Paolo Nutini:

Out of everything I get asked in terms of doing interviews, the one thing I dig the least is when someone literally wants you to tell them what a song is about. I don’t like reading it when it’s other people’s songs and I hate having to be so literal, because it really doesn’t matter. It’s what it means to you.

But there’s this song by an Irish man called Doctor Millar [aka Sean Millar]. The album is called The Bitter Lie and the song is called ‘These Days’. It’s not easy to get hold of – I think it might have come out in the ‘90s.

This song came around again in my head, in a conversation over whiskey. I went back in and did some more digging. I just spent the day with it on, with my bass in my hand, thinkin’, “I’m gonna try pull one of the ideas I had from the caves!”

‘These Days’ went right into me. It just hit me. There were things going on in my life at that point and it seemed to echo it perfectly. It’s the song that’s had the most impact on me for quite a long time. In fact, every fucking song on that album is amazing. The lyrics, the way he sings... It’s just what I needed at that time.

Paolo Nutini's new album, Last Night In The Bittersweet, is out now. Read our album review here.

Read the full 'The Track That Changed My Life' feature in the special 45th Birthday issue of Hot Press – out now: