The Way I Tend To Be

Album: Tape Deck Heart (2013)
Charted: 57
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song finds Turner singing about the girl that he used to love and how he misses her. Girl problems played a key role in his songwriting for Tape Deck Heart. Turner told NME: "One of the knacks of songwriting is trying to write something that feels specific and personal to lots of people at the same time."

    "But yeah," he added, "basically I came out of a long-term relationship and it wasn't much fun."
  • That's American singer-songwriter Elle King playing the banjo. She is best known for "Playing For Keeps," which was used as the theme song for VH1's Mob Wives Chicago series. At the age of ten, King appeared in the movie Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo alongside her father, Saturday Night Live alumni Rob Schneider.
  • In an interview with the London freesheet Metro, June 7, 2013, Frank Turner said of this uptempo semi-accoustic track: "It's about regret. The inspiration took place in Sydney airport at 3am when I was really tired and quite drunk and made one of those phone calls you shouldn't make, which led to a chain of events featured in the song." >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Alexander Baron - London, England
  • When we spoke with Turner in 2015, we asked if the song remains relevant to the singer. He replied: "The exact specifics of my personal life have moved on since then, but songs are a natural moment in time. You can't try to write something that will always be relevant to your life, because you would just write something that goes, 'Breathe in, breathe out,' and that would be it. But I like it as a song. It has some home truths for me, certainly."
  • The music video finds turner digging a large hole in the countryside of Essex, England. After days of digging, he draws media coverage and his hole becomes a gather spot for the curious. The clip was directed by James Copeman, whose credits include "Big When I Was Little" by Eliza Doolittle and "Youth" by Foxes.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear: Teddy Bears and Teddy Boys in Songs

Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear: Teddy Bears and Teddy Boys in SongsSong Writing

Elvis, Little Richard and Cheryl Cole have all sung about Teddy Bears, but there is also a terrifying Teddy song from 1932 and a touching trucker Teddy tune from 1976.

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.

Edwin McCain

Edwin McCainSongwriter Interviews

"I'll Be" was what Edwin called his "Hail Mary" song. He says it proves "intention of the songwriter is 180 degrees from potential interpretation by an audience."

Wang Chung Pick The Top Songs Of The '80s

Wang Chung Pick The Top Songs Of The '80sSongwriter Interviews

'80s music ambassadors Wang Chung pick their top tracks of the decade, explaining what makes each one so special.

Stephen Christian of Anberlin

Stephen Christian of AnberlinSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer/lyricist for Anberlin breaks down "Impossible" and covers some tracks from their 2012 album Vital.

Philip Cody

Philip CodySongwriter Interviews

A talented lyricist, Philip helped revive Neil Sedaka's career with the words to "Laughter In The Rain" and "Bad Blood."