Songfacts®:

• The North Star is a bright star in the constellation Ursa Minor that navigators have long used as a guide to determine their direction. The stellar object is often used as a metaphor for a guiding principle or ideal.
  
  Amazons frontman John Thomson wrote this touching acoustic number about the influence his girlfriend has had on him. "'Northern Star' is someone who shoulders the load and gives you direction and can grab you by the scruff of the neck and pull you through situations," Thomson told Apple Music. "I feel lucky to have a couple of those people in my life."
• Thomson's original idea came from the idea of a lodestar, which is used to refer to someone who is a role model, but in literal terms is the leading star used to guide the course of a ship. The word "lodestar" comes from the Middle English term "lode star," which was used to refer to the North Star.
  
  As Lodestar "isn't necessarily the easiest, nicest thing to say," he titled the song "Northern Star."
• Thomson wrote "Northern Star" during lockdown and sent it to his girlfriend, who lives in LA. "It wasn't originally meant for the band at all," he told The Sun. "We haven't typically written songs that vulnerable. It was only through her encouragement that I shared it with the band, who loved it and said they wanted to work on it."
• The Amazons recorded "Northern Star" for How Will I Know if Heaven Will Find Me. Produced by Jim Abbiss (Arctic Monkeys' Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, Adele's 19, and 21), the album reached #5 in the UK, the band's first Top 5 record.
• The North Star, also known as Polaris or Pole Star, has been a source of inspiration for many songs throughout history. Here are three more examples of songs inspired by the North Star:
  
  1978 "Right Down The Line" by Gerry Rafferty. The singer compares his wife who stuck by him through thick and thin to the North Star. He sings, "You've been as constant as a Northern Star, The brightest light that shines."
  
  2017 "North Star" by Future Islands. Stuck in Baltimore because of a snowstorm, Future Islands frontman Samuel Herring cannot fly to his lover. He decides to drive across the country to be with her. The North Star doesn't appear in the lyrics but it represents a symbol of hope and direction.
  
  2018 "Patricia" by Florence + The Machine is an homage to Patti Smith. Florence Welch likens the American singer-songwriter to the North Star, saying both have guided her on her way and have been a constant presence in her life.