Songfacts®:

• The song is a commentary on environmental issues. Jim Kerr said in NME February 4, 1989: "There's one called 'This Is Your Land,' which might sound terribly contrived, but it's probably because we've been up here recording it amongst the very elements, the mountains, the sea the sky. You see all this and then you see the nuclear submarines passing your window. It's obscene, and people should take charge of their land and not let it happen."
• This features backing vocals from Lou Reed, a hero of the band. "We managed to sort of coerce him into coming down to the studio and singing on one of our songs," Jim Kerr said in a Songfacts interview. "I was terrified because I'd also heard these stories, and you could see he had that look. If anyone had told you he was difficult, it wouldn't have been hard to imagine, just by his look. And so, I was terrified. But, in fact, he couldn't have been sweeter."
• This was chosen as the first single off the album in the States, however it failed to make the pop charts there. In the UK it was the follow up to the chart topping "Belfast Child."