“I’m in ribbons again. Can you help me my friend?”
Janet Devlin’s new confessional folk-pop song, ‘Away With The Fairies’, follows three dark, defiant releases leading up to her eagerly-anticipated studio album ‘Confessional’, released May 1st 2020.
Listen here.
Prior to the release, the Irish singer/songwriter posted an emotional video on her YouTube channels in which she talked about the inspiration for the song.
“Two sheets to the wind. I’ll set sail from my sin”
In this new single, the fourth admission from her collection of confessions, Janet explores the mind’s ability to disassociate with its surroundings – to be ‘away with the fairies’ – a personal reality that stemmed from her struggle to survive hidden addictions.
The carefree nature of the track is at odds with the story at its heart; whimsical verses juxtaposed against a life that was anything but. She explains;
“I wrote this song about the rose-tinted glasses of youth, or more accurately – the beer goggles. I wanted the track to embody the happy-go-lucky spirit of drinking in your teenage years. How you can purchase a cheap elixir from the local corner shop that’ll remove all social anxiety and inhibitions, and in those days, all seemingly without consequence.”
Produced by Jonathan Quarmby (Lewis Capaldi, Tom Walker, Benjamin Clementine) the track was written by Janet and multi-platinum songsmith Paul Statham (Dido; ‘Here With Me’ & ‘No Angel’, Kylie Minogue, Sophie Ellis-Bextor). Having joined forces with Paul in 2017 when the concept of the album Confessional started taking shape, Janet felt compelled to confide in her cowriter about the hidden subject matter of her song. “Grant me wings…” begs permission for copious amounts of vodka and Red Bull to embrace an altered state; the charming phrase “moonbeam child” is the combination of moon from ‘moonshine’ and Beam from ‘Jim Beam’.
“I’d become no stranger to turning up to studios and gigs either drunk or hungover. Surprisingly it never affected my vocals. This was one of the reasons I got away with it for so long! Also, the pain of being hungover made for the creation of many sad songs and poems. I was good at hiding my problem until I could hide it no longer. My addiction to alcohol was ruining my life. I was physically, emotionally and financially drained. Recovery was my only option other than my inevitable early grave.”
Dipped in mandolin, bodhran and cello, with a fluttery piano riff and lilting melody, the track – written by Janet about disconnected, out of body moments – strikes a comforting, familiar tone and returns the singer-songwriter to the sounds of her Irish roots. The addition of a harp brings a mystical, ethereal feel to the song,
“To me, nothing says fairies quite like the sound of the harp,” says Janet. From the age of six, Janet was fully immersed in the sounds of home, playing tin-whistle and fiddle in a local cèilidh band. “My collection of trad music CDs, tapes and vinyl of music from the likes of The Fureys and The Dubliners alongside listening to the radio with my grandmother are influences that I brought to this track and throughout the album.”
Nearly a decade ago, Janet Devlin became the UK’s much-loved, elfin pop star. Today, fully grounded in her reality, she is no longer burdened by her past – watch her fly.
AWAY WITH THE FAIRIES
I’m in ribbons again
Can you help me my friend?
I’ve been searching for my mind
But I can’t seem to find it
No matter where I’ve wandered
Two sheets to the wind
I’ll set sail from my sin
And I’ll journey through the night
Into the darkness
Into the black and into the forests
Grant me wings tonight
Grant me wings to raise me high
Grant me wings tonight
Grant me wings so I can fly
I’m away with the fairies
I’ll be a moonbeam child
I’m away with the fairies
I’ll be the banshee cry
Stop howling, stop howling
Stop calling out my name
I’m away with the fairies
I’m away, I’m away, away again
There’s a bottle of ghosts
And the horror it hosts
I’ve been hiding under tables
Drowning in the fables
A coffin in a cradle
Grant me wings tonight
Grant me wings to raise me high
Grant me wing tonight
Grant me wings so I can fly
I’m away with the fairies
I’ll be a moonbeam child
I’m away with the fairies
I’ll be the banshee cry
Stop howling, stop howling
Stop calling out my name
I’m away with the fairies
I’m away, I’m away, away again
I call it a blessing
You call it a curse
My soul is confessing
My life in a verse
I’m away with the fairies
I’ll be a moonbeam child
I’m away with the fairies
I’ll be the banshee cry
Stop howling, stop howling
Stop calling out my name
I’m away with the fairies
I’m away, I’m away, away again
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