Sheila (Jamie T song)

"Sheila" is the first single by Jamie T from his debut album Panic Prevention. The song features excerpts of John Betjeman's poem "The Cockney Amorist". The song was re-released on 7 May 2007 with a new B-side, "Rawhide", featuring vocals by Lily Allen. It charted at number fifteen in the UK.

The song has three tragic stories, the first about a girl called Sheila who is out in London, gets drunk, and stumbles into the River Thames and drowns. The second is of a gangster/drug dealer named Jack "The Crackaman" (reference to drugs) and his friends Mickey, Dan, Lisa and Sam. A single father who is gunned down on the streets of London. The third and final story tells of a girl called Georgina, her alcoholic father has been beating her, then he dies and she kills herself by taking an overdose.

When interviewed by the BBC collective website Jamie T said of the material in the song

“Tragedy is always a fun topic isn’t it?” he says, “Like Carlito’s Way - great film - and you think he’s gonna make it in the end but then… There’s something that attracts you about storylines like that. I go out every Friday and Saturday and I see people get the shit kicked out of them. It’s not nice, but I’ll be in the pub the next day going, ‘Mate, this bloke got the fucking shit kicked out of him last night.’ It’s just gossip on record basically. I should work for Heat magazine.” Bob Hoskins appears in the song's 2007 music video. He has also appeared in other music videos.

Sheila's friend "Stella" refers to the beer Stella Artois.

The song has been covered by singer-songwriter Leddra Chapman, who released it on an EP.

Track listings

In the UK

1. "Sheila"
2. "Sheila" (Live at Panic Prevention)