Warwick Avenue

Album: Rockferry (2008)
Charted: 3
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Warwick Avenue is in Maida Vale, West London. Duffy said in The Sun February 29, 2008: "I can't really explain where Warwick Avenue came from. I've only been there twice, once by accident. I got off at that stop and the name just took me by surprise. The next day, we were writing songs and it just sort of came out."
  • Duffy (from the Daily Star May 24, 2008): "There are lyrics in Warwick Avenue about certain exes. I won't pinpoint the song on any particular person but it was weird hearing it for the first time in public. When I was writing it I felt I got everything out of my system, but being there on the video set I got a bit upset. It came out of the blue. Writing songs can be weird. It's like writing in blood on the wall for everyone to see. And it's real blood because it's your personal emotions that are spurting out."
  • The day after accidentally alighting at Warwick Avenue station, Duffy had a studio session with her producer Jimmy Hogarth and songwriter Francis "Eg" White, whose other credits include Adele's breakthrough hit, "Chasing Pavements."

    "I wrote it from a secretive perspective," Duffy later commented coyly to The Independent. "Everyone is talking about it now. It meant something different to me all those years ago."
  • Duffy recorded the retro ballad with Hogarth, Bernard Butler on guitar, James Banbury on cello and Oliver Kraus' string arrangement. The soul shuffle is reminiscent of The Temptations 1964 Motown classic "My Girl."

    "I'm learning about music – not only soul music, but all kinds," said Duffy about the similarity. "I didn't even know what Tamla Motown was when I first started this record. I thought Tamla was one thing, and Motown another."
  • The song played at the end of the October 10, 2008 episode of the Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks. The BBC drama series Waterloo Road also used it on its March 11, 2009 episode.

Comments: 3

  • Alistair from Daventry, United KingdomUS listeners will perhaps think 'Warwick' is mis-pronounced in the song but this is the original English way of saying it (we spent years getting Dionne Warwick's name wrong, using our English version). Warwick is a very English town near Stratford on Avon with a fine castle by the river.
  • Maddie from New York, NyI find this song to be about her telling a guy that she's leaving him for the last time and won't be coming back to him.
  • Derek from Cambridge, New ZealandThis has to be one of the best songs of the year. Duffy has such a distinctive voice, a cross between Lulu & Dusty Springfield (both of whom are/were superb artists). Duffy has the emotion that shows in her songs on the Rockferry album...just great!
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Michael Schenker

Michael SchenkerSongwriter Interviews

The Scorpions and UFO guitarist is also a very prolific songwriter - he explains how he writes with his various groups, and why he was so keen to get out of Germany and into England.

Kevin Godley

Kevin GodleySongwriter Interviews

Kevin Godley talks about directing classic videos for The Police, U2 and Duran Duran, and discusses song and videos he made with 10cc and Godley & Creme.

Experience Nirvana with Sub Pop Founder Bruce Pavitt

Experience Nirvana with Sub Pop Founder Bruce PavittSong Writing

The man who ran Nirvana's first label gets beyond the sensationalism (drugs, Courtney) to discuss their musical and cultural triumphs in the years before Nevermind.

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.

Rick Astley

Rick AstleySongwriter Interviews

Rick Astley on "Never Gonna Give You Up," "Cry For Help," and his remarkable resurgence that gave him another #1 UK album.

Stan Ridgway

Stan RidgwaySongwriter Interviews

Go beyond the Wall of Voodoo with this cinematic songwriter.