Beside You

Album: Who We Used To Be (2023)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • James Blunt has been married to the mother of his two sons, Sofia Wellesley, since 2014. "Beside You" is a rock ballad where he sings of finding love and happiness after a long period of searching. "It's a bit of a celebration," Blunt said. "An upbeat banger about finally being with the one you've been searching for your whole life."
  • Blunt uses religious terminology throughout the song. He starts by explaining he had relationships with several girls but none of them lasted.

    Oh, Lord, here I go
    I get the highs, but why the lows?
    Set me up with all these souls
    And I watch them fall like dominoes


    Now he's met his soulmate, the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with.

    I hope there's a song that God only knows
    And it's keeping me dancing
    Nobody here knows how the melody goes
    But it's keeping me dancing beside you
  • James Blunt wrote "Beside You" with James Essien (Tom Grennan's "Here,"Clean Bandit's "Don't Leave Me Lonely") and Richard Boardman along with Pablo Bowman and David Strääf of the Manchester-based songwriting collective The Six (Jonas Blue, Bebe Rexha, Anne-Marie). Ennio Morricone also gets a credit as it samples one of his melodies.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Ian Astbury of The Cult

Ian Astbury of The CultSongwriter Interviews

The Cult frontman tells who the "Fire Woman" is, and talks about performing with the new version of The Doors.

Jimmy Webb

Jimmy WebbSongwriter Interviews

Webb talks about his classic songs "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," "Wichita Lineman" and "MacArthur Park."

Vince Clarke

Vince ClarkeSongwriter Interviews

An original member of Depeche Mode, Vince went on to form Erasure and Yaz.

Julian Lennon

Julian LennonSongwriter Interviews

Julian tells the stories behind his hits "Valotte" and "Too Late for Goodbyes," and fills us in on his many non-musical pursuits. Also: what MTV meant to his career.

Rush: Album by Album - A Conversation With Martin Popoff

Rush: Album by Album - A Conversation With Martin PopoffSong Writing

A talk with Martin Popoff about his latest book on Rush and how he assessed the thousands of albums he reviewed.

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.