Six Degrees Of Separation

Album: #3 (2012)
Charted: 32
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Vocalist and The Voice UK coach Danny O'Donoghue found himself in the papers when he split with Lithuanian model Irma Mali after four years together and was subsequently linked to Voice runner-up Bo Bruce. This song, is about his painful break-up, which he told The Sun was a huge learning process for him in how to deal with the public and media. He explained: "This is the band's first time of dealing with the spotlight. I've been asked why I let the rumours go on for so long. But there's no handbooks on how to deal with this, plus I was grieving. My relationship had ended."
  • The song title refers to the idea that everyone is on average approximately six steps away from any other person on Earth. The phrase was coined by an American academic, Stanley Milgram, after his "small world experiment" in 1967 in which he sent several packages to 160 random people living in Omaha, Nebraska, asking them to forward the packet only to others they knew by name. The aim was to get it, eventually, to a set final individual, a stockbroker from Boston, Massachusetts. The average number of times it was passed on, he said, was six. Hence, the six degrees of separation.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues

Justin Hayward of The Moody BluesSongwriter Interviews

Justin wrote the classic "Nights In White Satin," but his fondest musical memories are from a different decade.

Linda Perry

Linda PerrySongwriter Interviews

Songwriting Hall of Famer Linda Perry talks about her songs "What's Up" and "Beautiful," her songwriting process, and her move into film music.

Boz Scaggs

Boz ScaggsSongwriter Interviews

The "Lowdown" and "Lido Shuffle" singer makes a habit of playing with the best in the business.

Mike Scott of The Waterboys

Mike Scott of The WaterboysSongwriter Interviews

The stories behind "Whole Of The Moon" and "Red Army Blues," and why rock music has "outlived its era of innovation."

Concert Disasters

Concert DisastersFact or Fiction

Ozzy biting a dove? Alice Cooper causing mayhem with a chicken? Creed so bad they were sued? See if you can spot the real concert mishaps.

Intentionally Atrocious

Intentionally AtrociousSong Writing

A selection of songs made to be terrible - some clearly achieved that goal.