<P> The opening lines of the song ("I was 21 years when I wrote this song / I'm 22 now, but I won't be for long") are identical to the opening lines of Paul Simon's song "Leaves that Are Green", which appears on Simon and Garfunkel's 1966 album Sounds of Silence . During a concert in Winnipeg, Canada on 27 September 2006, Bragg stated that Simon and Garfunkel had a strong influence on him and that he took the line from their song intentionally . </P> <P> Bragg has said that the song had its origins in seeing two satellites flying alongside each other . Searching for romantic inspiration, he had to make do with "space hardware". He told a BBC interviewer that he "stole" the melody from Thin Lizzy's Cowboy Song . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> "A New England" </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Single by Kirsty MacColl </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> B - side </Th> <Td> "Patrick" "I'm Going Out with an 80 Year Old Millionaire" </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Released </Th> <Td> December 1984 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Format </Th> <Td> 7" vinyl, 12" vinyl, 12" picture disc </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Recorded </Th> <Td> 1984 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Genre </Th> <Td> New wave </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Length </Th> <Td> 3: 49 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Label </Th> <Td> Stiff </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Songwriter (s) </Th> <Td> Billy Bragg </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Producer (s) </Th> <Td> Steve Lillywhite </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Kirsty MacColl singles chronology </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> <Table> <Tr> <Td> "Terry" (1983) </Td> <Td> "A New England" (1984) </Td> <Td> "He's on the Beach" (1985) </Td> </Tr> </Table> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> <Table> <Tr> <Td> "Terry" (1983) </Td> <Td> "A New England" (1984) </Td> <Td> "He's on the Beach" (1985) </Td> </Tr> </Table> </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> "A New England" </Th> </Tr>

I was 21 when i wrote this song