How Courteeners Made 'Not Nineteen Forever': Fray and Street Recall — SkimNews
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- Liam Fray wrote the lyrics to 'Not Nineteen Forever' in a red notebook of poems and scribbles that secured him a place on the creative writing course at the University of Salford, before the band existed.
- The song's chords came from Fray muddling finger positions while trying to work out 'Someday' by The Strokes in his old bedroom at his parents' house; he told three friends: 'If you don't do this with me, I'll be playing acoustic guitar on my own in Manchester pubs for ever.'
- Producer Stephen Street, who had previously produced The Smiths, was approached by Courteeners' new major label after seeing the band pack a university hall and said hearing the lyrics 'hit me how good they were.'
- 'Not Nineteen Forever' initially charted at No 19, then years later went double platinum — with Mayor Andy Burnham handing the band the plaque at the Britons Protection pub.
- The St Jude reissue hit No 1, 15 years after the album's original release — a career first for Street, who said he had 'never had that happen before.'
- Street framed Courteeners as 'the last hurrah' of the mid-2000s wave of hugely popular indie guitar bands alongside Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs and Kasabian.
- At live shows, Fray now sees original fans bringing their 17-, 18- and 19-year-old kids who sing along to 'You're not nineteen forever, pull yourself together.'
Why it matters: The oral history doubles as proof of the song's generational reach: a track Fray wrote while scribbling in a Manchester nightclub corner became a double-platinum anthem whose chorus is now sung by fans' teenagers, and its parent LP's reissue topped the UK charts 15 years on, a first in his producer's decades-long career.
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