{"id":5176,"date":"2025-03-10T15:07:50","date_gmt":"2025-03-10T15:07:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/?p=5176"},"modified":"2025-03-10T15:07:51","modified_gmt":"2025-03-10T15:07:51","slug":"opinion-sam-fenders-tv-dinner-a-love-letter-to-the-working-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/?p=5176","title":{"rendered":"Opinion – Sam Fender\u2019s TV Dinner: A Love Letter to the Working Class"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Following the release of his new number one album People Watching, <\/em>Sam Fender is enjoying the latest success in his glittering career. The artist, born and raised in North Shields, has been outspoken about his working class upbringing throughout his work. For example, in his hit single Seventeen Going Under<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>Fender describes the toll of seeing his mother struggling financially as a child and considering selling drugs to pay their family debt. Raw, unapologetic and gritty, Fender\u2019s lyrics do not shy away from the harsh realities of growing up poor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Fender\u2019s career grows, and more elite spaces become open to him, his music has changed to reflect the two opposite worlds that he finds himself caught between. His song, TV Dinner<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>captures that tension and addresses the novelty that the wealthy find in the experiences of the working class. The song discusses the treatment Fender receives in these elite spaces, the way he is praised for his working class origins but ostracised for criticising them. Not just Fender himself, Amy Winehouse is mentioned in his lyrics as a further example of working class artists exploited and scrutinised. Fender\u2019s anger is palpable, but nowhere more prevalent then when he is told \u201cWe\u2019re all the same\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps, Fender\u2019s success <\/a>is a testament to how relatable his experiences, or at least his struggles, truly are. There is a fascination, in spaces where there is so much wealth, such as the music scene, elite universities, even grammar schools, with those of poorer backgrounds. There is a kind of pageantry in coming from poverty for those who have never experienced financial hardship. For Fender, the typical \u2018rags to riches\u2019 fairytale is a story that sells, no matter the cost to the individual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my own experience, Fender\u2019s words ring true. Being told by someone from a position of privilege that nothing separates your experiences is infuriating because it invalidates what you\u2019ve been through and how hard you have had to work to get there. The same is true of conversations around race, sexuality and gender.\u00a0 Many people can relate to Fender\u2019s anger and I imagine reading this, at least one such conversation comes to mind. Fender\u2019s experiences are relatable to many. The widening gap between classes is driving people to want change, whether those people fall on the left or the right of the political axis. His music encapsulates the bubbling anger at the injustice of wealth inequality in the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a space that is nearly inaccessible for working class people, Sam Fender refuses to stop talking about his experiences, in spite of the reaction from those he finds himself increasingly surrounded by. Not only admirable, but incredibly heartfelt, Fender\u2019s work deserves its success. The conversation surrounding class in the UK is one that needs to be urgently addressed. Reform\u2019s increased popularity is partially attributed to the lack of action to help the country’s poorest, which needs rectifying but not by the far-right and parties like Reform. Only by addressing this can we have any hope of countering them. Until then, Fender\u2019s new album offers solace to those from working class backgrounds and TV Dinner <\/em>is a fiercely protective, honest and angry look at what it means to be working class in a space not designed for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edited by: Evangeline Shankland<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Image: Sam Fender Leeds 2019<\/a>, Richard Nicholson, 2019 \/\/ CC BY-SA 2.0<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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