Jamie Webster and Billy Bragg team up for new single ‘Fickle Fran’
Socially aware singer-songwriters Jamie Webster and Billy Bragg have crossed the generational divide to collaborate on the new single ‘Fickle Fran’.
On the new track, the duo combine to tell the story of an old-school entrepreneur who made his living from selling illegitimate goods. Webster and Bragg bring the listener into the protagonist’s world on ‘Fickle Fran’, and the impossible task of trying to make it in the modern world, but despite the changing landscape, Fran remains resilient.
Webster says of the track: “’Fickle Fran’ is a song about the spirit and the defiance of the working class. I was thinking back to the days of a ‘salesman’ knocking door to door with clothes off the back of lorries. He was always both cynical and optimistic which is where the fickle idea comes from. He’d always moan about how his clothes weren’t selling the way he thought, but come the next season of weather he had the perfect product that would make up for his shortcomings.”
The singer-songwriter continued: “This was before online shopping and also way before websites that sell fake products. I often wonder how he’d survive in the modern world. His defiance would always prevail however, as I remember his most unforgettable sign-off quote ‘Still though mate, I’d rather this than work in Dixons any day of the week!'”
Prior to the release of the song, Bragg previously joined Webster for his headline show at The M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool last year, and also during his sold-out outdoor show at the Pier Head this summer.
‘Fickle Fran’ is taken from Webster’s upcoming album Ten For The People, set for release in 2024. Speaking exclusively with Far Out, he said of the LP: “It’s not named after a song like the last two albums. I was sort of pulling my hair last year when all these albums were getting number one after Moments (which charted at three), and I was looking at these albums thinking they had no message.
“They all had three big singles, then a load of shit filler. I don’t want to name names, but in my opinion, these albums are inferior to what I’d just done. So I thought, I’m going to cut the bullshit and just write ten stories for the people. These are songs that normal people can listen to and resonate with every story. It also gives us food for thought about we need to change society without being too in your face and preachy.”
Listen to ‘Fickle Fran’ below.
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