"Downhearted" is the third single released by Australian surf rock band Australian Crawl from their debut album The Boys Light Up. The song was written by Sean Higgins, Guy McDonough and Bill McDonough.[1] All three songwriters had been bandmates in the Flatheads, but at the time only Bill McDonough was a member of Australian Crawl.[2] It was produced by David Briggs.[2]
| "Downhearted" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Australian Crawl | ||||
| from the album The Boys Light Up | ||||
| B-side | "Way I've Been" | |||
| Released | June 1980 | |||
| Genre | Pop rock | |||
| Length | 3:09 | |||
| Label | EMI | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Sean Higgins, Guy McDonough, Bill McDonough | |||
| Producer(s) | David Briggs | |||
| Australian Crawl singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Downhearted" was released in June 1980 and reached number 12 on the Australian Singles Chart in July 1980.[3]
Different B-sides were released in different markets.[4] Australian B-side was "Way I've Been" written by Australian Crawl member Brad Robinson and his father James Robinson.[1] James Robinson was a Federal Arbitration Court Justice.[5] Canadian B-side was "Indisposed" was co-written by the Robinsons with James Reyne and Bill McDonough.[1] The song describes the car accident which resulted in Reyne breaking both wrists immediately before they recorded their first single "Beautiful People" (1979).[6] The B-side for the UK release was "Letter From Zimbabwe" (Reyne).[1]
Covers
"Downhearted" was covered by Dutch prog rock band Solution and appeared on their 1982 album Runaway with an added bridge to the song. Australian pop singer John Farnham sang it on his 2005 covers album I Remember When I Was Young.[7]
Track listing
Charts
Weekly charts
| Chart (1980) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian (Kent Music Report)[8] | 12 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (1980) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[9] | 96 |