Northern Star is a song written by British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 singer Melanie C

Melanie Chisholm

Melanie Jayne Chisholm is an English singer-songwriter, actress and businesswoman professionally known simply as Melanie C . She is best known as one of the five members of the girl group Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed "Sporty Spice"...

 and Rick Nowels

Rick Nowels

Richard Wright Nowels Jr. is a Grammy / Ivor Novello award-winning songwriter/producer who has worked with many of the most vibrant artists in contemporary music...

. The song was produced by Marius De Vries

Marius de Vries

Marius Van Wyk de Vries is an English music producer and composer. He has been behind some of the key albums and soundtracks of recent times, gathering five Grammy nominations, two BAFTAs, and an Ivor Novello award along the way.-Music Producer:...

. It is the title-track from her debut solo album and it was released as the second single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 in the winter of 1999. The single charted at number 4 in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, becoming her third top five single. It reached the top ten in Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 and Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 too. In the UK the single sold 202,636 copies, becoming the 98th best selling single of 1999.

Composition

According to the sheet music published by Musicnotes.com by Hal Leonard Corporation, "Northern Star" is composed in the key of A major

A major

A major is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps.Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor...

, and is written in the time signature of common time. It is set in a moderate tempo of 104 beats per minute, with Chrisholm's voice spanning from B₅ to E₃. The song has a basic sequence of Dm–Am–B₇–Cm as its chord progression

Chord progression

A chord progression is a series of musical chords, or chord changes that "aims for a definite goal" of establishing a tonality founded on a key, root or tonic chord. In other words, the succession of root relationships...

.

Music video

The Northern Star music video starts off looking into a starry sky at night gradually moving down, looking out to sea towards a large star, with Melanie walking down a rocky coast surrounded by a desert. She then walks in between two train tracks and as the chorus begins, the two trains drive at high speed in opposite directions, later there is a brief scene in a cave with miners. Then Melanie walks through a somewhat Arctic-like area which blends into an urban setting which instantly changes onto a sandy beach. During the instrumental she is seen walking through a forest and crossing over a river during daytime, later back in an urban building set. The video ends with her back on the coast at night.

Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Northern Star".

UK CD1 / Australian CD

1. "Northern Star" (Single Version) — 4:08
2. "Follow Me" — 4:47
3. "Northern Star" (Full Version) — 5:31
4. "Northern Star" (Music Video)

UK CD2

1. "Northern Star" (Single Version) — 4:08
2. "Northern Star" (Acoustic Version) — 2:53
3. "Something's Gonna Happen" — 3:59

UK Cassette

1. "Northern Star" (Single Version) — 4:08
2. "Follow Me" — 4:47
3. "Northern Star" (Full Version) — 5:31

Official Edits

• "Northern Star" (Album Version) - 4:41
• "Northern Star" (Single Version) - 4:08
• "Northern Star" (Acoustic Version) - 2:53
• "Northern Star" (Full Version) - 5:31

Charts

Chart (1999)	Peak Position
Eurochart Hot 100	31
Germany (Media Control AG Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... )	50