Overcome

Album: Dead Club City (2023)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song is a reminder that even the most difficult times don't last forever and pain can be a catalyst for growth and change. Even when things are tough, we have the strength to overcome any obstacle.
  • Nothing But Thieves guitarist Joseph Langridge-Brown, vocalist Conor Mason, and keyboardist Dominic Craik wrote the song. It originated when Mason woke up at 4 a.m. humming the verse melody. "Once you have a nugget like that, that you know is decent, you have to capture it," he told The Sun. "I rushed to my laptop and wrote the verse and chorus melody. It was so 'pop' in my head, I didn't know if the guys would like it. Luckily, Joe championed it and had a vision to turn it into the 80s megalodon it is."
  • Musically, this was inspired by Tom Petty. Langridge-Brown even throws in a reference to one of Petty's songs in the first verse.

    Our song blaring out a dead radio
    Singing "I Need to Know"
    No turning back


    "We were listening to a lot of Tom Petty and Fleetwood Mac at the time," said Langridge-Brown. "That song feels very widescreen to me and will be great at festivals."
  • Nothing But Thieves recorded "Overcome" for Dead City Club, a concept album about a city-size members' club. "Do you want to be in it once you're in it? Or you're on the outside looking in, do you want to be a part of that?" he told Apple Music. "And essentially, it's a big play of elitism and feeling left in and out of a group."
  • Langridge-Brown wrote about 80 different verses for the song. "What I found was that when the verse was getting almost too intricate, and you were trying to say too much, it was taking away rather than adding to the song," he explained. "It felt like you really just wanted to curate this feeling of a road trip into the DCC - creating a world with the words rather than saying a load of things."
  • Nothing But Thieves released "Overcome" as the second single from Dead City Club. The song was especially popular in The Netherlands where it peaked at #6. It also reached the Top 50 of the Belgian (Flemish) Singles Chart.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Kristian Bush of Sugarland

Kristian Bush of SugarlandSongwriter Interviews

Kristian talks songwriting technique, like how the chorus should redefine the story, and how to write a song backwards.

Christmas Songs

Christmas SongsFact or Fiction

Rudolf, Bob Dylan and the Singing Dogs all show up in this Fact or Fiction for seasonal favorites.

Alan Merrill of The Arrows

Alan Merrill of The ArrowsSongwriter Interviews

In her days with The Runaways, Joan Jett saw The Arrows perform "I Love Rock And Roll," which Alan Merrill co-wrote - that story and much more from this glam rock pioneer.

Gary Numan

Gary NumanSongwriter Interviews

An Electronic music pioneer with Asperger's Syndrome. This could be interesting.

The Fratellis

The FratellisSongwriter Interviews

Jon Fratelli talks about the band's third album, and the five-year break leading up to it.

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")Song Writing

Wes Edwards takes us behind the scenes of videos he shot for Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley and Chase Bryant. The train was real - the airplane was not.