Shake It Loose

Album: The Roosevelt Sessions (2022)
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Songfacts®:

  • Taking a cue from Taylor Swift, Fun Lovin' Criminals cast off their pressures and doubts in this song.

    The group formed in 1993 with Huey Morgan, a former Marine, as their lead singer. A clever lyricist and charismatic frontman, he helped the band earn a solid following in Europe, where they had a string of hits ("Scooby Snacks" and "Loco" among them) and became a popular live draw. Morgan even got his own radio show on the BBC.

    In 2021, Morgan left the band, leaving a hole that seemed impossible to fill. But as Pink Floyd did when Roger Waters abandoned ship, the band found a way forward, with co-founder Brian "Fast" Leiser - the beat maker/multi-instrumentalist in the group - taking over on vocals. This song deals with that transition.

    "Our friends heard it and thought we wrote that song about Huey," Leiser told Songfacts. "Nah. Over the past few years, everybody has gone through some sort of s--t with what's going on in the world, and for us, that song is more about how it affected our mental health. You look for the good in everything, but how can you do that with what's been going on the past few years? You just have to shake it loose, shake that monkey off your back."

    "The whole point is that we're supposed to be one human family," he added. "There's always a wealth of information and resources there to help people through any problems, so that's just our version of it. We put it in a song."
  • Fun Lovin' Criminals are from New York City but are far more popular in Europe. They put out six albums between 1996 and 2010, but recorded only sporadically the next decade. In 2022, with their new lineup that also included Naim Cortazzi on guitar, they issued an EP called The Roosevelt Sessions, which includes this track. That year, they also returned to America for a tour.

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