Loyal (Dave Dobbyn song)
{{Use New Zealand English|date=July 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Loyal
| cover = Single_Cover_for_Loyal,_Dave_Dobbyn.jpeg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Dave Dobbyn
| album = Loyal
| B-side = Saved
| released = 1988 (New Zealand)
| recorded = 1987
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = New wave
| length = 4:35
| label = CBS
| writer = Dave Dobbyn
| producer = Bruce Lynch, Dave Dobbyn, Mark Moffatt
| prev_title = Love You Like I Should
| prev_year = 1988
| next_title = Defying Gravity
| next_year = 1988
| misc = {{Audio sample
| type = single
| file = Dave Dobbyn - Loyal.ogg
}}
{{External music video|"[http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/loyal-1988 Loyal]" at NZ On Screen}}
}}
"Loyal" is a single by New Zealand singer/songwriter Dave Dobbyn, released in 1988 from the album of the same name. The song reached number 19 on the New Zealand charts{{cite web|title=Loyal: Chart Behaviour|url=https://charts.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=Dave+Dobbyn&titel=Loyal&cat=s|work=Archive|publisher=charts.nz|accessdate=4 October 2012}} and has since become a cult song for the nation.
Background
Dobbyn wrote the song in Sydney, with the opening harmonic progression coming about from playing with a newly bought guitar. He co-produced the single, and in retrospect is not entirely happy with the result, preferring live versions such as that from the Together in Concert: Live tour with Bic Runga and Tim Finn.{{cite news|title=The National Anthems|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/music/news/article.cfm?c_id=264&objectid=226415|accessdate=3 October 2012|newspaper=The New Zealand Herald|date=3 November 2001}}
Music video
The music video for Loyal was directed by Kerry Brown and is a one-shot video of Dobbyn and a woman moving out of a house.{{cite web|title=Loyal—Dave Dobbyn|url=http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/loyal-1988|work=nzonscreen.com|accessdate=22 September 2012}} It was met with mixed reception and there is some argument about the appropriateness of the imagery for the song. Dobbyn's patterned jersey also received some derision.{{cite web|last=Sweetman|first=Simon|title=NZ's Worst Albums|date=21 May 2012 |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/blogs/blog-on-the-tracks/6943480/NZs-worst-album-covers|publisher=stuff.co.nz|accessdate=7 October 2012}}
Legacy
In 2001, Loyal was voted the third-best New Zealand song of the 20th century by APRA, and featured on the related Nature's Best CD. It was also included on the live album Together in Concert: Live, which was performed with Bic Runga and Tim Finn.
It was used in 2002 as the official song for the defending New Zealand team in the 2003 America's Cup yachting competition.{{cite web|title=Dave Dobbyn and Loyal|url=http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/video/dave-dobbyn-and-loyal|publisher=Ministry for Culture and Heritage|work=nzhistory.net.nz|accessdate=22 September 2012}} There was some public unhappiness about the song's association with the campaign (especially given the team's subsequent loss). The song was used to bring to light that 9 of the 18 crew members of Swiss-based team Alinghi were New Zealanders, and all 9 were previously members of Team New Zealand between the years of 1995 and 2000.
However, in 2006, voters in an online survey of 3,000 voted it New Zealand's best song.{{cite web|title=Nature's Best|url=http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/culture/music-month/natures-best|work=nzhistory.net.nz |publisher=Ministry for Culture and Heritage|accessdate=22 September 2012}}
Dobbyn has noted the adoption of "Loyal" into the wider New Zealand psyche:
{{Quotation | It's now got a life of its own. I never knew what that meant—[fellow New Zealand musician] Neil Finn is always on about songs becoming everybody else's—and I never really felt that until that song.| Dave Dobbyn |The New Zealand Herald, 2001}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/loyal-1988 Music Video] (NZ On Screen)
- [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/music/news/article.cfm?c_id=264&objectid=226415 'The National Anthems'], a commentary on top APRA New Zealand songs including "Loyal"
- [https://www.audioculture.co.nz/articles/counting-the-beat-loyal-by-dave-dobbyn Musical analysis of 'Loyal'] on [https://www.audioculture.co.nz/ AudioCulture]
{{Dave Dobbyn}}
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