Rein Me In – What's It All About?

More Festivals, More Castles and The End Of The Monoculture

I’ve had the busiest of summers, the busiest since starting this blog but as of now I have four straight weeks at home until the next big adventure. Looking forward to it as I do like my usual routine and it has been supremely compromised of late, in a good way of course.

Last time I wrote about my first trip to a music festival, held on a farm. This week I went to the biggest arts festival in the world, held right in the centre of our capital city, Edinburgh. We’ve now done this three years in a row – headed down early in the morning, met our friends, had a nice lunch, taken in two shows and a few street performances, then headed home in the evening. To stay over in Edinburgh during the festival is nigh impossible nowadays due to the high cost of accommodation and the fact it’s booked up years in advance. Shame for all the performers as they are now being priced out of coming, and have to bunk up with many others or worse still camp, but Edinburgh is often where they start out and a good run there could lead to great things down the line. The Edinburgh Fringe Festival has given many stars their big break, including Alan Rickman, Richard Gadd, Steve Coogan (debuting Alan Partridge), Phoebe Waller Bridge (Fleabag) and Lee Mack.

*Audience participation on Victoria Street*

The first show we went to see was called CSI: Crime Scene Improvisation where the cast have to make everything up on the spot based on suggestions from the audience. They have to be quick-thinking indeed, and we do eventually end up with a killer, but every show is different so it must be fairly exhausting to perform. The second show was by a satirical comedian called, Michael Spicer. I hadn’t heard of him before although he seems to have won many awards for his video series, The Room Next Door. Very funny indeed and of all the shows we’ve seen over the last three years I decided his was the one I enjoyed the most.

As for the castle I visited this week, it was the one that starred in the first season of the hit television drama Outlander, which I’ve written about here several times (there is even a category for it on my sidebar). I go for a walk every Friday with my lovely friend Eve, and every summer we have a bit of a jolly and do something touristy in our own back yard. Castle Leod is only about 15 miles from home and not often open to the public, so this week we grabbed the chance to visit, when it did just that.

Although the castle was the setting for the Outlander scenes featuring the Clan MacKenzie, for logistical purposes it seems the filming took place elsewhere, but if you’ve watched the series you’ll know how it all fits in to the drama. You’ll also know that the theme song makes use of the music to the Skye Boat Song, which was given a 21st century makeover by Bear McCreary. The lyrics, taken from the Robert Louis Stevenson poem, Sing Me a Song of a Lad That Is Gone, were adapted to fit the storyline and are performed by Raya Yarbrough. Outlander has developed a cult following and no doubt many visitors to the castle are fans. It’s an unusual wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey, historical-romance drama where the female lead, an Irishwoman, plays a very convincing Englishwoman and the male lead, a Scotsman, plays a very unconvincing Scotsman (sorry Sam, but it seems your natural Scottish accent was just a bit too soft and formal for playing an 18th century Jacobite).

As ever I get side-tracked by what I’ve been up to since last week, but I do have a very music-centred topic I want to discuss this time. If you follow this blog you will know that I’ve started following the UK Singles Chart again after many years of abstinence, as I had lost track of who all the runners and riders were. I’m now much more informed about the current crop of successful artists (in terms of sales/downloads/streams) so this year I promised to update you all on who was at the No. 1 spot whenever it changed, as I know few people of my vintage follow such things nowadays.

Little did I know back in January that 2026 would prove to be a most unusual year with the song currently at the No. 1 spot having now been there for a record-breaking 21 weeks. First it broke the 15 week record set by Wet, Wet, Wet back in 1994, then the 16 week record set by Bryan Adams in 1991 and finally the 18 week record set by Frankie Laine way back in 1953, when the chart was still in its infancy. I’m talking of course about Rein Me In, the song by Sam Fender, recorded as a collaboration with Olivia Dean last year. I’ve shared it around here before but I probably need to share it again, in case you don’t know it.

Rein Me In by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean:

I read an interesting article this week about how it would have been inconceivable back in the days of Top Of The Pops, that so many people in the UK seem not to have ever heard this record-breaking song (see the comments on the YouTube version of the clip). The “Monoculture”, defined as the concept of a shared cultural experience among the masses, through listening to the same songs on the radio, watching the same films or television channels, seems to have ended in the early 21st century, due to the rise of streaming media and the fracturing of popular culture. I know we were all talking about Debbie Harry the next day at school after seeing her on TOTP in 1978, and then there was the whole frenzy over who shot JR, on Dallas in 1980.

I think that’s why I like writing this blog, as by revisiting the tracks of my years (predominantly songs from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s), I know there are a lot of people out there of my age who will have very similar memories of those times. When I still went to work every day, I enjoyed comparing notes with people about what they’d watched on telly the night before, but latterly it was really hard to find someone who had watched the same thing at the same time. Nowadays, DD rarely even goes into the office, choosing to work from home instead so even less opportunity for that shared experience. Yes, we have so much more choice nowadays and so many songs instantly at our disposal but I do miss the days of less choice and a more unifying experience.

Until next time…

Rein Me In Lyrics
(Song by Sam Fender)

I let go of everythin’ I ever had
‘Cause I couldn’t give the love you deserved
By The Gunner, you shouted, “Oh, my God”
It seemed churlish, but it’s what I was owed, I suppose

Every flagstone of this town bears our prints
And all the bars ’round here serve my ghosts and carcasses
I wish I knew these things when I was young
‘Cause now I’ve just gone so numb

We take whatever we can to get the reason back
So, please, don’t rein me in
Don’t rein me in
Please, don’t rein me in

I’m workin’ myself up to a nice, warm bliss
All my memories of you ring like tinnitus
If I stop, it’s just pain
Please, don’t rein me in

There’s nothin’ brave in walkin’ alone
Love in exile has nowhere to go, so come on home
Mm-mm, don’t run away from my tenderness
You’re so afraid of that heart inside of your chest

We were doin’ so well, but you were scared to be held
Took the easiest way out
I see the tears of a man too proud to reach for a hand
Oh, let my love keep you safe now

So, please don’t
Don’t rein me in
Please, don’t rein me in

Now I’m working myself up to a nice, warm bliss
All my memories of you ring like tinnitus
If I stop, it’s just pain
Please, don’t rein me in

And I’m, I’m stood here chewin’ everyone’s lugs off
Telling everybody how much I – it up
Telling everybody how much I – it up
Telling everybody but you, how much I – it up

Slow down (don’t rein me in)
Slow down (don’t rein me in)
Don’t

And I’m workin’ myself up to a nice, warm bliss
All my memories of you ring like tinnitus
If I stop, it’s just pain
Please, don’t rein me in

Now I’m workin’ myself up to a nice, warm bliss (workin’ myself)
All my memories of you ring like tinnitus (my memories of you)
If I stop, it’s just pain
Please, don’t rein me in

A New Appreciation For Sam Fender and “Seventeen Going Under”

For those of you following my updates as to what is currently at the top of the UK Singles Chart, I haven’t had to do that for a while as the Sam Fender / Olivia Dean collaboration, Rein Me In, has reigned supreme (pun intended) for seven of the last eight weeks. It only slipped to the No. 2 spot in mid-March, the week Harry Styles’ new album came out, when his song, American Girls, (very similar to his previous No. 1, Aperture) made the top spot before promptly dropping down the chart again.

Rein Me In is Sam’s first chart topper, maybe made possible because of his collaboration with Olivia, the lady of the moment. The song blends indie rock with modern soul influences; Sam’s signature anthemic guitar sound and Olivia’s smooth, expressive vocals. I was pleased to hear DD recently chose it as the sign-off song, for her work Friday “Teams Meeting”.

Talking of Harry Styles and Olivia Dean, I had intended today’s post to be about how modern day pop stars don’t seem to have to put in the graft nowadays, as artists used to in days gone by, but can become an instant success via – reality tv shows (Harry), graduating from the Brit School (Olivia), being YouTube/TikTok sensations or having rich parents willing to subsidise their efforts. I suspected Sam Fender must have had a similar leg-up but once I looked into his backstory a bit more I realised I couldn’t have been more wrong.

He has been dubbed the British Bruce Springsteen and I can see why. Born and raised in a small terraced house in North Shields, Sam says the first 10 years of his life were comfortable being part of a musical family. His dad Alan is also a singer-songwriter and guitarist, whilst his brother Liam plays the drums. Both musicians performed locally. His late childhood and adolescence were tumultuous however. His mother left when he was eight years old, although he later reconnected with her at age 17, when he was forced out of his house by his stepmother.

From the age of 13, all Sam wanted to do was become a professional musician and at age 14 he started to write his own songs. His brother introduced him to Bruce Springsteen’s album, Born to Run, at age 15, when he also began playing at his brother’s open mic nights. By the age of 17 however, he and his mother were poor and living in a small, crumbling flat on the outskirts of North Shields. Whilst studying, and playing with his new band, Sam also held down two jobs. He had to abandon his A Levels to earn money to help his mother, who had developed a mental illness in addition to her existing fibromyalgia. Eventually, at age 18, Sam began performing paid gigs at pubs and restaurants which is how his manager discovered him and took him on as a client.

So, unlike many others in today’s music industry, no leg-up (although music was probably in his genes via his dad). Sam started off trying to write songs he thought would be popular, as he was desperate to get himself and his mother out of their financial and living situation. However, after a major health scare and facing the possibility of death, he changed his outlook on life. His recovery refocused his songwriting efforts, and he started writing songs for himself. It was from this period he wrote a number of the songs he went on to release. I have found a new appreciation for this one, Seventeen Going Under, as at that time, he really was.

Seventeen Going Under by Sam Fender:

In 2018 Sam was named the BBC’s “Sound of 2018”, and signed to Polydor Records. He won the Critics’ Choice Award at the 2019 Brit Awards and released his debut album, Hypersonic Missiles, which entered the UK Albums Chart at No. 1. His second album, Seventeen Going Under, was released in 2021 and also topped the UK Albums Chart and received a nomination for the 2022 Mercury Prize. In 2022, 2025, and 2026, he won the Brit Award for British Rock/Alternative Act and in October 2025, he was awarded the Mercury Prize for his third studio album, People Watching.

Sam Fender I salute you (and your Geordie accent).

Until next time…

17 Going Under Lyrics
(Song by Sam Fender)

I remember the sickness was forever
I remember snuff videos
Cold Septembers, the distances we covered
The fist fights on the beach, the bizzies round us up
Do it all again next week
An embryonic love
The first time that it scarred
Embarrass yourself for someone
Crying like a child
And the boy who kicked Tom’s head in
Still bugs me now
That’s the thing, it lingers
And claws you when you’re down

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
So it can fleece you of your beauty
And leave you spent with nowt to offer
Makes you hurt the ones who love you

You hurt them like they’re nothing
(Oh, oh)
You hurt them like they’re nothing
(Oh, oh)
You hurt them like they’re nothing
(Oh, oh)

See I spent my teens enraged
Spiralin’ in silence
And I armed myself with a grin
‘Cause I was always the fuckin’ joker
Buried in their humor
Amongst the white noise and boys’ boys
Locker-room talkin’ lads’ lads
Drenched in cheap drink and snide fags
A mirrored picture of my old man
Oh God, the kid’s a dab hand
Canny chanter, but he looks sad

God, the kid looks so sad
God, the kid looks so sad

She said the debt, the debt, the debt
So I thought about shifting gear
And how she wept and wept and wept
Well, luck came and died ’round here
I see my mother
The DWP see a number
She cries on the floor encumbered
I’m seventeen going under

I’m seventeen going under
(Oh, oh)
I’m seventeen going under (oh, oh)
(Oh, oh)
I’m seventeen going under (oh, oh)
(Oh, oh)
I’m seventeen going under (oh, oh)
(Oh, oh)
(Oh)

More Olivia Dean, “Rein Me In” and Spain Comes To The Brits 2026

Maybe it’s because I’m yet again following the UK Music Charts (for the first time in many a year), but I thought last Saturday night’s Brit Awards, held for the first time in Manchester, was a vintage edition. There were many amazing performances and I recognised the names of just about everyone who was nominated for awards.

The Brits is a very polished affair nowadays, far removed from the mayhem and irreverent behaviour of days gone by, but you still get a few glimpses of it, especially from host Jack Whitehall. But I suppose the music industry is a very polished business nowadays too, with the winners usually alumni from The Brit School. This year was no exception with the big winner of the night being the lovely Olivia Dean. Her The Art Of Loving album has been either near, or at the top of the UK Album Chart since last October. If you like a story song or something quite raucous, this album is not for you, but it certainly seems to have hit the spot for much of the British public. Here is the song from her award winning album that she performed on the night.

This is what Olivia said about the album in an interview with Elle magazine:

I thought that I would like to write an album reflecting on my understanding of love, the last two years of my life, and everything that’s happened. It’s obviously a topic that a lot of people have written songs about, I’m very aware, but I don’t think that takes away from the importance of it.

So, Olivia won the award for Album Of The Year and lo and behold, she also won the award for Song Of The Year for her collaboration with Sam Fender (who himself won the award for best Alternative/Rock Act, for the second year running). I have been remiss in not updating my followers on what has been at the top of the UK Singles Chart for the last two weeks – well, it’s that very song, Rein Me In.

Four weeks ago I wrote about the Grammys and how both Olivia Dean and Lola Young won awards. Here at the Brits, things followed the same pattern as Lola Young also won an award, this time for Breakthrough Artist. Again, like at the Grammys, an artist singing in Spanish won a big award. This time it wasn’t Bad Bunny, but a genre-defying Spanish pop star called ROSALÍA who won the award for International Artist of the Year and delivered a spectacular performance of her song Berghain, for which she brought out the Heritage Orchestra and Björk, who was making her first appearance at The Brit Awards in ten years (at 1:35).

I don’t know about you but I thought that was the performance of the night, and there were plenty this year to choose from. I think we’ll hear a lot more from that particular lady. For the rest of this year’s winners just click on the Brit Awards link at the top of the page.

I’m posting early this week as we’re heading off to Edinburgh tomorrow to meet up with my two ex-flatmates (they are mentioned around here often) and their husbands. Back in the day we were often a party of six, but back then the partners were different. It seems none of the boyfriends morphed into husbands which is probably a good thing. I don’t think any of them follow the charts, or are particularly interested in who won Brit awards this year, but who knows, they might humour me if I give them the lowdown. We did always watch TOTP however and they will remember that I was always the one who rushed home for The Tube on a Friday after work. A great start to the weekend!