– Fan Picked Favorite Damian Lewis Songs –
by Gingersnap | Fan Fun with Damian Lewis | February 11, 2025
Today Damian Lewis turns 54! Happy Birthday Damian, from the Fan Fun with Damian Lewis Team and all the fandom around the world! Every January the Team begins contemplating what we can do differently to celebrate Damian’s birthday in February and year after year we strive to be creative and unique. In 2022 we baked and decorated 51 Birthday Cakes, in 2023 we mixed 52 Celebratory Cocktails, and in 2024 we dedicated 53 songs to him by other artists. We’ve been bakers, we’ve been mixologists and now it’s time to re-enter the DJ booth, lay down some tracks and scratch out those beats on the deck. With the release of his debut album Mission Creep and recent UK tour part II, what better way to continue that music theme than to celebrate Damian’s 54th birthday with our favorite Damian Lewis songs! This idea came to us from our friends on RSJ Fan World, the lovely ladies who do exactly what we do, but for Damian’s good friend and Band of Brothers co-star Richard J. Speight, J. Thank you, Rain and Beth!
We planned, conspired and mobilized the fandom in the back channels of Twitter, Instagram or Facebook DM’s, as well as e-mail, to accomplish this secret project. With our idea set in motion the goal remained the same…to bring a smile to Damian’s face. The task was simple: choose your favorite Damian Lewis song, whether off his debut album Mission Creep or a new song from his highly anticipated second album that he’s been playing for audiences at his recent gigs. In fact, he’s introduced 9 new songs at those gigs by our count!
Fans picked their favorite Damian Lewis song with a virtual message to the birthday boy and now we’re sharing the playlist with all of you.
TRACKLIST WE CHOSE FROM:
Mission Creep Side A:
1. Down on the Bowery
2. Soho Tango
3. Hole in My Roof
4. Harvest Moon
5. My Little One
6. She Comes
Mission Creep Side B:
1. After Midnight
2. Zaragoza
3. Never Judge a Man By His Umbrella
4. Wanna Grow Old in Paris
5. Makin’ Plans
6. Why?
Bonus Track: Such a Night
New Songs From Recent Gigs/Upcoming Album:
1. Pentonville Prison
2. Question Mark
3. Love Bomb
4. Suck My Blood
5. She Makin’ Me Change
6. Traffic Jam
7. Grey at the Temple
8. A Man Named Sal
9. Naughty
Read along with us as we share photos/videos of each favorite song, the DJ’s name and location, and reason for choosing the particular song. And can I just say that we are in awe of the fans’ creativity and generosity. Some participants have put a lot of work into this and we are so moved.
Oh, and there is a surprise at the very end waiting for you. On behalf of the entire Fan Fun with Damian Lewis Team, we want to thank all those who participated.
Welcome back to Fan Fun AM-FM, a virtual radio station. Hey DJ, play that Damian Lewis song!
Favorite Song: She Comes
DJ’s Name: Damianista
DJ’s Location: Durham, North Carolina – USA
My Favorite Song Because: As Damian has repeatedly said Mission Creep is not a grief album. Yet, thanks to the songs being based on Damian’s life experiences and the particular time he wrote them, several songs on the album are about the great late Helen McCrory. And from the Elvis-y ‘Little One’ to the beautiful ballad ‘Wanna Grow Old in Paris,’ I love them all. But ‘She Comes’ is the one that has stood out for me since the first time I heard it at Damian’s first ever gig at Omeara London.
And I am happy to report that the music critic of The Sunday Times who was also at the Omeara gig agrees with me.
“…he closed on a high with a superb folk-rock track that began as a gently tumbling waltz before building to a crashing, emotionally raw blast. This was the best song of the night, sounding like a lost Jeff Buckley classic in places.”
It turns out ‘She Comes’ is the first song Damian wrote. As he reflects on the process of writing the song, he shares:
“’She Comes’ is the first song I wrote for my debut album, so that makes it…my first song (that I’ve shared with the world, at any rate…). It’s about ghosts, and one ghost in particular. The album has hybrid sounds all through it but this song leans heavily on a folk set up before crescendo-ing with a jazz feel brought by my brilliant band.”
I am a huge jazz fan. So I am in love with the jazz feel in ‘She Comes’ that Damian talks about. But more than anything I am in awe of the amazing poet that Damian is. The lyrics are so personal, so poignant, so powerful. It gives me chills. And I do not think longing for a loved one who passed could be told more beautifully or more honestly.
“She’s the bag on the floorShe’s the hat on a hookShe’s never really badBut she isn’t always good
And her lip curls and unfurlsLike the leaves in a bookShe’s a no she’s a yesShe’s anybody’s guessShe’s the click of a heelAn abandoned dressShe drove me insaneBut she’s lodged in my brain I confess”
I love it that the song is not idealizing Helen but gives her to us as a human being who is not always good and could sometimes drive you insane, but ultimately a woman that Damian deeply, deeply loves. It cannot get more real than this.
Damian says that writing songs felt very natural at some point. I completely understand. Because there are things that we can’t share with anyone in conversation. That’s why they say keeping a diary is good to convey your feelings you cannot share otherwise. And music is yet another vehicle, a truly amazing one at that, through which one can communicate their raw, intimate, and deep feelings. And I think Damian does exactly that in ‘She Comes.’ Hats off.
Here is the fantastic ‘She Comes’ music video shot at Master Shipwright’s Palace in Deptford, London, and directed by Nick Murphy who also directed Damian in the fantastic A Spy Among Friends. Damian says what they hoped to convey in the video is the feeling of an abandoned house and the ghost of the woman who once lived there. Her friends are gathering at her place to celebrate her…
Favorite Song: Never Judge a Man By His Umbrella
DJ’s Name: Gingersnap
DJ’s Location: Broken Arrow, Oklahoma – USA
My Favorite Song Because: One of my favorite Damian Lewis songs is ‘Never Judge a Man By His Umbrella.’ This jazzy groove has a jaunty, boogie-woogie blues upbeat sound and is inspired by the shenanigans and portrayal of secret agent Nicholas Elliott from Damian’s espionage mini-series A Spy Among Friends. During a guest appearance on BBC Radio WM, host Dax Hale told Damian “Never Judge a Man by His Umbrella has gotta be the song title of the year, by the way.”
This number has a mischievous quality, full of character and an all-around fun time. It is the one song Damian will sometimes play keyboards on during live gigs or dance with an umbrella 🙂 The lyrics crack me up “…says good-bye to the poochie first” and Damian’s campy pitch change on the word ‘six’ when he sings “says he loves her and he’ll be home by six” is everything.
In an interview with Weekend Magazine Damian said, “I’m not saying I’m the funniest man in the world – but I would struggle to write an album that was entirely devoid of the occasional sideways wink.” 😉 Here are some of my favorite lyrics from the song:
“He wears a suit and nice tie (Damian kills in a suit)
Takes breakfast with his nice wife
Puts a hat on to go to work (Damian is a frequent hat wearer)
Says good-bye to the poochie first (Damian’s dog Petra)
Turns around and blows a kiss
Says he loves her and he’ll be home by six”
“He goes to the cricket (Damian plays/watches cricket, too)
His knowledge is prolific
Marmalade to start his day (very English)
The Times of London and he’s on his way”
“He’ll kiss all your children but he’ll be kissing your wife! (traitor/cheater)
Never judge a man by his umbrella…”
This song is all about treachery and deceit. Take a listen below:
Have a very happy 54th birthday, Damian! May you be surrounded by family and friends and when you go out tonight to celebrate, and don’t forget your wellies and brolly.
Favorite Song: Lady Trader
DJ’s Name: She Comes
DJ’s Location: Long Island, New York – USA
My Favorite Song Because: I dedicate ‘She Comes’ as Damian’s birthday song. I chose the live version, as I really feel live music is the only real way to experience the song and the singer’s true emotions. One of the reasons I really love this song is because it beautifully captures the emotions of losing someone that is truly loved and that has made an imprint on both Damian’s heart and life. The lyrics are poignant and heartfelt, and you can feel the love and the loss. The melody is soothing, yet melancholic, providing a sense of comfort and solace. This song not only honors the memory of Helen, but also helps in the healing process by allowing listeners to reflect on the wonderful, powerful woman that Helen was. It serves as a reminder that while the pain of loss is profound, the love and memories shared with those you lose continues to live on.
Favorite Song: Holliedazzle
DJ’s Name: Zaragoza
DJ’s Location: St. Paul, Minnesota – USA
My Favorite Song Because: Fans of the blog will know why ‘Zaragoza’ is my fave – I perform to this song! I love hearing it echo across venues across the Twin Cities and always have folks asking me “who sings that?” Happy Birthday, tall one! Can’t wait for the new album so I can choose my next act <3 Here is a video of me performing to ‘Zaragoza’ last month!
Favorite Song: My Little One
DJ’s Name: Lewisto
DJ’s Location: Durham, North Carolina – USA
My Favorite Song Because: A very, really a very, fun song to listen to. Great lyrics, great beat and super uplifting and nostalgic sound. It becomes more meaningful once one realizes that it was written after a lost beloved one.
Favorite Song: Pentonville Prison
DJ’s Name: m.lyn50
DJ’s Location: Kansas City, Kansas – USA
My Favorite Song Because: But for a helmet and an angel, we might not be celebrating Damian’s 54th birthday. I thought it fitting to choose the tuneful narrative ‘Pentonville Prison,’ his song about a near-fatal accident on a rainy night in London in 1998, as the perfect song to celebrate the big day. Following his appearance in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Much Ado About Nothing at the Barbican Theatre, Damian hopped on his motorcycle and headed home, or perhaps to his girlfriend’s place. As fate would have it, he never made it to his destination. Peering through the rain, near Pentonville Prison, he saw a taxi ahead but continued his route, not realizing the cabbie hadn’t seen him. The driver pulled out just as the two vehicles were about to meet. His bike hit the cab’s bumper, propelling him into the air and ultimately into the vehicle’s windshield, shattering it. He sings about this near tragedy in ‘Pentonville Prison’:
“I lay face down
Split crown
Half drowned in the rain
An angel held my hand
A helmet held my brain.”
Hitting a windshield forcefully enough to break a windshield could have been disfiguring, permanently brain-damaging, or likely even fatal. Damian’s good sense in wearing a full-face helmet prevented those fates, at least up to the point of impact. Good that he wasn’t one of those young men who threw caution to the wind and rode unprotected.
Yet there was another obstacle to a full recovery. Lying in the rain unconscious face down was a bad position to be in, but for an angel by his side. The song’s lyrics may have described an imagined angel or a heavenly one. I’m inclined to think it more likely was the male nurse who by chance was a passenger in the cab and attended him immediately following the accident. For those who believe in angels, it probably doesn’t matter because angels come in many forms, don’t they?
Thanks to a sturdy helmet and the care of an angel, Damian has spent many years since that night creating unforgettable characters through his extraordinary acting. More recently, he’s shared his considerable musical talent with fans through song compositions and performances. We celebrate this on February 11th.
Read the rest of the original article at Fan Fun with Damian Lewis