stylistic departure from the previous album, 1985's Once Upon A Time, While still maintaining the epic arena-rock sense of scale and drama which the...

. The single is also known as the "Ballad of the Streets" EP

Extended play

An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

, highlighting both "Belfast Child" and "Mandela Day" (originally its B-side).

Style and influence

The song uses the music from the Irish folk song "She Moved Through the Fair

She Moved Through the Fair

"She Moved Through the Fair" is a traditional Irish folk song, existing in a number of versions and which has been recorded many times.-Origins:...

", but has completely different words.

Jim Kerr

Jim Kerr

James "Jim" Kerr is a Scottish musician and singer-songwriter, best known for his work with the band Simple Minds who achieved five UK #1 albums and a #1 single "Ballad of the Streets EP". He released his first solo album, Lostboy! AKA Jim Kerr, on the 27 May 2010.- Simple Minds :Kerr attended...

 recalled in 1000 UK #1 Hits why he used the melody, "I first heard the melody (of She Moved Through The Fair) a few days after the Enniskillen bombing

Remembrance Day Bombing

The Remembrance Day bombing took place on 8 November 1987 in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland...

 (when a bomb planted by the IRA exploded during a Remembrance Day service at Enniskillen in County Fermanagh, killing 12 people and injuring at least 63), and like everybody when you see the images I was sick. In the second part of the song, I'm trying to relate to people in Northern Ireland who lost loved ones. I'm trying to talk about the madness, the sadness and the emptiness. I'm not saying I have any pearls of wisdom, but I have a few questions to ask."

Reception

The song received rave reviews, receiving a rare five-star review in Q Magazine.

Music video

The video to the song was shot in black and white and displays poignant footage of children and the destruction of the bombing.

B-sides

The B-side of the single was "Mandela Day", a song which had its world premiere at the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute‎ concert on 11 June 1988. The CD single and the 12" single included a cover of Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel

Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...

's "Biko

Biko (song)

"Biko" is a protest song by British rock musician Peter Gabriel. The song was included on Gabriel's third album, Peter Gabriel . It is about Steve Biko, a noted black South African anti-apartheid activist. Biko had been arrested by the South African police in late August 1977...

" as well.

7" vinyl

• UK, Germany: Virgin / SMX 3
• France: Virgin / 90496

12" vinyl

• UK: Virgin / SMXT 3
• UK: Virgin / SMX BS (limited edition box set, including 4 black-and-white
  Black-and-white
  Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
  
   photographs from the music video)
• France: Virgin / 80432
• Germany: Virgin / 611 998
• Yugoslavia: Jugoton /MXSVIRG 18016

CD

• UK: Virgin / SMX3CD (3")
• UK: Virgin / SMXCDT3 (5")

Chart performance

|align="left"|Australian Singles Chart>

Chart (1989)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	1
12
Dutch GfK GfK The GfK Group, established in 1934 as Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung is Germany's largest market research institute, and the fourth largest market research organisation in the world, after Nielsen Company, Kantar Group, and IMS Health...  chart	1
Dutch Top 40 Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting...	1
Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured...	1
Norwegian Singles Chart	9