Ben's Brother song Stuttering (Kiss me again) provoked various reactions from BSA members. Some wrote to us saying they very much disliked this song. Others felt it was a great number which deals with stuttering very sympathetically, and could be good for stammering awareness.

BSA Vice Chair Leys Geddes and Jan Anderson of BSA Scotland asked Jamie Hartman if he'd like to comment. Jamie is the frontman and founder of Ben's Brother. He replied: 'I wrote the song when I was staying with my friend Jennifer who lives in Stockholm about 4 years ago. I woke up one morning, picked up the guitar, started strumming the chords and that "It's been, it's been, it's been, it's been, s-s-such a long time, long time, long time" lyric and that was it. I'd remembered a time when I was at school and was so scared of asking a girl out that when it came to speaking to her I repeated myself and couldn't communicate properly. She stood there and I went red. I remembered the frustration at how I felt misunderstood and deflated and embarrassed. I thought about how easy she could have made it by kissing me - and how that would have given me my confidence back in one split second. So actually - the song and the Stuttering idea were simply a metaphor for lack of confidence, really.'

Did Jamie think about how the song might be perceived by people who stutter more persistently? Or that the public might assume it is about someone who stutters? 'To be honest - no! I didn't. I don't live in a headspace where I consider it appropriate to explain to a public why or under what circumstances a song is written. Art should need no explanation - it is there to serve the purpose of eliciting a response from those who view or hear it. An emotional response. Of course - there are some who will hear it and react negatively - as with all art. Others will react positively. I've had people emailing and saying they just love the song because it's catchy - I've had some saying they want to use it as their theme song because they stutter - others who hate it. That's art!'

www.bensbrother.com
www.myspace.com/bensbrothermusic

From the Winter 2008 issue of Speaking Out, page 5.