Tom: This has been out for ages — and on the Radio 2 playlist for just as long — but we haven’t covered it. Because, well, it’s James Blunt.
Tom: The trouble is this: despite him being easy to mock for making overly-simple, lowest-common-denominator, irritating music, he’s certainly got a talent for writing. And while the last couple of albums have just sort of bubbled under, this track has brought him back to mainstream awareness. And what a fantastic track it is.
Tim: Yes – see, I’ve been meaning to suggest this for a while. Every time I hear it I think “ooh, this is great, we should do this” and then realise it’s James Blunt, and for some reason I don’t want to. I don’t know why, because like you said, it’s fantastic. Well, pretty good, anyway.
Tom: Will it go the same way as “You’re Beautiful”, or even Daniel Powter’s “Bad Day”? Adored, played everywhere, and then so ubiquitous as to become annoying? It’s certainly possible, because it’s catchy, it’s a builder, and it’s just a plain good song.
Tim: It is, especially for a track that mostly has just a drum beat, a guitar and a voice that’s constantly on the verge of annoying.
Tom: Apart from those first two lines. I could do without those first two lines.
And what was he thinking with that video? While I’m sure it’s lovely, bringing America together like that, James Blunt does not look like a natural fit for an enormous motorcycle.
Tim: No, but then to be honest very few people are natural fits for those bikes except overweight fifty year olds who’ve grown out of decent motorbikes.