Seventeen Going Under Lyrics Meaning – Sam Fender

Song Info: Seventeen Going Under Song name is Seventeen Going Under which is sung by Sam Fender & lyrics written by Sam Fender.

Seventeen Going Under Lyrics Meaning

Sam Fender was born and raised in the northeastern English town of North Shields. His mother left when he was 8 years old, but after he was kicked out of his father’s house by his stepmother, he moved back in with his mum. This song finds Fender looking back at his teenage years living with his mother when they were both struggling financially.

She said the debt, the debt, the debt
So I thought about shifting gear
And how she wept and wept and wept
Luck came and died round here

Fender considered becoming a drug dealer as a way out of his household’s poverty.


Over a combination of guitars, piano and saxophone, Fender describes the struggles he had when he was 17. He said: “17 is when all the challenges begin: you’re not a baby, but you’re definitely not an adult (turns out that bit takes a lot longer than you think).”


This is the title track of Sam Fender’s second album, which is centered on the North Shields singer-songwriter growing up and coming of age. “I’ve had a lot of time to look back and there’s a lot of things I’ve processed, stuff that happened when I was in my late teens and early 20s,” he told Apple Music. “I was carrying a lot of pain around, and with writing this [album], I’ve been able to put some of those things to bed – which has been very, very humbling and good for the soul. I feel like it is a celebratory record, and it’s full of hope and full of yearning. It’s a triumph over adversity.”


Fender’s longtime friend Bramwell Bronte produced the song. Bronte produced all the tracks on Fender’s debut album, Hypersonic Missiles.


Fender debuted the song live on August 13, 2020 in Newcastle.


I see my mother
The DWP see a number
She cries on the floor encumbered
I’m seventeen going under

Sam Fender’s nurse mom suffered from fibromyalgia, which affected her mental health and her ability to work. He told: “I had a sense of helplessness. You haven’t got a job, you’re only 17.”

Seventeen Going Under Lyrics

[Verse 1]
I remember the sickness was forever
I remember snuff videos
Cold Septembers, the distances we covered
The fist fights on the beach
The Bizzies round us up
Do it all again next week
An embryonic love
The first time that it scarred
Embarrass yourself for someone
Cryin’ like a child
And the boy who kicked Tom’s head in
Still bugs me now
That’s the thing, it lingers
And claws you when you’re down

[Verse 2]
I was far too scared to hit him
But I would hit him in a heartbeat now
That’s the thing with anger, it begs to stick around
So it can fleece you of your beauty
And leave you spent with nowt to offer
Makes you hurt the ones who love you

[Chorus]
You hurt them like they’re nothin’ (Oh-ooh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh)
You hurt them like they’re nothin’ (Oh-ooh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh)
You hurt them like they’re nothin’ (Oh-ooh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh)

[Verse 3]
See, I spent my teens enraged, spirallin’ in silence
And I armed myself with a grin
‘Cause I was always the fuckin’ joker
Buried in their humour amongst the white noise and boys’ boys
Locker room talkin’ lads’ lads
Drenched in cheap drink and snide fag$
A mirrored picture of my old man
Oh God, the kid’s a dab hand
Canny chanter, but he looks sad

[Chorus]
God, the kid looks so sad (Oh-ooh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh)
(Oh-ooh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh)

[Bridge]
She said the debt, the debt, the debt
So I thought about shifting gear
And how she wept and wept and wept
Well, luck came and died ’round here
I see my mother, the DWP see a number
She cries on the floor encumbered

[Chorus]
I’m seventeen goin’ under
I’m seventeen goin’ under (Oh-ooh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh)
I’m seventeen goin’ under (Oh-ooh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh)
I’m seventeen goin’ under (Oh-ooh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh)
I’m seventeen goin’ under

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