I remember the first time I saw Helen Shanahan play. It was in 2017 at Four5Nine at the Rosemount with Stu Larsen. I had first seen Stu Larsen in 2011 while living in London when he was playing gigs with Passenger all over the UK. This was before Passenger became the household name he would soon be, where you could see him at small bars and festivals.
Stu Larsen has this song called ‘The Mile’. It’s 6 minutes long and it has this hauntingly beautiful melody that sounds great with harmonies. Having seen Stu perform this with other musicians the few times I’d seen him, it’s a lovely moment when he invited others to join him on stage.
In the break after Helen’s set, I wandered to the loo. On the way back, I could hear Helen and Matt singing ‘The Mile’ in the back room. I remember smiling; being given 40 minutes’ notice to sing a song she didn’t know, she was trying to memorise it to do the absolute best job she could. It spoke of dedication and care to one’s craft.
On my way out after the gig, I walked past Helen and said, ‘That was really good!’ That was completely out of character for me. I’m normally too intimidated to talk to other musicians because of my OCD and low self-esteem. At that point, I didn’t completely realise just how amazing Helen’s songwriting and music were. Had I known, I would have walked straight past.
Years later in 2023, Helen was my mentor for my I Heart Songwriting Club Beginners Course. She helped me claw back some confidence and write most of the songs on my album. All of this is to say, I’m completely biased when it comes to Helen. While I’m still too intimidated to approach her to say hello, I wanted to share a song that I keep going back to – ‘Camouflaged’.
The first song from Helen’s 2017 album Every Little Sting, I have lost track of how many times I’ve listened to this album over the years. It has so many great songs, but ‘Camouflaged’ opens the album with its warm guitar and catchy melody.
The guitar draws you in during the first few bars, accompanied by minimal drums that sound like brushes to me with a well-placed finger snap. The bass and a kick drum follow after, with a warm bass creating some interest and movement.
Helen’s lyrics are full of imagery, the emotions are instantly recognisable and relatable. The opening lines of the verse are about realising that you are the only person who can get yourself out of the situation you find yourself in. This really resonates with me as I often find myself in a dead end in my own mind and nothing anyone can do or say helps. It’s me that has to change how I think about things and make different decisions.
I’ll take the dirt off my own grave
I’m the only one I can save
I’m running the risk of standing still
Cemented down in one place
The verse is followed by a lovely ‘Ooooh’. This is a taster of the pre-chorus and I like how it gives your ears a little break to digest what you’ve heard before moving on. I don’t use any wordless singing in my songs and I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how and when it’s used in music I like.
The pre-chorus is a beautiful contrast to the verse, the longer phrases selling the feeling of disappointment of wanting things to be different and wondering what life would be like without this mindset.
The chorus has some great backing vocals and tambourine, with the backing vocal dropping back under the final lines, which helps the song title to be heard.
I don’t think I’ve ever listened that closely to the backing vocals in this song. It’s amazing how dedicated listening can bring out new things, even after 8 years. I love how in the third pre-chorus the backing vocals are a bed of sound and echo the main melody in the line “If I tried”.
At this point, the music drops back under the vocal of the first two lines of the chorus. The piano, bass and drums start building up and it’s so satisfying when we finally hit the chorus. It feels like teasing the listener, but in a good way because ultimately that is what the chorus is for. People like familiarity in a song and knowing what section comes next.
The outro takes us back to where we started, with the first two lines of the verse repeated. It feels like a good message to take forward with you.