"The Down Town" is a song by Days of the New

Days of the New

Days of the New is an American alternative rock band from Louisville, Kentucky, formed in 1995. The band consists of vocalist/guitarist Travis Meeks and a variety of supporting musicians...

 and the second single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 from their self-titled debut album

Days of the New (album)

Days of the New is the debut album of world music/post-grunge band Days of the New, and the first of their three self-titled albums. The album was released in 1997 through Outpost....

. Like its predecessor, the song reached #1 on Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

's Mainstream Rock Tracks in 1998 and is a concert staple. "The Down Town" is also the third track on the band's Definitive Collection

Days of the New: The Definitive Collection

Days of the New: The Definitive Collection is a compilation album by acoustic rock/world music band Days of the New. It contains all of their singles as well as a few select tracks from the first three albums.-Track listing:# Shelf in the Room...

released in 2008.

The song is arguably the second most popular single off the band's debut album and certainly one of their most well known songs overall. It is also one of the album's upbeat tracks while bearing an aggressive chorus. Lyrically, "The Down Town" ambiguiously details a town of drug users who are afraid of change and suppressive of the narrator. The phrase "to bring me down" is rebelliously shouted throughout the chorus. A mention of pointless and rejected concern over another person's well being is also addressed during the bridge

Bridge (music)

In music, especially western popular music, a bridge is a contrasting section which also prepares for the return of the original material section...

. Given this theme of negativity, the "Down Town" song title may be intended as a double entendre

Double entendre

A double entendre or adianoeta is a figure of speech in which a spoken phrase is devised to be understood in either of two ways. Often the first meaning is straightforward, while the second meaning is less so: often risqué or ironic....

 or pun

Pun

The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...

.

Music video

The "Down Town" video

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

, directed by Lance Bangs

Lance Bangs

Lance Bangs is an American filmmaker, documentarian, and music video director who has created videos for Sonic Youth, Nirvana, Green Day, the Arcade Fire, the Shins, The Thermals, Belle & Sebastian, Menomena, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, R.E.M., Mike Watt, Death Cab for Cutie, The Black Keys, Kanye West, and...

, consists of a live concert performance. It retains the live audio and includes some notable differences from the studio recording; verse chords

Guitar chord

In music, a guitar chord is a chord, or collection of tones usually sounded together at once, played on a guitar. It can be composed of notes played on adjacent or separate strings or all the strings together...

 are used extensively in various parts, more punchy staccato

Staccato

Staccato is a form of musical articulation. In modern notation it signifies a note of shortened duration and separated from the note that may follow by silence...

 is incorporated, and the first lyric of the bridge is changed to "I don't think that I should give a fuck about you." The performance lasts nearly a whole minute longer at 5:10.

Track listing

1. "The Down Town (LP Version)"
2. "The Down Town (Radio Remix Version)"
3. "Touch, Peel And Stand (Live)"
4. "Freak (Live)"

• The live tracks were recorded at the New World Music Theatre
  First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
  First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre is an outdoor music venue, in Chicago's southwest suburb of Tinley Park, Illinois, that opened in 1990. It is one of the largest music venues in the Chicago area, with capacities of up to 28,000 spectators...
  
   for Rock 103.5 Chicago's Rockstock '97 on September 6, 1997.

Chart positions

Chart (1998)	Peak position
Billboard Modern Rock Tracks Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...	19
Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock Tracks Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue...	1

External links

• "The Down Town" Music Video @ YouTube
  YouTube
  YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....