I'll Be Gentle
by Paloma Faith (featuring John Legend)

Album: The Architect (2017)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Paloma Faith wrote this song with North London singer-songwriter Zak Abel who previously featured on Gorgon City's 2014 UK Top 20 hit "Unmissable."
  • The song finds Paloma Faith duetting with John Legend. She explained the collaboration to HMV.com:

    "I wrote that song with Zak Abel, who's this brilliant new artist, and when I played it to people they kept telling me it sounded like a John Legend song. I'd written with John for my previous album and so I sent it to him and asked if he'd be up for singing and he did."
  • One of the themes on The Architect is kindness, particularly on this song, which was inspired by the abuse directed at Paloma Faith on the Internet. She told The Sun: "I find it quite hurtful. I've had really awful things said to me on social media. Somebody once said I should be raped and skinned alive, I think because of something I'd said about Brexit."

    Faith added, "Is it predominantly directed at women? You don't see people going on the internet saying Boris Johnson has put on weight do you? These keyboard warriors. Imagine if it became socially acceptable in everyday life to speak like that."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Curt Kirkwood of Meat Puppets

Curt Kirkwood of Meat PuppetsSongwriter Interviews

The (Meat)puppetmaster takes us through songs like "Lake Of Fire" and "Backwater," and talks about performing with Kurt Cobain on MTV Unplugged.

Songs Discussed in Movies

Songs Discussed in MoviesSong Writing

Bridesmaids, Reservoir Dogs, Willy Wonka - just a few of the flicks where characters discuss specific songs, sometimes as a prelude to murder.

Kelly Keagy of Night Ranger

Kelly Keagy of Night RangerSongwriter Interviews

Kelly Keagy of Night Ranger tells the "Sister Christian" story and explains why he started sweating when he saw it in Boogie Nights.

Vince Clarke

Vince ClarkeSongwriter Interviews

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

Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty

Rob Thomas of Matchbox TwentySongwriter Interviews

Rob Thomas on his Social Distance Sessions, co-starring with a camel, and his friendship with Carlos Santana.

Marvin Gaye

Marvin GayeFact or Fiction

Did Marvin try out with the Detroit Lions? Did he fake crazy to get out of military service? And what about the cross-dressing?