I feel extremely privileged to have been a part of Damian’s fantastic first ever gig in London four years ago. Then I was very lucky to attend many other magical music gigs with Damian and his brilliant band but it is very special to know that I was there at the very beginning of this thrilling musical adventure. So, please join me at Omeara London, a truly beautiful and intimate music hall, today to revisit every single detail I remember from that utterly exciting evening. Note that I wrote this post four years ago and did not modify it!
Welcome back, everyone, to another Damian Lewis Song of the Week!
This week, we’re diving into King, possibly the coolest song Damian has ever written. So, let’s go!
Two years ago, when I sat down with Damian backstage, I asked him something I had been wondering for a while:
Would he ever write a song about Henry VIII?
At the time, he had just finished filming Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, so it didn’t feel like a stretch. Damian had already shown how he could take stories and characters from his acting work and turn them into songs. Never Judge a Man by His Umbrella was inspired by A Spy Among Friends and the story of Kim Philby, while Fix Me Up—formerly Suck My Blood—came out of The Radleys.
Over the years, we have watched Damian Lewis conquer television, film, and theatre. And now there’s another medium to tackle: Radio! Damian’s music deserves to be heard far beyond the fandom bubble so let’s take it to the airwaves!
A lot of people still have no idea about Damian’s music. That is exactly why we at Fan Fun with Damian Lewis are determined to help make his music heard — not just by longtime fans, but by music lovers everywhere.
Because this is not a celebrity vanity project.
This is real music. Thoughtful songwriting. A live band built for the stage. Songs with character, emotion, chaos, vulnerability, rock energy, and stories to tell.
And radio still matters.
One of the best ways fans can help artists break through is simply by requesting songs on the radio. DJs and producers absolutely notice when listeners repeatedly ask for tracks — especially independent and album-driven artists. Continue reading “Get Damian Lewis on the Radio! ️”
Damian Lewis performing “Suck My Blood” at Epic Studios, Norwich during the second leg of his Mission Creep UK Tour, March 2024
It’s Damian Lewis’ Song of the Week time again—and this one feels particularly special because we’re not exploring just one song, but two different incarnations of it.
Damian’s second album, Sweet Chaos, was released on June 5, and it includes “Fix Me Up,” a new arrangement of “Suck My Blood,” which was originally released on The Radleys soundtrack.
But “Fix Me Up” is more than a renamed version of the same track.
The original was a solo recording created in the vampiric world of The Radleys. The new arrangement is a wonderfully seductive duet between Damian and Alison—and some significant changes to the lyrics appear to have transformed the meaning of the song along with its sound.
So today, we’re sinking our teeth into the original “Suck My Blood,” before exploring how it was reworked into “Fix Me Up”—a song that may no longer be about vampires at all.
Damian first introduced “Suck My Blood” on Instagram just in time for Halloween in 2023. During the second leg of his Mission Creep UK tour in spring 2024, he brought it to the stage for the first time.
Before performing it, Damian told us about The Radleys, the vampire film he had recently completed. In the film, he plays twin brothers Peter and Will Radley.
And in Stroud, Damian absolutely brought the house down when he spotted a man in the front row getting up—presumably to go to the bar or the restroom—and deadpanned:
“Sir, I’m not a real vampire.”
Classic Damian. Perfect timing. People couldn’t stop laughing.
“Sweet Chaos is a story of a man whose life is gilded, charmed, and blessed. A man in control upon whom chaos is visited, but the chaos releases all manner of wonderful things. A freedom.” – Damian Lewis
Welcome back, everyone, to another Damian Lewis Song of the Week feature!
Now that Sweet Chaos has been out in the world for more than a month, it feels like the perfect time to revisit the song that started it all: the album’s title track – its namesake – and first single. In my opinion, Sweet Chaos introduces us to the album’s themes, and feels like the key to understanding the entire project.
Before we dive into today’s song, readers can catch up with previous posts from our Song of the Week series here. And you can listen/order Sweet Chaos here.
