Songfacts®:

• James Blunt met the actress Carrie Fisher in 2003 at a restaurant in Notting Hill, London. They were introduced by Blunt's then-girlfriend Dixie Chassay, whose family was friends of Fisher's.
  
  Blunt had just gotten a record deal and was moving to Los Angeles, and Fisher offered him a room in her Beverly Hills home. The two became close, and he asked her to be the godmother to his son. Blunt has spoken fondly of Fisher in interviews, calling her his "best, best friend."
  
  The Star Wars legend died in 2016. Blunt wrote "Dark Thought" about a trip he took to Fisher's house years later.
• Driven by a sudden urge, Blunt made one last visit to Fisher's residence to feel her presence before rushing off to the recording session for Who We Used to Be, despite running late. The English singer takes us on a journey as he drives to Fisher's former Hollywood Hills home. He paints a picture of the "For Sale" sign he noticed in the yard and the chandelier swaying amid the trees in her backyard.
  
  "It took me a long time to find the words because she was so important to me," he professed to American Songwriter. "So rather than thinking too hard about what to say I just described that moment... It's just truth for a minute, and that's what songwriting is. Real songwriting is just telling the truth about how you feel, unclouded by pretension, an image, and what's going on the outside just to tell the truth of how you feel."
• I drove up the hill just to say goodbye
  But all I found was a "For Sale" sign
  Put my hand on the gate and there's tears in my eyes
  
  Blunt drove up to the Hollywood icon's home, put his hand on her gate and burst into tears. "I was saying 'Oh god Carrie, I miss you so much,'" he recalled during an appearance on People Now. "And as I did that, three StarMap vans, who drive tourists to various celebrity's houses pulled up beside."
  
  "And I heard on the intercom, 'And on your left, you'll see the late great Carrie Fisher's house, and you'll see some fans are still deeply moved by her passing.' I was that fan," Blunt added. "I think she would have enjoyed the irony."
• Carrie Fisher and her mother, Debbie Reynolds, died a day apart in 2016. Blunt wrote "Courtney's Song" as a tribute to the actress mother and daughter. The song soundtracked a video montage commemorating their lives at a shared public memorial in Los Angeles on March 25, 2017.
• Blunt collaborated with the British songwriting and production duo Red Triangle to write "Dark Thought." Red Triangle, comprising Rick Parkhouse and George Tizzard, also co-wrote and produced three other tracks on Who We Used to Be.