How they wrote the song

The stories behind the songs

HOW THEY WROTE THE SONG

‘I've come up for air after years underground’: Emma Swift tells the story behind No Happy Endings

Involving a therapy session, an LA hotel room and a Greek myth, Emma Swift tells State of Sound the moving story behind her gorgeously cinematic ‘No Happy Endings’. ‘Are you finishing the song,’ she wonders, ‘or is the song finishing you?’

Photo: Nicola Harger

23 May 2026

HOW THEY WROTE THE SONG

‘I’m going to kill you tonight’: how they wrote Candi Staton’s ‘Young Hearts Run Free’

It began when Candi Staton’s partner threatened to shoot her and ended with a rallying cry for women everywhere.

3 April 2026

HOW THEY WROTE THE SONG

‘Places were being decimated’: How The Jam wrote Town Called Malice

EXTRACT: Perhaps it began here: The Jam hitting that famous Motown groove during an improvisation session, twirls of cigarette smoke rising from ashtrays, smiles appearing on lips. CONTINUE READING >>

by David Rea

31 January 2026

HOW THEY WROTE THE SONG

‘The hairs were standing up all over my body’: How Shapes Like People wrote Find Me There

When Carl Mann heard his wife sing Shapes Like People’s new single, he couldn't keep the tears back. Read the moving story behind ‘Find Me There’.

24 January 2026