All My Famous Friends

Album: Secrets I'll Never Tell (2021)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • There was a time when our screens were filled with celebrities and other famous folks. They still are, but now they're joined about streams of pictures and videos from our friends and family, putting them on the same level. The British singer-songwriter Benedict Cork explores this on "All My Famous Friends," a track from his EP Secrets I'll Never Tell. Cork grew up in the digital age, but spent a lot of time working in a piano bar, which was still very analog.
  • Benedict Cork discussed this song when he was a guest on the Songfacts Podcast, saying: "It's all about social media and how we're living in a very strange time now, where on one hand, having all these devices which connect us to everyone around the world has been such a godsend throughout the pandemic - I've been having monthly Zoom calls with my family in Australia, and I've got family in America as well, and friends around the world - and it's been so amazing to have that and to be able to do that. If we were in lockdown 10 years ago, it would have been so different.

    Yet at the same time, we've all been living our lives online, and I'd say that song came out of the dark side of social media and how it can become quite overwhelming. At times it feels like everybody is sort of famous in their own lives and they're curating their own TV shows every day with photos and videos all filtered and carefully selected to paint this idea of what we all are. I do it as well and I'm really trying not to these days more and more because I want to just live my life truthfully. So, if I'm having a bad day, I'll just say it, and if I'm having a great day, I'll try not to over-egg it so that other people who are having a bad day don't feel worse because of that. So I'm just trying to live as authentically as possible. That song was kind of born out of that feeling."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Randy Houser

Randy HouserSongwriter Interviews

The "How Country Feels" singer talks Skynyrd and songwriting.

Gilby Clarke

Gilby ClarkeSongwriter Interviews

The Guns N' Roses rhythm guitarist in the early '90s, Gilby talks about the band's implosion and the side projects it spawned.

Subversive Songs Used To Sell

Subversive Songs Used To SellSong Writing

Songs about drugs, revolution and greed that have been used in commercials for sneakers, jeans, fast food, cruises and cars.

Tom Bailey of Thompson Twins

Tom Bailey of Thompson TwinsSongwriter Interviews

Tom stopped performing Thompson Twins songs in 1987, in part because of their personal nature: "Hold Me Now" came after an argument with his bandmate/girlfriend Alannah Currie.

Krishna Das

Krishna DasSongwriter Interviews

The top chant artist in the Western world, Krishna Das talks about how these Hindu mantras compare to Christian worship songs.

What Musicians Are Related to Other Musicians?

What Musicians Are Related to Other Musicians?Song Writing

A big list of musical marriages and family relations ranging from the simple to the truly dysfunctional.