"Downhearted" is the third single released by iconic Australian surf rock band Australian Crawl from their debut album The Boys Light Up. The song was written by Sean Higgins, Guy McDonough and Bill McDonough. All three songwriters had been bandmates in The Flatheads, but at the time only Bill McDonough was a member of The Crawl.

"Downhearted" was released in May, 1980 and reached #12 on the Australian Singles Chart in July, 1980.

Different B-sides were released in different markets. Australian B-side was "Way I've Been" written by The Crawl member Brad Robinson and his father James Robinson. James Robinson was a Federal Arbitration Court Justice. Canadian B-side was "Indisposed" was co-written by the Robinsons with James Reyne and Bill McDonough. The song describes the car accident which resulted in Reyne breaking both wrists immediately before they recorded their first single "Beautiful People" (1979). The B-side for the UK release was "Letter From Zimbabwe" (Reyne).

"Downhearted" was covered by Dutch prog rock band Solution and appeared on their 1982 album Runaway. Australian pop singer John Farnham sang it on his 2005 covers album I Remember When I Was Young.

Track listing

1. "Downhearted" (Sean Higgins, Guy McDonough, Bill McDonough) - 3:09
2. "Way I've Been" (Brad Robinson, James Robinson) - 2:17

Charts

References