 The song was written in 1979 and first appeared on Gaughan's 1981 album "Handful of Earth".Though Gaughan's recording was embraced by music critics at the time, the song achieved wide popularity only later when it was recorded by the Scottish group Capercaillie on their album "Sidewaulk".Gaughan wrote the song in response to the result of the first Scottish Parliament referendum in 1979, which had the controversial ruling whereby a simple majority was not enough to win a devolved parliament for Scotland.