Sam Fender shares cover of Lindisfarne's Winter Song for Christmas

24 November 2020, 18:36 | Updated: 26 November 2020, 12:48

The Geordie singer-songwriter has unveiled his take on the 1970 festive song by the Newcastle folk rock band Lindisfarne.

Sam Fender has shared his take on Winter Song.

The North Shields singer-songwriter covered the track from fellow "certified Geordie legends" Lindisfarne, which appeared on their 1970 album Nicely Out Of Tune and was written by founding member Alan Hull.

Fender also shared a unique lyric video to accompany the song, which was made in collaboration with the People Of The Streets organisation and features photos captured by the homeless.

Watch it below:

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Sam Fender said of the news: "I’m so excited to share this with you, I’ve recorded a cover of ‘winter song’ by Alan Hull, for those who don’t know him, Alan was the main writer in the band Lindisfarne (certified Geordie legends) I wanted to do a Christmas song, I wanted it to be close to my home and my heart.

"For me the words are more relevant this year than ever, Christmas won’t be the same for a lot of people this year, that’s why I picked this song. Alan truly was one of the most fantastic and underrated writers of his time, I hope I’ve done it justice, I’m really proud of it."

Founded in a university bedroom in 2017, People of the Streets is an international social enterprise that puts human stories at the heart of the public conversation on homelessness. Participants in their courses learn photography skills and develop a portfolio of visual and written work, which is then exhibited in a range of venues and offered for sale, with profits from each sale going to the creator of the work through a self-development fund administered by the participant in partnership with social workers. The video features a number of those photographs, sharing a perspective of the street from those currently living on it.

In tandem with the People of the Streets collaboration, Sam is also selling The Big Issue via his official webstore at www.samfender.com – with vendors unable to work due to COVID restrictions, has partnered with The Big Issue will all profits going straight back to the magazine to be split between them and the vendors.

Stream the track here:

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