How Leave A Light On has become the anthem for everyone who needs a little help from their friends

IT’S become the world’s biggest hit about looking after your troubled mates since Ringo Starr revealed he got by with a little help from his friends.

British songwriter Tom Walker is heading to the top of the Australian charts with his soaring single Leave A Light On.

Walker’s popularity here was boosted in recent weeks as it soundtracked a Sony Bravia ad, but it is the song’s stirring story about trying to help a mate battling addiction which has struck a resounding chord.

Leave A Light On has more than 150 million streams and jumped into the iTunes top five here as Walker arrived in Sydney for his first visit.

The 26-year-old musician wrote the song when a good friend disappeared for a week and stopped taking his calls as his drug use became dangerous.

Walker was fraught with worry he was going to lose his mate and poured his anxiety into the song which was written in about five hours.

“I knew what I wanted to write about, I knew I wanted to address what had happened to my mate who had gone down the rabbit hole with addiction problems,” he said.

“At the time, I was pretty worried about him because he just dropped off the map for a good week solid. He knew I was chasing him down but he wouldn’t pick up my calls.”

Walker poured his heart out into the song, sending a message to his friends and family that he would always be there to help them in tough times.

As it has found its way into the hearts of millions over the past year, Walker was deluged with messages of gratitude for its message and harrowing stories of tragedy suffered by people who had lost loved ones to addiction or depression.

“I used to try to read through all the messages and reply to everybody but at some point, it just became impossible,” he said.

“There were people from all over the world listening to it and you can’t read all their stories without it f***ing with your head a bit because of the seriously tragic stories people were sending me, pouring their hearts out.

“But it is wicked that as a consequence of me writing something a bit selfishly to make me feel better, it has turned out to help others.”

Walker joins Australia’s Dean Lewis, whose mateship anthem Be Alright has notched up five weeks at No. 1, and a raft of young male singer songwriters penning pop music tackling matters of the heart and mind.

“There’s a lot of pop music at the moment that feels disposable, about going to a club, driving a Lamborghini, wearing gold chains … and are we still going to be listening to those songs in 10 years time?” he said.

“I can’t relate to having a Lamborghini, I can’t afford a Rolex, I don’t understand why that music has become so popular when I think people are looking for something that is actually saying something.”

In the grand old tradition of Australians claiming people with even the most tenuous links, Walker wouldn’t be enjoying all those success if not for the biggest Aussie rock band of all time, AC/DC.

His musical dream was inspired by his father taking him to see the band perform in Paris when he was a boy.

“It’s true, I wouldn’t have been a musician if my dad hadn’t taken me to see them when I was nine in Paris,” he said.

“That was when I knew I wanted to be a musician. I don’t remember anything else about being nine because who does? It’s not one of those golden ages.”

Walker’s debut album What A Time To Be Alive will be released on October 19.

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