It would have been hard to imagine 23-years-ago when Russell Crowe was picking up an Academy Award in front of Hollywood’s elite for Gladiator that one day he’d be singing a song about Southampton at Glastonbury.
Yet that’s exactly what did happen on Saturday, June 29, as the L.A. Confidential actor performed on the festival’s Acoustic Stage with his band Indoor Garden Party.
In between songs during the band’s crowd-pleasing set, Crowe began to tell a humorous anecdote about his next song, titled ‘Southampton.’
“I’ve been waiting to do this song in front of an English crowd for a long, long time,” he said – explaining the inspiration for the song came after Crowe was jilted by a woman who chose to go to Southampton alone instead of jetting off to Paris with him.
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Crowe said: “The **** you talking about? Southampton? If you had to list the top 5,000 places in the world to see before you die, guess what’s not on the list, ******* Southampton.”
"She took a ticket to Southampton over you," the song's self-depreciating, yet euphoric, chorus goes.
"I've never been to Southampton, it's probably a really nice place," Crowe continues.
"But I don't care for Southampton, Southampton makes me ache.
"Somewhere in Southampton, my heart lies in a suitcase.
"Somewhere in my Southampton, there's a pearl I can't replace."
It turned out not to be the best weekend for the city in the musical sphere, as Paloma Faith performed on Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage on Sunday afternoon, two days after cancelling a Summer Sessions gig in Southampton on Friday.
Though no Indoor Garden Party concert has been announced for Southampton in the immediate future, perhaps a gig on the South Coast could reunite Crowe with the woman who jilted him for the city that is famous for its maritime history and a Premier League football club, none of which can be said for Paris.
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