Oh My God Please

Album: To Carry A Whale (2021)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • At the start of 2020, Benjamin Francis Leftwich had a conversation about songwriting with a publisher at BMG. She introduced him to Sam Duckworth (aka Get Cape Wear Cape Fly) and the pair hit it off straight away. Within a few hours of meeting each other, they headed to the studio. The first song they came up with was this tune about their understanding of faith in God.
  • Leftwich told DIY magazine he already had a semi-jokey country idea that he was working on and he played it to Duckworth. They both realized there was something in it and came up with a worship song that isn't objectively religious. "We felt it was an honest representation of a human asking for help from something they can't see, in a moment of desperation or surrender," Leftwich said.
  • Leftwich recorded the song for his fourth full-length album, To Carry A Whale. The title came from an idea he came up with midway through 2019. Leftwich was at his girlfriend's house in Liverpool, playing on a family piano, when the phrase "to carry a whale" entered his head. He didn't end up using the song idea, but loved the title.
  • Leftwich told The Sun newspaper the album title is an observation on what it's like to be a sober alcoholic addict in recovery. A whale is heavy to carry, but also beautiful, "and it needs an eye kept on it because if not, it will jump up and squash me."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Facebook, Bromance and Email - The First Songs To Use New Words

Facebook, Bromance and Email - The First Songs To Use New WordsSong Writing

Where words like "email," "thirsty," "Twitter" and "gangsta" first showed up in songs, and which songs popularized them.

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie Combination

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie CombinationSong Writing

In 1986, a Stephen King novella was made into a movie, with a classic song serving as title, soundtrack and tone.

Adele

AdeleFact or Fiction

Despite her reticent personality, Adele's life and music are filled with intrigue. See if you can spot the true tales.

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"Songwriter Interviews

Ian talks about his 3 or 4 blatant attempts to write a pop song, and also the ones he most connected with, including "Locomotive Breath."

John Lee Hooker

John Lee HookerSongwriter Interviews

Into the vaults for Bruce Pollock's 1984 conversation with the esteemed bluesman. Hooker talks about transforming a Tony Bennett classic and why you don't have to be sad and lonely to write the blues.

Al Jourgensen of Ministry

Al Jourgensen of MinistrySongwriter Interviews

In the name of song explanation, Al talks about scoring heroin for William Burroughs, and that's not even the most shocking story in this one.