Songfacts®:

• This was the debut single released by British hip-hop artist Jamie Treays, who records under the name of Jamie T. The song was originally released in July 2006 when it charted at #22 in the UK singles chart. It was re-released nine months later and this time peaked at #15.
• The song tells three tragic stories, the first about a girl called Sheila who drowns in the River Thames after getting drunk. The second tells the tale of a single father who is gunned down on the streets of London. The third concerns a girl called Georgina, who kills herself after the death of her abusive father. Treays told Q magazine in a 2011 interview: "It's quite a grim song - a series of tragedies. It came from conversations I had with people in a couple of bars I used to hang out in; people who weren't from London but came to live here. They come to the city and realise it's not all it's cracked up to be."
• "Sheila" features excerpts from John Betjeman's poem The Cockney Amorist. The samples were taken from an album featuring some of the poet's work that belonged to a member of Treays' family.
• English actor Bob Hoskins appears in the song's 2007 music video.
• Jamie T included "Shelia" on his debut album, Panic Prevention. The title references his teenage panic attacks.