Sam Fender’s New Single “People Watching” Explores Grief for a Mentor

Sam Fender has discussed how the passing of a “very close” friend and mentor served as the inspiration for his latest single. The singer identified “People Watching” as being about Annie Orwin, whom he characterized as “a surrogate mother in a lot of ways.” He informed BBC Radio 1’s Jack Saunders that the song was conceived during his walks to and from the care home where Annie passed away last year. Fender mentioned that Annie “always used to complain about me not ever mentioning her,” but he expressed hope that he has now “repaid her” with the single. He added, “I hope she’s up there thinking, ‘about time, kid’.” “People Watching” is the title single from the North Shields singer’s forthcoming third album. His previous albums, “Hypersonic Missiles” (2019) and “Seventeen Going Under” (released in 2021), both reached the top of the UK charts, with the latter also being shortlisted for the Mercury Prize. Sam Fender credited Annie with providing him the confidence to perform on stage. However, he recounted to Radio 1 that “she was always like, ‘why haven’t you mentioned us in your acceptance speech? “I taught you everything.”She always used to guilt trip us about it’.” Annie was an actress who for 17 years starred in “Byker Grove,” a coming-of-age drama centered on a Newcastle youth centre that aired from 1989 to 2006. Her character portrayed a foster carer. Her agent, who characterized Annie as “a force to be reckoned with,” stated that following her acting role, she transitioned into teaching and mentoring within the north east region. In the single, Sam sings of a promise to remove Annie from the care home where she passed away, a place he describes as “falling to bits and understaffed.” He confirmed he was present with Annie at the time of her death, an event alluded to in the song with the lyric: “I stayed all night till you left this life cos that’s just love.” He conveyed to Radio 1, “It’s just a song about how much I love her really and how much I respected her. “She was larger than life, so I felt like she needed something that was soaring’.” The track resonated with listeners, including a fan named Enqruita, who informed BBC Newsbeat that it aided her in reconnecting with the grief she experienced following her grandmother’s death two years prior. She stated, “When I listened to it, it made me cry.” Enqruita added, “Grief is something we’ve all been through and the fact Sam is so brave so share this, it makes you feel like you’re not alone, that you’re not the only one who feels this pain. “I feel like it made me heal a part of myself I didn’t know needed to be healed’.” Sam Fender indicated that “People Watching” was the final song composed for the album. He mentioned that around the period of Annie’s death, he was nearing completion of the album but subsequently “wrote a load of new songs,” among them the new single. He remarked, “It ended up being one of the most euphoric tracks on the album, I think.” He concluded, “It made sense, it’s about Annie.” He stated that the album, scheduled for a full release in February, is “more outward-pointing than Seventeen Going Under was,” characterizing it as “a collection of stories.” He elaborated, “It’s about people I know and my hometown and [People Watching] felt like a great title.”