Simply Red

Released: October 14, 1985

Songwriter: Mick Hucknall

Producer: Stewart Levine

I walk on stone, it leads me home
We don't have streets, just pure concrete
I'm not glad when I get home
I'm sad old Red, I don't wanna be alone

Chorus:
Sad old Red, sat at home
Sad old Red, living on his own
Sad old Red, sat at home
Sad old Red, let me take you home

It's a cubic room, two hole peep through
Shadows on the wall of trees so tall
I think of her again, the joy she used to bring
Lay there in bed two words she said
She said "Oh Red" (repeat)

Sad old Red, that's what I am
All the time, every night
Sad old Red

Simply Red is a British soul and pop band. The first incarnation of the band was a punk group called The Frantic Elevators, whose seven-year run produced limited releases on local labels and ended in 1984 upon critical acclaim for their final single, “Holding Back the Years”.

By early 1985, Mick Hucknall and manager Elliot Rashman had assembled a band of local session musicians and begun to attract record company attention. The group adopted the name “Red” (after Hucknall’s nickname, denoting his hair colour) but then Mick decided it would sound better with the addition of the word ‘Simply.’

Since the mid 1980s, the band has sold more than 50 million albums.

more tracks from the album

Picture Book

From the albums

Picture Book (1985)
Simplified (2005)

Simply Red popular songs

Sad Old RedSimply Red

Simply Red

Picture Book