With thick Scottish accents and numerous references to their homeland in their songs, there’s little doubt from whence The Proclaimers – identical twin brothers Craig and Charlie Reid – hail.

Indeed, using a Scottish term for “gibberish,” is there a more distinctive (and bewildering) line in pop music than “And if I haver, yeah, I know I’m gonna be/ I’m gonna be the man who’s haverin’ next to you”?

(Here’s an image: At first I confused haver with ‘caber,’ the uniquely Scottish log-tossing sport at Highland Games).

Add to their palpable Celtic charm distinctive close-cropped blond hair (in their early days in the ‘80s at least) and those thick dark-rimmed glasses – and, of course, seeing double – and the duo are as immediately recognizable in their own way as Elvis or Alice Cooper.

Still recording new albums (there was one in 2022) and performing, Charlie and Craig broke through with the upbeat “I’m On My Way” – “I’m on my way, from misery to happiness today” – and the single “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” from the 1987 album “Sunshine on Leith,” named for their hometown (the port of Edinburgh), which was an accomplished effort that belied the outsized status of the two signature singles.

Their second effort to go top of the pops in the UK, the album scored internationally, achieving double platinum status in Canada and later spawning both a play and film.

Meanwhile, ‘500 Miles’ appeared in film soundtracks (including getting second life after being used in “Benny & Joon”) and being covered by several other artists.

For it’s part, “I’m On My Way” was used in “Shrek,” and even inspired a clever Molson Canadian commercial in 2017 in which a late arriving party guest in the US discovers that all the beer is gone, and immediately heads off on a trek across field and stream, and over the international border by boat, to grab a case of coveted Canadian at the Beer Store.

In Canada, the brothers toured with The Barenaked Ladies, who cited the band as an influence.

But enough of this haver… put your hands together for The Proclaimers:

Lyrics

When I wake up, well, I know I’m gonna be
I’m gonna be the man who wakes up next to you
When I go out, yeah, I know I’m gonna be
I’m gonna be the man who goes along with you
If I get drunk, well, I know I’m gonna be
I’m gonna be the man who gets drunk next to you
And if I haver, yeah, I know I’m gonna be
I’m gonna be the man who’s haverin’ to you

But I would walk five hundred miles
And I would walk five hundred more
Just to be the man who walked a thousand
Miles to fall down at your door

When I’m workin’, yes, I know I’m gonna be
I’m gonna be the man who’s workin’ hard for you
And when the money comes in for the work I do
I’ll pass almost every penny on to you
When I come home (When I come home), oh, I know I’m gonna be
I’m gonna be the man who comes back home to you
And if I grow old, well, I know I’m gonna be
I’m gonna be the man who’s growin’ old with you

But I would walk five hundred miles
And I would walk five hundred more
Just to be the man who walked a thousand
Miles to fall down at your door

Da-da da da (Da-da da da)
Da-da da da (Da-da da da)
Da-da dum diddy dum diddy dum diddy da da da
Da-da da da (Da-da da da)
Da-da da da (Da-da da da)
Da-da dum diddy dum diddy dum diddy da da da

When I’m lonely, well, I know I’m gonna be
I’m gonna be the man who’s lonely without you
And when I’m dreamin’, well, I know I’m gonna dream
I’m gonna dream about the time when I’m with you
When I go out (When I go out), well, I know I’m gonna be
I’m gonna be the man who goes along with you
And when I come home (when I come home), yes, I know I’m gonna be
I’m gonna be the man who comes back home with you
I’m gonna be the man who’s comin’ home with you

But I would walk five hundred miles
And I would walk five hundred more
Just to be the man who walked a thousand
Miles to fall down at your door