Australian singles chart:
Downtown entered the Kent charts on 2 January 1965 and was a #1 hit. The song was #19 on the Top 100 of 1965.
Album:
The song was released in Australia on Petula Clark’s 1965 album Downtown.
Songwriter:
Tony Hatch
Producer:
Tony Hatch
Songfacts:
On the surface, this song is about having a delightful time during a trip downtown. But what happens when the night is over and the singer returns to her everyday life? After all, the trip into the city is merely an escape.
While many listeners don’t process the song on this level, Petula does. An accomplished actress, she thinks of her songs as “mini movies” when she performs them, and considers the feelings behind them. This song, to her, isn’t so chipper. “I’ve always thought there was this loneliness and there’s even a slight feeling of desperation in it,” she said in a Songfacts interview.
Read more: www.songfacts.com/facts/petula-clark/downtown
This song is also on our Spotify playlist Bang a Gong – the 60s
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