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Come On Eileen

"Come On Eileen" is a song by the English group Dexys Midnight Runners (credited to Dexys Midnight Runners and the Emerald Express), released in the United Kingdom in June 1982[4] as a single from their second studio album Too-Rye-Ay. It reached number one in the United States and was their second number one hit in the UK, following 1980's "Geno". The song was produced by Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley and was initially claimed to be written by Kevin Rowland, Jim Paterson and Billy Adams, although Rowland later stated that the essence of the tune should be attributed to Kevin Archer.[5]

"Come On Eileen"

  • "Dubious" (7-inch in most countries & 12-inch)
  • "Let's Make This Precious" (US 7-inch)
  • "Liars A to E (New Version)" (12-inch)

June 25, 1982 (UK)
January 1983 (US)

4:12 (single version)
4:07 (without fiddle intro)
4:47 (with a cappella coda)
3:48 (video version)
3:28 (special DJ edit)

"Come On Eileen" won Best British Single at the 1983 Brit Awards, and in 2015 the song was voted by the British public as the nation's sixth favourite 1980s number one single in a poll for ITV.[6] It was ranked number eighteen on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the '80s"[7] and was Britain's best-selling single of 1982.[8]

Composition[edit]

According to Kevin Rowland, there was actually no real Eileen: "In fact she was composite, to make a point about Catholic repression."[9]

Music video[edit]

The 1982 music video was directed by Julien Temple and filmed in the inner south London suburb of Kennington in the vicinity of the corner of Brook Drive and Hayles Street, then Austral Street and Holyoak Road. The character of "Eileen" in the music video, as well as on the single cover, is played by Máire Fahey, sister of Siobhan Fahey from Bananarama.[10]


Archival footage of Johnnie Ray arriving at London Heathrow Airport in 1954 was featured in the video.[11]

"Come On England" version[edit]

In 2004, the band 4–4–2 was formed to cover the song as "Come On England" with altered lyrics to support the England national football team during their appearance in the 2004 European Championships.[46]

List of number-one singles in Australia during the 1980s

List of best-selling singles by year in the United Kingdom

List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 1983

List of Cash Box Top 100 number-one singles of 1983

List of number-one singles of 1982 (Ireland)

List of number-one singles from the 1980s (New Zealand)

List of number-one singles of the 1980s (Switzerland)

List of UK Singles Chart number ones of the 1980s