Song Stories: Sam Fender: People Watching
Sam Fender is one of the very best musicians in the UK right now, he is an excellent guitar player, his unique voice have sound tracked working class anthems but his biggest strength firmly lies with his story telling.
You can hear this throughout his career, from the early single "Dead Boys" which talked about the high numbers of male suicide in his home town of North Shields, through to "Hypersonic Missiles" which saw Sam ask questions of the current state of the world. Second album "Seventeen Going Under" is where this story telling really came to life, it's an album gull of vivid coming of age tales, that immersed the listener into the story, setting the scene of the quite often harrowing tales he was writing about. Whether that be the albums title track talking about his mother, and the DWP. Or "Spit of You" which talked about his, and many lads relationships with their dads.
Three years since the release of that record, the talent hasn't gone away. The Sam Fender spark is still burning bright.
"People Watching" is a classic Sam Fender song although he seeked help from across the pond. The song was produced in in LA with The War On Drugs’ Adam Granduciel. This is another tale from Shields.
A euphoric five minute epic, that will open Sam's forthcoming third album of the same name. Sam has revealed that the song is about “somebody that was like a surrogate mother to me and passed away last November. I was by her side at the end, slept on a chair next to her. It’s about what was going through my head, to and from that place and home,”
“It’s kind of ironic because she was the one that gave me the confidence to go on stage, and always used to be like ‘why haven’t you mentioned my name in your acceptance speech’. But now an entire song (and album) connects to her. I hope that wherever she is now she’s looking down saying ‘about time kid’.”
This is not the first time Sam has tackled grief in his songs he has done this a few times. "Dead Boys", "Spit of You" and "The Dying Light" but this one is on a much more personal level. Its raw and powerful, and a real heartfelt tribute to Annie Orwin. He tackles the memories he has with the person he has lost, and how he now feels vulnerable due to the loss.
“Used to feel so invincible / I used to feel there was a world worth dreaming of."
In the songs second verse, he also depicts the care home the loved one was in. The one he strived to get her out of. “Understaffed and overruled by callous hands”.
It's a depiction of the grim nature of the care system in the UK, and talks about a reality faced by not just himself but millions of others.
The standout line of the song for me is this one. "Oh I fear for this crippled island, and the turmoil of the times."
It's Sam at his most political, and at his best. Weaved into a loving tribute to someone close to him. It's a juxtaposition that catches the listener off guard, but it's a poignant line that leaves more questions than answers.
The song is driving an expansive, and The War on Drugs influence is definitely visible but not overpowering, it's very much a Sam Fender song. It kicks off the road to the third album strongly, he has stuck to his guns, and made a very heartfelt tribute to someone close to him Although firmly a stadium artist, he hasn't fallen into the stadium rock trap. He has stuck to what he is best at. If the rest of "People Watching" follows suit, Sam could be on for another world beater.
Thank you for reading x
Jack