We all know him as Sam Smith, but his full name is Samuel Frederick Smith. He was born on the 19th of May 1992 in London. Although he lived most of his life in Bishop's Stortford with his two siblings and parents. He got his second name from his dad Frederick Smith. His mom Kate was a successful broker. He began singing at a young age, and we can say that he is a natural singer and songwriter.
One day his parents were driving to his Catholic primary school when they heard him singing the song by Whitney Houston “My Love is your Love“. It was the first time he had sung in front of them. Since then his parents knew that one-day he’d be singing for the whole world. When he was eight, his parents paid for him to have vocal training with a local jazz singer, and he spent much of his childhood and adolescence in the theater. By the age of 12, six different managers were handling his career. Later, He graduated from the Youth Music Theater in UK.
Fame
He rose to fame in 2012 after featuring the song “Latch“ by the electronic duo Disclosure. The song peaked at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart. The next featured song “La La La“ by Naughty Boy eventually landed at No. 1 on the U.K. Singles Chart in 2013.
Singer Adele and Amy Winehouse are his greatest influences. His debut single “Lay Me Down“ was confirmed as the lead single from his debut album called “In the Lonely Hour“.
Other famous songs from this album are: “Money On My Mind“ , “Stay With Me“ (which was an international success that reached No. 1 in UK and No. 2 in the U.S.), “Not the Only One“, and "Like I Can“ ...
Most of Sam’s songs are quite sad, melancholy and heart breaking. You might be asking, why? Read this! In May 2014 Sam Smith revealed that he was gay in an interview with Fader. “It's about a guy and that's what I wanted people to know - I want to be clear that that's what it's about,“ he said of the song called “Leave Your Lover“ that appears in his debut LP. (As for me, it was obvious from the Official Video of this song ;-) ) He was dating a model and the actor Johnatan Zeizel, who broke up with him. At the 2015 Grammy Awards, where he won four categories, he said, „I would like to thank the man that I fell in love with last year - the man who this album is about. Thank you so much for breaking my heart, because you got me four Grammys!“
In later years he got struggles with obsessive–compulsive disorder (a mental disorder where people feel the need to check things more times than usual, have certain thoughts repeatedly, or feel they need to perform certain routines every day).
This year he composed the theme song for the James Bond film Spectre. He received a Guinness World Record For the song, which is called “Writing’s on the Wall.“ The World Record is for getting into TOP 10 in UK most consecutive weeks.
Lyrics
"Leave Your Lover"
What use is money, when you need someone to hold?
Don't have direction, I'm just rolling down this road
Waiting for you to bring me in from out the cold
You'll never know the endless nights, the rhyming of the rain,
Or how it feels to fall behind and watch you call his name
Pack up and leave everything,
Don't you see what I can bring
Can't keep this beating heart at bay
Set my midnight sorrow free,
I will give you all of me
Just leave your lover, leave him for me.
Leave your lover, leave him for me.
We sit in bars and raise our drinks to growing old
Oh, I'm in love with you and you will never know,
But if I can't have you I want this life alone
Spare you the rising storms and let the rivers flow
You'll never know the endless nights, the rhyming of the rain
Or how it feels to fall behind and watch you call his name
Pack up and leave everything,
Don't you see what I can bring
Can't keep this beating heart at bay
Set my midnight sorrow free,
I will give you all of me
Just leave your lover, leave him for me
Leave your lover, leave him for me.
Leave your lover, leave him for me.
"Writing's On The Wall"
I've been here before
But always hit the floor
I've spent a lifetime running
And I always get away
But with you I'm feeling something
That makes me want to stay
I'm prepared for this
I never shoot to miss
But I feel like a storm is coming
If I'm gonna make it through the day
Then there's no more use in running
This is something I gotta face
If I risk it all
Could you break my fall?
How do I live? How do I breathe?
When you're not here I'm suffocating
I want to feel love, run through my blood
Tell me is this where I give it all up?
For you I have to risk it all
Cause the writing's on the wall
A million shards of glass
That haunt me from my past
As the stars begin to gather
And the light begins to fade
When all hope begins to shatter
Know that I won't be afraid
If I risk it all
Could you break my fall?
How do I live? How do I breathe?
When you're not here I'm suffocating
I want to feel love, run through my blood
Tell me is this where I give it all up?
For you I have to risk it all
Cause the writing's on the wall
The writing's on the wall
How do I live? How do I breathe?
When you're not here I'm suffocating
I want to feel love, run through my blood
Tell me is this where I give it all up?
How do I live? How do I breathe?
When you're not here I'm suffocating
I want to feel love, run through my blood
Tell me is this where I give it all up?
For you I have to risk it all
Cause the writing's on the wall
by Nina Nôžková
Year 2, Issue 1