English rock band The Fall released their 13th album in 1991, featuring the hit record Edinburgh Man.
Lead singer Mark E Smith pines to be back in the Scottish capital in the song: “You can leave me on the shelf, I’m an Edinburgh man myself.”
So just how in love with the city was Mark, and how did the sweet song come about?
The Electricity singer lived in Edinburgh for around a year in 1988 after his marriage fell apart, and unsurprisingly fell for our great city.
He also attributed the move to a distaste for the scene in Manchester, which in the late 80s was gaining a reputation for drugs - with some labelling the city Madchester.
In a 2012 interview with The Quietus, he explained his decision to head to the Scottish capital: “That’s why I moved to Scotland.
“I’d rather drink whisky, thank you very much.
“I don’t relate to other groups - I never have.
“I don’t relate to a lot of musicians to be quite frank, I don’t relate to anything from Manchester and I never saw us as anything like that.”
In a television feature on ITVs Granada Tonight from 1994, Mark spoke to an interviewer about his relationship to Edinburgh.
He said: “It’s a bit of an escape for me.
“I like Edinburgh a lot but there’s one thing I don’t like about it, and it’s this statue here.”
Apparently the one thing that lets us down for Mark is the Earl Haig just outside of Edinburgh Castle.
Elsewhere in the city, Mark points out the Black Watch monument - this one he seems to be a fan of.
He says: “My father was in the Black Watch, he was in the Salford detachment, so I come round here when I feel a bit sentimental.
“What I like about Edinburgh is I came here and right away I was accepted straight away.
“Leith’s good, I think it's more the real Edinburgh.
“With regards to architecture, what they’ve done here is just left it alone - they didn’t go mad in the 60s and knock everything down.”
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Architecture and monuments aside, Mark’s favourite place in the capital is the Scottish Malt Whisky Society.
While he may have penned a love letter to Edinburgh, it seems Mark was also fond of our West Coast neighbour.
Speaking to the Herald in 2012, he said: “I like Glasgow a lot better.
“Of course I do - too many English in Edinburgh.
“It’s half the reason I moved out, I’ve never been ashamed to be English until I lived in Edinburgh.”
Mark left Edinburgh after he realised his infatuation with the city was standing in the way of his music career.
He continued: “I was on my own at the time, I loved it.
“Thing is I liked it too much - I couldn’t get any work done.”
With this knowledge, the meaning behind the lyrics to Edinburgh Man are clear: “As I sit and stare at all of England’s souls,
“I tell you something,
“I wish I was in Edinburgh.”
The lead singer enjoyed the city so much that he was unable to focus on the band, or making music.
When he finally left Edinburgh and had to get back to writing, what came out was basically a request through song for the world to let him be alone and enjoy himself in Scotland’s capital.
