Video hit Marillion

Marillion - Heart of Lothian

Lead singer Fish was born in Dalkeith, a town in the county of Midlothian, Scotland just outside Edinburgh. Lothian is a district in Scotland and Midlothian is the middle part of it. The Royal Mile, which is also referred to in the song, is the main High Street in Edinburgh. There is a heart-shaped mosaic embedded into the pavement halfway up the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. The heart is traditionally a symbol of local pride. One of the Edinburgh football teams is known as Heart of Midlothian, or "Hearts" for short.

Fish, like most Scots, is very proud of his county and saying that he was born with a Heart of Lothian is an echo of this local pride and nationalism.

The song is split into 2 parts, firstly "Wideboys," where Fish recalls fondly of when he was one of the wide boys, a term for teenagers spending all their cash in watering halls (pubs) as if they will never run out of money. In the second part, known as "Curtain Call," he is back in reality, wondering how he ended up in his current lifestyle, wanting to return to his old adolescent life, back to the waterhole.

Sir Walter Scott also wrote a book called The Heart of Lothian in 1818 and in this case the title of the book refers to the Old Tolbooth Prison in Edinburgh.

"Heart Of Lothian" is the fifth song on the 1985 album Misplaced Childhood by British progressive rock band Marillion. The song was released as the third single from Misplaced Childhood on 18 November 1985 in the UK, the Netherlands, West Germany, Canada (on Capitol Records), South Africa and Australia.

The 7" and 12" formats of the single both featured a live version of "Chelsea Monday", originally a track from Marillion's debut 1983 album Script for a Jester's Tear as the b-side. This was recorded at the Muziekcentrum Vredenburg in Utrecht on 15 October 1985. The 12" also includes the extended album version of "Heart Of Lothian" as well as the single edit.[2] In 1986, "Heart Of Lothian" would itself appear as a b-side to the US-only single release "Lady Nina", which had in turn appeared as a b-side on the European release of the lead single from Misplaced Childhood, "Kayleigh".

"Heart Of Lothian" became the third top 40 UK single from Misplaced Childhood, peaking at #29. The song also peaked at #51 on the German singles charts.

The lyrics:

Wide boys, wide boys, wide boys,

Born with hearts of Lothian

Wide boys, we were wide boys,

Born with hearts of Lothian

Wide boys, we were wide boys,

These hearts of Lothian.

It's six o'clock in the tower blocks

Stalagmites of culture shock

And the trippers of the light fantastic,

Bow down, hoe-down

Spray their pheromones on this perfume uniform.

And anarchy smiles in the Royal Mile

And they're waiting on the slyboys, flyboys, wideboys

Rooting, tooting cowboys

Lucky little ladies at the watering holes

They'll score the Friday night goals.

I was born with a heart of Lothian

I was born with a heart of Lothian

With a heart of Lothian

I was born with a heart of Lothian,

With a heart of Lothian.