16/9/2012
“There is something about his songs –open-hearted, sing-along and full of characters – which suits the city of their creation. Working as an English teacher and living in a flat in Kenmure Street, Pollokshields, Ross used to look out of the bay window at the street-sweepers of the cleansing department as they changed shifts. Watching them walk by with their brushes, wondering about their lives, it gave him an idea for a song, which he later wrote while on holiday in Crete. He called it Dignity.
One of those rare songs which transcend their writer, Dignity, which came out in 1987, has become part of the fabric of Scottish life. You hear it at the football, on the radio, at the shops; at weddings and funerals and works nights out. Ross knows it is special. He is grateful for the way his music has soundtracked lives, and the way that that song in particular has become a sort of anthem for the decent, aspirational working life.”
— Interview: Deacon Blue’s Ricky Ross on the city behind the songs , Glasgow
