“Leave Fast or Stay Forever”: Sam Fender’s Forgotten Classic

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With three albums, one EP and a litany of excellent B-sides, Sam Fender has built-up a stellar discography. Throughout his music, Fender, above all else, details his life and feelings about the North East of England.

Whether that be the deaths of close friends in Dead Boys, the struggles of his mother and himself in Seventeen Going Under or even the detailing of a collapsing relationship in Rein Me In, as of writing his biggest hit (due in no small part to the duet with megastar Olivia Dean).

Photo by Polydor Records

In the 1950s, a movement began amongst working class playwrights, novelists and eventually film-makers (with the British New Wave). They became termed the ‘angry young men’.

Dissatisfied with their working class status and the stagnation of their life, these works of art often saw young men rebelling against their surroundings and the status quo, also often termed as ‘Kitchen Sink Dramas’, due to their location often surrounding the kitchen/houses of working and lower class characters. This artistic movement has influenced a considerable amount of British art for the ensuing decades.

Fender’s work itself can be evaluated as ‘kitchen-sink rock’, due to his explorations of the struggles and wider lives of the working class in modern Britain. As Sam Fender’s sound and lyricism has matured across his three records, some of his strongest and most rebellious work has fallen away from setlists and popular favour.

While he still fits the stated mould of an ‘angry-young man’ as an artist, his earliest singles that were imbued with rage at the status quo, have given way to more nuanced and focused lyricism.

His early works see Fender seething at multiple targets, from fake aesthetical lives he takes aim at in Poundshop Kardashians, an incredibly underrated single bemoaning the social media age and the phoniness it has brought on. Or the inner rage he feels and the toxic masculinity of his youth, explored in ‘Friday Fighting’.

These forgotten classics would almost seem out of place amongst his newest work, not just because of their heavier sound, but because of the bubbling rage Fender delivers his scathing lines.

A closer look at ‘Leave Fast’

But amongst the collection of forgotten classics, one song stands tall: Leave Fast. A more soulful ballad than the aforementioned songs and dedicated to North Tyneside and the wider North East itself, the song is still imbued with a youthful angst. This time with the pen aimed firmly at the government as well as his frustrations of feeling trapped in a declining and decaying northern town.

Originally featuring on the Dead Boys EP and later his debut album Hypersonic Missiles, Leave Fast is one of Fender’s slowest tracks and a departure from his usual storytelling style lyricism, deviating to instead paint a picture of coastal North Tyneside, which in the late 2010’s was very much in a state of decline.

Leave Fast stands out as a beautiful song filled with emotion and heartbreak, remaining a forgotten classic due to both its musical quality and its unspoken resonance across the rest of Fender’s discography. The themes from the song resonate deeply across all of Fender’s future musings on his North East life.

The scathing critiques of the government and the effects of growing up in a deprived town that run through Leave Fast reappear across the entirety of Fender’s next album, Seventeen Going Under. Similarly, Fender explores his sense of nostalgic longing and complex relationship with his hometown throughout his third album, People Watching, while an overall sense of entrapment and indebtment to the region runs through all of his work.

The tumultuous relationship Fender shares with North Shields and the wider North Tyneside region has always been prominent in his work, but it is within Leave Fast where his hypercritical lyricism begins its more focused function.

Photo by Beth Dennett

A legacy through Fender’s discography

How does the song set the stage thematically for Fender’s work? The song opens on a bleak note. “Dark grey vistas of this weathered place” resonates with me as a born North Tynesider. I know the grey, rainy skies all too well.

Fender conjures nostalgic images of kids freezing their lungs on rolling dunes. He also details decay through boarded-up windows and empty night clubs. This blend paints an austere picture of North Tyneside in the late 2010s. Leave Fast explores these recurring themes concurrently for the first time. The track also introduces Fender’s guilt regarding his privilege. He reflects on being a “selfish little baby” watching people die in the cold.

Everything builds to a powerful chorus. The sense of entrapment reaches a crescendo with a heart-aching refrain. Aspirational North East locals painfully relate to the warning to leave fast or stay forever. The chorus captures the feeling of entrapment in struggling towns. Fender sings in a pained tone far removed from his usual rock vocals. His high voice conveys the complex emotion of loving and hating your home.

The verses paint a visceral picture of these deprived surroundings. Fender’s vocals fade into humming and a sanguine guitar solo, offering time for rumination. Much of Fender’s work guides listeners through kitchen-sink stories. Leave Fast departs from this approach by diving deep into his subconscious. This introspection remains an underlying current across his music, but this track lays it bare.

The song acts as a love letter, a cry for help, and an acceptance of fate. A near-hopelessness attaches to the track through its stark delivery. What makes Leave Fast a forgotten classic? Its themes resonate deeply across Fender’s entire discography.

Follow-up album Seventeen Going Under dives deeper into his upbringing. Fender admitted the record dug into his experiences as a struggling youth. Anger over governmental abandonment forms a recurring core across his second album. The title track exemplifies this by detailing childhood issues and his mother’s financial struggles. The song acts as a direct sequel to Leave Fast.

Themes of neglect, coastal nostalgia, and hopelessness drive the record. Tracks like “The Dying Light,” “Spit of You,” and “Get You Down” explore these exact ideas. Seventeen Going Under shows Fender maturing into an introspective songwriter. That shift finds its firmest roots in Leave Fast, which functions as its narrative predecessor.

Photo by Amos Menin

A change of perspective

What happens when you shoot to superstardom and leave your hometown? What happens when you leave working-class life behind? The album People Watching explores Fender moving to the other side of the glass. He leaves the working class and enters the celebrity class.

He now plays stadium tours and scores number-one albums. The artist from Hypersonic Missiles ranks among the UK’s top musicians. Separated from working-class life, Fender now watches those he used to share life with. Guilt over his privilege surface across several new songs.

In “Crumbling Empire” and “Something Heavy,” Fender ruminates on his hometown and the country’s state. One line in “Crumbling Empire” captures this new perspective: “I don’t wear the shoes I used to walk in.” This line demonstrates his disconnect from his former life.

Fender uses lyricism to explore both himself and outside influences. This introspection remains one of his strongest qualities. This honesty keeps the album from sounding out of touch. In “Crumbling Empire,” he sings, “I’m not preaching, I’m just asking.” He simply reckons with his changing life.

People Watching shows Fender fulfilling the old man’s advice to leave fast. The album deals with the consequences of leaving. The record answers the themes of Leave Fast from a new perspective. Fender is no longer trapped on the losing end. Now on the other side of the glass, he watches his town suffer. In the title track, he sings about watching the whole town fall. Fender feels deeper despair because his success cannot save those around him. Instead, he drifts further away from them.

He explores political anger and nostalgia in “Nostalgia’s Lie.” He asks to go back somewhere he feels safe. This line reveals his discomfort as an outsider. Leave Fast stands as a forgotten classic because its themes contrast directly with People Watching. The new record answers the old man’s advice. It confronts the aftermath of trading his hometown for superstardom.

These enduring themes make Leave Fast one of Fender’s most important songs. As Hypersonic Missiles turns seven, older tracks fall off setlists. Leave Fast has only been played once in six years.

As Fender matures, his early, youthful anger will be intriguing to watch. Other forgotten classics may soon influence his newer, sleeker output.

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