Skids were a Scottish punk rock and new wave band, formed in Dunfermline, Fife in 1977 by Stuart Adamson (guitar, keyboards, percussion and backing vocals), William Simpson (bass guitar and backing vocals), Thomas Kellichan (drums) and Richard Jobson (vocals, guitar and keyboards). Their biggest success was the 1978 single "Into the Valley" and the 1980 album The Absolute Game.
Skids played their first gig on 19 August 1977 at the Bellville Hotel in Pilmuir Street, Dunfermline, Scotland. Within six months they had released the Charles EP on the No Bad record label, created by Sandy Muir, a Dunfermline music shop owner turned manager. The record brought them to the attention of national BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel. This led to a local gig supporting The Clash. Virgin Records then signed up Skids in April 1978. The singles "Sweet Suburbia" and "The Saints Are Coming" both made commercial inroads, before "Into the Valley" reached the UK Top 10 singles chart in early 1979. The band released their debut studio album, Scared to Dance, the same year. It was recorded at The Townhouse Studios in London, England with production and keyboards by David Batchelor. Adamson walked out towards the end of the sessions before all the guitar overdubs were completed. Session guitarist Chris Jenkins was chief maintenance engineer at Townhouse studios and completed the album using Adamson's studio set up, adding additional guitar to four tracks – "Into the Valley", "Integral Plot", "Calling the Tune" and "Scared to Dance". In the meantime Adamson returned to Scotland while the recording was finished. He rejoined the band for the live concert tour promotion of the album. The record included "The Saints Are Coming", which was later covered in late 2006 as a charity single by U2 and Green Day.
It's a beautiful day to rest your soul
If you cannot girl
It will not let you go I
Have to strain every word just the same
It's a beautiful day
If you think so cause I still
Have no place left to go I am
Hanging in
Caught up in its swirling winds
And I hope you change your mind again
You wade right through me
Love undo me from
This everlasting change
Is swarming in my brain
It's taking over, it's drawing closer
It's a beautiful day to rest your soul
If you cannot girl
It will not let you go I
I am alright roaming into the
Wondrous night
It's a beautiful day if you think so
Cause I still have no place left to go
I am falling from
Everything that you're hanging
On to
I hope you change your mind again
You wade right through me
Love undo me from
This everlasting change
Left swarming in my brain
It's taking over, It's drawing closer girl
This change has come to change
Set our to rearrange
It's taking over, it's drawing closer
I am just going through the motions
Baby
You know I am just pretending to be
And that's all I have to do to make her wild
Got her come running right back at
Me oh girl
This everlasting change
Is swarming in my brain
It's taking over, it's drawing closer
Girl
Is it everything you want?
Is it everything you haunt?
Or are you feeling lonely?
Is it all you're hoping for?