10 Paul Weller songs that tell the British music legend's story

While he made his name as the frontman of a punk band, Weller’s influences range from Curtis Mayfield to The Kinks, via Krautrock, Motown, Northern Soul and much more.

Having enjoyed success with The Style Council in the ‘80s, Weller’s solo career blossomed during the Britpop era, a time when his influence on the likes of Oasis, Blur and Ocean Colour Scene earned him his ‘Modfather’ title. In 2022, he’s still being hailed as a mentor by massively popular singer-songwriter Sam Fender.

'I follow my own instincts and hope people will like it and come with it'. (Image: PA Images)

A winner of four Brit Awards, the 64-year-old from Woking has been one of Britain’s most prominent musicians since he was 19, and this week we’re giving him the ‘Life in Songs’ treatment. 

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Some big hitters are missing from this list, including one that topped the UK charts for three weeks, but this is not ‘the best of Paul Weller’. These are 10 songs and five bonus tracks that tell the story of a man who last year released the 27th studio album of a career that has spanned 45 years and shows no sign of coming to an end in the near future.

Speaking to the NME in 2020, Weller said: “I always still follow my own instincts and hope people will like it and come with it.”

That’s exactly what happened with the songs below.

THE JAM - IN THE CITY (In The City, 1977)

Comprising Weller, bassist Bruce Foxton and drummer Rick Buckler, The Jam would eventually transcend punk, but they delivered one of the genre’s finest moments with their first release. Weller’s spit and snarl are fully formed as he tells his elders that ‘the kids know where it’s at’. 

In 2007, influential American music website Pitchfork called it “one of the great debut singles”. 

THE JAM - DOWN IN THE TUBE STATION AT MIDNIGHT (All Mod Cons, 1978)

The story of a man being assaulted in a tube station by a gang of skinheads who ‘smelt of pubs, and Wormwood Scrubs, and too many right-wing meetings’. Tension is heightened by the sound of a heartbeat in the left audio channel, and its visceral lyrics led to the song being banned by the BBC. 

“It’s disgusting the way punks sing about violence” complained DJ Tony Blackburn, adding: “Why can’t they sing about trees and flowers?”.

THE JAM - THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT (Sound Affects, 1980)

Over acoustic guitar, Weller sings of ‘a smash of glass and the rumble of boots’ and ‘a freezing cold flat and damp on the walls’. The slice-of-life lyrics would be at home in a John Cooper Clarke song or Ken Loach film. 

THE JAM - TOWN CALLED MALICE (The Gift, 1982)

The Jam had covered Heatwave by Martha Reeves & The Vandellas on 1979's Setting Sons, and that influence was clear on possibly Weller’s most beloved song. Building on the social commentary of That’s Entertainment and adding a Motown beat, it’s a set closer at most Weller gigs.

THE JAM - THE BITTEREST PILL (I EVER HAD TO SWALLOW) (The Gift, 1982)

Few opening lyrics set a song’s stall out so perfectly as ‘In your white lace and your wedding bells/you look the picture of contented new wealth’. Weller’s soul influences again shone through on a tale of love, bitterness and jealousy that was featured in Channel 4’s This Is England ‘86.

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THE STYLE COUNCIL - SHOUT TO THE TOP! (Our Favourite Shop, 1985)

Weller went straight from the Jam into a new project with keyboardist Mick Talbot, who helped him realise his more soulful vision. 

The highest compliment you can pay this one is that it wouldn’t sound out of place on a mixtape next to Move On Up by Curtis Mayfield. Amid rousing handclaps and stirring strings, Weller insists that 'when you’re knocked on your back and your life’s a flop' there’s 'nothing else but to shout to the top'.

THE STYLE COUNCIL - WALLS COME TUMBLING DOWN (Our Favourite Shop, 1985)

With Weller a vocal campaigner against Thatcherism, this defiant Northern Soul stomper calls out “the public enemies at number 10” who “dangle jobs like a donkey’s carrot”. 

PAUL WELLER - WILD WOOD (Wild Wood, 1993)

The Style Council disbanded in 1989, and Weller re-emerged three years later with a self-titled album. With the following year’s Wild Wood he really began to find his groove as a solo artist. Its pastoral title track has been remixed by Portishead and covered by Good Will Hunting star Minnie Driver.

PAUL WELLER - YOU DO SOMETHING TO ME (Stanley Road, 1995)

The Weller song you’re most likely to hear after the word ‘ladies and gentlemen, the bride and groom’, he accompanied Adele on it during a 2008 BBC 6 Music session and did the same for Celeste in an Apple Music performance 11 years later. 

PAUL WELLER - COSMIC FRINGES (Fat Pop, 2021)

Although he released offcuts collection Will Of The People earlier this year, Weller’s most recent original record was 2021’s Fat Pop, which he recorded during lockdown. Ian Dury released his debut album months after Weller’s with the Jam in 1977, and traces of the cult hero’s distinctive delivery can be heard in the vocals on this burst of electro-pop. 

BONUS TRACKS

PAUL WELLER - I WALK ON GILDED SPLINTERS (Stanley Road, 1995)

A swaggering reimagining of the 1968 original by New Orleans legend Dr. John, Weller’s version soundtracked the powerful montage that wrapped up season four of classic HBO drama The Wire. 

THE SMOKIN’ MOJO FILTERS - COME TOGETHER (Help, 1995)

The Help Album was released in 1995 to raise funds for War Child, and featured the likes of Blur, Oasis, Radiohead and the Stone Roses. Weller takes lead vocals on this Beatles cover, with the band featuring Noel Gallagher, Ocean Colour Scene’s Steve Cradock, Carleen Anderson of the Young Disciples, Steve White from the Style Council and a certain Mr P. McCartney on guitar, piano and backing vocals.

PAUL WELLER - WISHING ON A STAR (Studio 150, 2004)

Also covered by the likes of Beyonce, Jay-Z and Seal, Weller’s sleek version of the 1978 Rose Royce hit featured on his 2004 collection of covers.

AMY WINEHOUSE AND PAUL WELLER WITH JOOLS HOLLAND & HIS RHYTHM & BLUES ORCHESTRA - DON’T GO TO STRANGERS (Amy Winehouse at the BBC, 2006)

“She was just amazing. She came down to rehearsals and just blew all of us away”, said Weller of this collaboration with the late Amy Winehouse. His admiration is clear during this cover of Etta Jones’ 1960 classic, which was performed on Jools Holland’s Hootenanny. The pair would also perform a version of I Heard It Through The Grapevine.

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PAUL WELLER WITH JULES BUCKLEY & THE BBC SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA - ENGLISH ROSE (An Orchestrated Songbook, 2021)

Originally appearing on the Jam’s 1978 album All Mod Cons and the second song on this list to appear in This Is England ‘86, this stark ballad received a new lease of life in 2021. One of Weller’s greatest love songs became something grander thanks to the BBCSO’s lush orchestration.

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