Credits

• Writers: Pulp
• Lyrics: Jarvis Cocker
• String arrangements: Rich Jones and Emma Smith
• Producer: James Ford
• Engineer and mixer: Animesh Raval
• Mastering Engineer: Matt Colton

• Studio musicians
  • Jarvis Cocker - vocals
  • Candida Doyle - piano
  • Mark Webber - guitar
  • Nick Banks - drums
  • Emma Smith - violin
  • Andrew Mckinney - bass
  • Jason Buckle - electronics
  • Richard Jones - conductor
  • Adam Betts - percussion
  • Chilly Gonzales - piano
  • The Elysian Collective (Rich Jones, Emma Smith, Phil Granell, Jennymay Logan, Jordan Bergmans, Paloma Deike, Rosie Tompsett, Zami Jalil, Charlotte Stock, Sam Becker, Shelley Britton, Laura Moody, Sergio De Serra, David Kadumukasa, Freya Goldmark, Flora Curzon, Patrick Dawkins, Mandhira de Saram, Ros Stephen, Val Welbanks and Chihiro Ono) - strings
  • Choir: Shelley Britton, Mara Carlyle, Leo Chadburn, Flora Curzon, Zami Jalil, David Kadumukasa, Matthew Kerr, Jennymay Logan, Laura Moody, Chihiro Ono, Emma Smith, Charlotte Stock

Lyrics

Factories lie empty
Manufacturing emptiness
Life still needs to be filled nonetheless
So go and find something to love
And just promise me this one thing, yes:

Oh please stay in sight of the mainland
Yes please stay in sight of the mainland

I don't want you to go
But I know you've got to go
So before you go there's just one thing you ought to know
Yeah there's just one thing you ought to know
Yeah there's just one thing you ought to know
Yeah there's just one thing
Just one thing

You can fill your life with dreams
You can fill your life with owt
You can fill your life with food and drink
Or whatever floats your boat
I'll be watching from the shoreline
I'll be singing you this song
There's a million things in store for you
Just beyond the horizon

So please stay in sight of the mainland
Yes please stay in sight of the mainland

You're wiser than I'll ever be
You’re beautiful, smart, so funny
You fill my heart, you fill my dreams
My only hope is you succeed
Yeah, my only hope is you succeed
Yeah, my only hope is you succeed
You're my only hope
You're my only hope

So please, please, please, please, please

[discordant music]

Trust and believe
In you and me

Northern lights will guide you home
Northern lives just like your own
Northern rain
Northern rain turning into a flood
So don't forget your northern blood
No never forget your northern blood

And please stay in sight of the mainland
Yes please stay in sight of the mainland

Please stay in touch with me
In this contactless society
Anywhere that you may be
The Northern Star leads back to me
Yeah the Northern Star leads back to me
Yeah the Northern Star leads back to me
Yeah the Northern Star
Yeah the Northern Star
You're my Northern Star

So please...

Notes

This song was originally written by Jarvis in 2019 for the Simon Stephens play Light Falls at the Manchester Royal Exchange. It was then performed by Pulp in 2023. It was not performed in 2024, nor did it appear on any setlists. It was then released on the album More in 2025.

Related pages

• Song list