Sam Fender on the Seventeen Going Under TikTok trend: "I was so moved"

11 December 2021, 11:00

Sam Fender performing at Alexandra Palace, November 2021. Picture: Gus Stewart/Redferns/Getty Images

The singer-songwriter has told how the social media platform gave him a whole new audience.

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By Radio X

Sam Fender has revealed that the recent trend featuring his song Seventeen Going Under on TikTok moved him.

The song, which is the title track of the North Shields singer's second studio album, went viral on the video platform when fans began to use the lyrics to depict their own personal tales of abuse and mistreatment.

The lines: "I was far too scared to hit him/But I would hit him in a heartbeat now/That's the thing with anger/It begs to stick around" were played alongside before and after shots of users.

The effect has been humbling on Fender. He told the NME this week: “It’s been wonderful. To see all of the kids who were using Seventeen as a soundtrack to them talking about trauma that they’ve overcome or abuse situations."

More: The heartbreaking story of Sam Fender's Seventeen Going Under TikTok success

"I was so moved by these clips. I was like, ‘How has someone hit us in the heart in just 15 seconds?’ It was such a powerful thing to see, and there were so many of them.”

Sam explained how the track appeared on the platform in the first place, saying: "I ended up on TikTok because the label said so. That’s where everything is.

"Even at 27, I was like ‘I feel canny old on this platform', you know? I’ve kind of warmed to it, because it got us a top 10 single."

NME have named Fender's Seventeen Going Under as their No 1 album of 2021.

Sam Fender - Seventeen Going Under (Official Video)

Earlier this year, Sam told Radio X's John Kennedy how many of the themes behind the album came about: "I did a bit of therapy. That's what made it happen. I did a bit of therapy and you know, they make you chat about being a kid and all that.

"And there's a lot of things that you kind of pass off as insignificant moments of your life that turn out to be quite poignant things that happen and how it it affects and shapes your character when you get older..."