WATCH: Sam Fender reveals how his Dead Boys track saved man's life
13 April 2020, 12:30 | Updated: 13 April 2020, 12:31
The singer-songwriter spoke to Radio X's John Kennedy about the poignant track on his debut album, Hypersonic Missiles in a special track-by-track playback and how it saved a man's life.
Sam Fender has revealed how his Dead Boys single saved a suicidal man's life.
The North Shields singer-songwriter spoke to Radio X's John Kennedy in a special album playback about the fourth track on his Hypersonic Missiles album, which tackles the important subject of male suicide.
Watch our full clip of the discussion above.
Talking about the impact of Dead Boys, Fender mused: "It's definitely done more good than it did bad.
"There was a guy who was on his way to kill himself and he was driving his car. He was going to drive his car off the road and I was on [the radio] and doing a chat about Dead Boys and singing a song and [the presenter] got an email six months later and I got tied into the email as well, and it was basically saying that he heard what was on the radio and because of that chat on the show he pulled over, cried his eyes out, went home to his wife and said he needed help..."
"Purely because there was just this one moment where someone acknowledged [...] or he just heard something that changed his mind. Sometimes that's all it can take. Just one little thing that can snap you out of that moment I think."
The Play God singer continued: "And he came to a show six months later. I met him and I had no idea what to say to him. Obviously I'm not a doctor and I'm not a therapist, and I'm never going to overestimate the clout of my job. I'm a singer-songwriter.
"I'm primarily here to entertain people. That is my job. I'm here to make people's lives a bit easier [...] but there's these tiny little moments in my career that have gave it a little bit more clout than I ever thought it would have. And for a split second it wasn't this self-serving vacuous job that it can be, 'cause it can make you feel so self-centred."
Fender concluded: "There's moments like that that make you think, 'you know what, maybe this has more meaning to it than I thought it did'".
READ MORE: Richard Ashcroft Responds To Fan Who Says His Music Prevented His Suicide
Speaking about the heartbreaking inspiration for the track, he revealed: "I wrote that song purely as a reaction to losing a mate to suicide, and I didn't want to release it for ages because I didn't want to be seen as capitalising on a tragedy or using suicide as a way to be controversial.
"So for ages I didn't know whether to release it or not and then I just kind of played it to my internal team kind of opened up about it. And people who I worked with who I never knew had experienced suicide would be like, 'my dad took his life when I was a kid".
He added: "And it kind of just highlighted that not many people talk about it, that there's still a lot of stigma involved. And then because experiencing it, and I knew people In my home town had done it, you became more sensitive to it to the point where the stats and all of that were starting to make sense."
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
HEADS TOGETHER
Too often, people feel afraid to admit that they are struggling with their mental health. This fear of prejudice and judgement stops people from getting help and can destroy families and end lives.
Heads Together wants to help people feel much more comfortable with their everyday mental wellbeing and have the practical tools to support their friends and family.
One of their partners is the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM), an award-winning charity dedicated to preventing male suicide, the single biggest killer of men under the age of 45 in the UK.
In 2015, 75% of all UK suicides were male.CALM offers support to men in the UK, of any age, who are down or in crisis via our helpline, webchat and website. www.thecalmzone.net
NATIONWIDE: 0800 58 58 58
LONDON: 0808 802 58 58
Calls are free from landlines, payphones and all mobiles.
For more on Heads Together, see www.headstogether.org.uk
Worried about someone?Click here: https://www.thecalmzone.net/help/worried-about-someone/
Sam Fender - Hypersonic Missiles tracklisting:
1. Hypersonic Missiles
2. The Borders
3. White Privilege
4. Dead Boys
5. You’re Not The Only One
6. Play God
7. That Sound
8. Saturday
9. Will We Talk?
10. Two People
11. Call Me Lover
12. Leave Fast
13. Use (live)
Watch the full track-by-track here:
