Sam Fender jokes label tell him to "stop being so f**ing miserable"

9 November 2021, 20:59

By Rachel Finn

The Seventeen Going Under singer has revealed that his label want him to write some happier tracks.

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Sam Fender has joked his record label keeps telling him to "stop being so f***ing miserable".

The Geordie rocker admitted in a new interview that he finds happy songs too boring and would much rather take inspiration from groups like ABBA - despite claiming his label would like him to write more upbeat tracks.

Speaking to Total Guitar magazine, Sam said: "[My label] do sometimes say, 'Sam stop being so f** miserable, write us something a bit happier!'

"But I do yearning and hopeful, not happy, because happy is boring. I like what ABBA do, which is sad lyrics and uplifting music."

Explaining how bands like ABBA manage to tackle sad topics while still making upbeat songs, Sam added: "You can learn as much from ABBA as you can from The Beatles. They were absolute genius songwriters."

The Seventeen Going Under rocker also said he was inspired by the music of Bruce Springsteen and has cited the lyrics from songs like Jungleland as ways of being "romantic" in their simplicity.

"Some of my favourite Springsteen lyrics are purely descriptions," he explained. No metaphor, no meaning, just 'Barefoot girl sitting on the hood of a Dodge drinking warm beer in the soft summer rain

"Immediately, you're there, and it's romantic. The vast majority of popular music now isn't that kind of descriptive songwriting. I think the reason I'm getting any recognition is because people are missing that."

He also paid tribute to the likes of Luka by Suzanne Vega and Fast Car by Tracy Chapman, arguing that you don't get that type of songwriting in pop music nowadays.

"The only time you get it in popular British music is in the grime and hip-hop side," mused Fender. "Writers like Kendrick Lamar - the explanation of their surroundings is so real and visceral.

"But with pop music now, a lot of the ballady songs are, 'I love you, you don't love me', or 'I love you and you love me and it's very nice'.

"And sex has always been a thing - there's a lot of people trying to be the most provocative at the moment."