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Feel

Writers - Tennant/Lowe
First released - 2024
Original album - Nonetheless
Producer - James Ford
Subsequent albums - none
Other releases - single

An uptempo love song that traces its origins back to 2003 when Neil and Chris were working on possible new singles for PopArt. They sent an earlier version of it to Killers lead singer Brandon Flowers for possible solo use, but they don't know whether it ever actually reached him. Seeing, however, that it wasn't put to use in that way, they decided to repurpose it for themselves. Neil, inspired by a book he had read about the convicted MI6/MGB double agent George Blake, revised the lyrics to deal with the matter of, as he has put it, "visiting a loved one in prison."

The song's quick pace along with Neil's multi-tracked harmonies and the words of the chorus—

You make me feel like nobody else can
You make me feel like nobody else's man

—give it a much more positive spin than one would expect from the prison setting, which is briefly alluded to in such lines as "they unlock the doors" and "when you see a friend who's been sent away." In fact, there's an unexpected air of outright ecstasy, with love enabling the narrator to find beauty in stark places:

Through the gate when you leave
There's a fresh winter breeze
On the terrace it feels
Like a Rossetti frieze

The song's language and imagery—including a rather romantic reference to the moon—indicate that there's far more than mere friendship involved in this relationship. The narrator's assertion "I'm counting the days till you get away" is a moving affirmation of love despite the obstacles imposed by both his imprisoned lover's choices and the legal actions of the state. It would be hard to find in the PSB canon a much more intense expression of devotion than this song.

"Feel" became the fourth single from Nonetheless, released digitally on August 20, 2024, and physically on September 27.

Annotations

"I've got it all sussed" – "Sussed" means "figured out" or "understood," though it's used almost exclusively in the United Kingdom as opposed to the United States. The present-tense verb "suss" originated in the 1930s as clipped form of the word "suspect." Once considered slang and looked down on, it has become so widely used and accepted in the decades since that it has now become a part of standard English.
"like a Rossetti frieze" – Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882) was an English poet, painter, and illustrator whose work greatly inspired the late nineteenth-century Aesthetic Movement. He was a member of the group of Victorian English artists known as the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (or just "the Pre-Raphaelites") whose artistic style self-consciously attempted to mirror that of early Renaissance artists who preceded Raphael, hence their name. Rossetti's, whose own work as a painter is typified by sensuality, elaborate detail, intense colors, and a love of nature, often painted murals and friezes—broad horizontal decorations, particularly on a wall just below the ceiling. To suggest something is "like a Rossetti frieze" is a rather poetic way of describing its beauty, a self-consciously beautiful way to describe a beautiful thing.
"The ghost of a man who's lost in a rapture" – More highly poetic language. Being in the presence with the one he loves after having been apart has left the narrator with a feeling akin to an out-of-body experience.
One of my site visitors has observed that the song's prison setting may have been influenced, at least subconsciously, by the COVID lockdown. Although, as noted above, the roots of "Feel" date back to 2003, its "resurrection," recording, and possible revisions for Nonetheless may be COVID-related. After all, during the lockdown people were unable to visit friends and relatives, often feeling imprisoned within their own homes. People could see each other only in limited, special circumstances (such as remotely via video), which may be viewed as akin to visiting a loved one in prison.

Mixes/versions

Officially released

Mixers: James Ford, Jas Shaw
- Album version (5:02)
- Single / Radio Edit (3:31)
Mixer: Pete Gleadall
- Demo (4:53)

List cross-references

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