Video hit Marillion

Marillion - Kayleigh

Kayleigh was a number two UK hit for British neo-progressive rock band Marillion in 1985.

It remains the group's most successful single in terms of chart position. The single was kept from the UK Number 1 spot by charity single "You'll Never Walk Alone" by supergroup The Crowd in the summer of 1985. It also made the top 10 in Ireland, Norway and France. "Kayleigh" is the band's sole appearance on the USA's Billboard Hot 100, hitting #74 in 1986.

The song received a great deal of media exposure in the UK. 41 Independent Local Radio stations in Britain had the track A-rated on their playlists and it became the most played single on BBC Radio 1. The band also made appearances on television shows such as Wogan and Top of the Pops. The song was also featured on the soundtrack of the video game Grand Theft Auto IV on the fictional in-game station "Vice City FM" and in the movie Late Night Shopping.

The promotional video for the single was shot in Berlin, where the Misplaced Childhood album was recorded, and featured Tamara Nowy, a German woman who subsequently married lead singer Fish, and Robert Mead, the boy portrayed on the sleeve of the album and the single.

The song was performed by Fish at the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute at Wembley Stadium, with Midge Ure on guitar and Phil Collins on drums.

Fish has said that his writing the song was 'his way of apologizing to some of the women he had dated in the past.' Although the lead singer and lyricist of the band, Fish, had at one point dated a woman whose forenames were Kay Leigh, the song was more a composite of several different women with whom he had had relationships.

The guitar hook line through the verse came about, according to Steve Rothery, from him demonstrating to his then girlfriend what effects a chorus and a delay pedal could add to a guitar's sound. Rothery recorded the song on a chorused Stratocaster guitar, using the pick and his second and third fingers to play it. The album version features an extended guitar solo by Rothery, 27 seconds of which is edited for the single version.

On 24 October 2012, Marillion announced on Facebook that "Sad news via Fish - Kay - who inspired our song Kayleigh - has sadly died. RIP Kay

The song's popularity in the summer of 1985 was responsible for a significant rise in popularity of the name Kayleigh. In late 2005, 96% of Kayleighs living in the United Kingdom were born after 1985. Studies of girls' first names show that it was not in the top 100 most popular names in Scotland before 1975. By 1997, however, twelve years after the song's release, the name was the 30th most popular girls' name in the country.

By 2001, Kayleigh had become the 75th most popular girls' name in England and Wales.

In 2012, it was announced that the Scottish Borders Council was to inscribe extracts from the song's lyrics into the pavement at the newly-developed Market Square in Galashiels. Council engineer David Johnstone said the authority felt it was appropriate to mark the links between Galashiels and the song: "The lyrics from the song Kayleigh included reference to the old textiles college. Some of the lyrics referred to 'dawn escapes from moon-washed college halls' and 'do you remember cherry blossom in the market square?' There was a feeling that these lyrics were really appropriate and because of the connection between the singer and Galashiels that it would be appropriate to engrave some of those lyrics into the paving and make more of a feature of it." Mr Johnstone also said the original cherry trees referred to in the song had been removed due to disease but they would be replaced.

On 8th October 2012, Aberdeen based rappers Shy & DRS released "The Love is Gone", featuring lyrics and vocals from Sandi Thom. The song samples "Kayleigh". It reached no.7 in the iTunes Hip Hop Chart.

The lyrics:

Do you remember, chalk hearts melting on a playground wall?

Do you remember, dawn escaped from moonwashed college halls?

Do you remember, the cherry blossom in the market square?

Do you remember, I thought it was confetti in our hair

By the way didn't I break your heart?

Please excuse me, I never meant to break your heart.

So sorry I never meant to break your heart.

But you broke mine.

Kayleigh is it too late to say I'm sorry.

Kayleigh could we get it together again.

I can't go on pretending that it came to a natural end.

Kayleigh I never thought I'd miss you,

And Kayleigh I'd hoped that we'd always be friends.

We said our love would last forever,

So how did it come to this bitter end.

Do you remember, barefoot on the lawn with shooting stars

Do you remember, loving on the floor in Belsize Park

Do you remember, dancing in stilletos in the snow

Do you remember, you never understood I had to go.

By the way, didn't I break your heart ?

Please excuse me I never meant to break your heart

So sorry, I never meant to break your heart,

But you broke mine.

Kayleigh, I just want to say I'm sorry,

But Kayleigh I'm too scared to pick up the phone.

To find you've found another lover to patch up our broken home.

Kayleigh, I'm still trying to write that love song,

Kayleigh it's more important to me now you're gone.

Maybe it'll prove that we were right

Or it will prove that I was wrong.