Into the Valley

{{refimprove|date=January 2025}} {{use dmy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox song | name = Into the Valley | cover = | alt = | type = single | artist = Skids | album = Scared to Dance | B-side = "T.V. Stars" (Live at the Marquee) | released = 1979 | format = | recorded = | studio = | venue = | genre = * Rock<ref name="AllMusic Monger">{{AllMusic |class=album|id=mw0001660635|title= Various Artists - ''Playlist: New Wave'' (2008) Review|last= Monger|first= James Christopher|access-date= December 1, 2024}}</ref> * new wave<ref name="AllMusic Monger"/> | length = | label = Virgin | writer = Richard Jobson, Stuart Adamson | producer = David Batchelor | prev_title = Sweet Suburbia | prev_year = 1979 | next_title = Masquerade | next_year = 1979 }} "'''Into the Valley'''" is a song by Scottish punk rock band Skids, released in 1979 as the second single from their debut album ''Scared to Dance''. It is their best known song, appearing on a number of punk rock and Scottish music compilation albums. It reached number 10 on the UK Singles Chart for the week ending 24 March 1979.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/17144/skids/|work=Official Charts Company|title=Skids|access-date=12 January 2025}}</ref> It was written by Richard Jobson and Stuart Adamson.

==Background== The song's lyrics are notoriously unintelligible owing to Jobson's diction. This has been sent up in a television advertisement for Maxell audio cassettes which features printed (incorrect) "translations" of the words.<ref name="TV ad">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAsmf1LGcpA Skids - "Into The Valley" Maxell advert]</ref> The chorus, often misquoted, is actually "Ahoy! Ahoy! Land, sea and sky".

In an interview for ''Uncut'' magazine from July 2017, Jobson has said that the lyrics were originally from a poem he wrote aged 16, inspired by Alfred Tennyson's ''The Charge of the Light Brigade.'' He reframed his earlier words to reflect his concerns about the recruitment of Scottish youths into the army and more specifically about a friend who had been killed whilst on a tour of duty in Northern Ireland.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk/MagSitePages/Article.aspx?id=5037|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171007021834/http://www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk/MagSitePages/Article.aspx?id=5037|archive-date=7 October 2017|work=Pennyblack Music|title=Richard Jobson {{!}} Interview|first=John|last=Clarkson|date=19 March 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/review.cfm?id=538222007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071112044206/http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/review.cfm?id=538222007|archive-date=12 November 2007|work=Scotland on Sunday|title=Once more into the valley|first=Aidan|last=Smith|date=8 April 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.uncut.co.uk/features/skids-recall-valley-never-plan-107587/|work=Uncut|title=The Skids recall 'Into The Valley': "There was never a plan"|first=Tom|last=Pinnock|date=5 October 2018|access-date=12 January 2025}}</ref>

==In popular culture== {{more references|section|date=February 2025}} "Into the Valley" is still used as a theme song for fans of Scottish football team Dunfermline Athletic F.C., the local team of the band,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07phyny |title=Scottish punk legends The Skids perform a stripped down version of Into The Valley |website=BBC |date=27 September 2019}}</ref> and also English side Charlton Athletic F.C., whose stadium is named The Valley. It was also used by fellow English team Bradford City A.F.C., whose stadium is named Valley Parade, during their Premiership years (1999–2001). It is also played as the teams come out at the Valley Stadium, home of Redditch United F.C.

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:1979 songs Category:1979 singles Category:Skids (band) songs Category:Virgin Records singles Category:Songs written by Stuart Adamson Category:Songs written by Richard Jobson (television presenter)