A Scottish indie artist has been ranked alongside some of the biggest acts in the world in a BBC list of the best tunes of the last 25 years.

‘The Ballad of Paul Tierney’, by Bristol-based act band Lonely Tourist, appeared with the likes of Arcade Fire, Florence and the Machine and Blur by BBC Radio 6 Music DJ Steve Lamacq.

Broadcasting legend ‘Lammo’ compiled his ultimate playlist to mark his 25 years broadcasting for the corporation, and the tune, written in a Glasgow basement, was ranked the top song of 2013.

The song’s lyric tells the story of Tierney’s namesake, one-time Livingston full-back Paul Tierney, and follows the footballer’s early promise, career-changing mistakes, bad luck and unfulfilled potential.

Tierney – the musician – was previously frontman of Odeon BeatClub, and recorded the track in Hillhead five years ago with former bandmate Jim Lang.

The former Manchester United and Ireland Under-21 defender’s footballing career began with his being named 2002’s Young Player of The Year Award at Old Trafford in 2002, but ended at non-league Altrincham just seven years later.

But the Lonely Tourist tune was selected by Lamacq as his top song for 2013, as part of a retrospective of the former Evening Session DJ’s own career.

Songwriter Tierney said: “It’s amazing, and an honour to be list of songs as Incredible as Pulp’s Common People and First Big Weekend by Arab Strap. Other bands on the list like Idlewild and Snow Patrol were a big influence on my music too.


“Steve Lamacq has been supportive since I started and its extremely flattering to be on a list with acts as great as Idles and PJ Harvey.


“The Ballad of Paul Tierney is a song about a former footballer who was a great player but never quite made it to the top flight.

“The message being he was at least good enough to get to that level which something most people would never do. His talent and career are still something to celebrate.”

He added: “Me and my tour pal Chris Webb are currently in a small hotel in Dusseldorf Germany. The Waldorf it isn’t, but it’s great to be playing music in a different country to folk who seem to be enjoying it.”

The track originally appeared on the Lonely Tourist album ‘Shouting at Weather’, which was named #3 in the Jockrock Album of the Year listings for 2014.