– Fan Fun “Song of the Week” Series –
by Damianista | Fan Fun With Damian Lewis | September 24, 2025
“Makin’ Plans is a song the Stones themselves might be proud to have under their belt.” – David Nobakht, Buzz Magazine
As we count down to Damian’s return to the stage, guitar in hand, in Ireland, I’m excited to share my thoughts on another track from his debut album Mission Creep. And this time, it’s one where Damian plugs in the electric guitar. Let’s talk about Makin’ Plans.
But before we dive into Makin’ Plans, if you missed earlier posts in our Song of the Week series, you can catch up on the stories behind Zaragoza, She Comes, Never Judge A Man By His Umbrella, Harvest Moon., Wanna Grow Old In Paris, Such a Night, Soho Tango, and Pentonville Prison.
Makin’ Plans is so rock ’n’ roll that I literally can’t sit still—I have to dance. And yes, I do—right in my living room, pretending I’m ripping it up on an electric guitar. (No, there’s thankfully no video of that! Hahaha.)
Neil McCormick, who interviews Damian about his musical journey for The Telegraph, chooses Makin’ Plans as a standout track on the album. He describes it as “a 12-bar roadhouse blues that energetically mines 1970s rock and boogie from T. Rex to Status Quo for a tale of a disastrous road trip. Delivered with black humour, it includes horrific imagery of a road accident.” So, on the surface, the song is about a road trip gone terribly wrong—possibly inspired by Damian’s own motorbike crashes, which he also speaks about with The Telegraph.
“I’ve had two motorbike crashes. One of them I was very lucky to come out of. Right outside Pentonville Prison on the Caledonian Road, I went straight into the windscreen of a car. Terrible, terrible, terrible crash. I woke up in the middle of the road a few minutes later. Had I not been wearing a closed helmet, I’d be very surprised if I was sitting here right now.”
Just last week, I wrote about Damian’s motorbike crash in front of Pentonville Prison—and how he got a song out of that scary experience. But Makin’ Plans goes beyond a simple crash story. At his gigs, Damian usually sets it up with a grin and asks:
“Do you make plans? And they go to shiiit?”
Classic Damian, right? And that’s what makes me think the crash in Makin’ Plans is really a metaphor for how life can suddenly wreck even our most carefully laid plans. The lyrics paint this vivid picture of a guy, Damian, finally at peace, past struggles behind him, holding hope and dreams for the future.
Rolling down the highway with the sun on my back
Road wide open, I don’t need to look back
The horizon’s calling, my plans sitting by my side
Yonder all before us lie
Vast desert of eternity
My troubles are behind me
My plans and me enjoy the ride
He’s cruising down an open road, eyes fixed on the horizon, when suddenly—an accident shatters everything. In a moment, those carefully crafted plans disappear, reminding us how fragile life is.
Then we hit a hole in the road
A black hell that almost swallowed us whole
The axel cracked, the fender was crushed
The engine exploded, my body was stuck
My eyes were bleeding, a bone sticking out of my shoulder
Here’s a glimpse of Damian singing Makin’ Plans at The Tabernacle London at EFG London Jazz Festival in November 2022.
For me, that hole Damian hits in the middle of the road feels like a metaphor for Helen’s illness—her fight with cancer and, in the end, her passing. It doesn’t just wreck the car, which I think symbolizes the happy, steady life they once had—it also destroys every plan the two of them were making for the future. What really gets me, though, is the way Damian describes “his plans” as if they were alive, trying to get away after the crash. It’s such a haunting image.
Just up ahead I could see a shape
Stumblin’ and cryin’, desperate to escape
His blood spilled black
He might have been a ghost or a soldier
I believe the brilliant design artist Charlie Drinkwater has immortalized this metaphor on the album art work.
And he even narrates the death of his dreams…
Then their soul rose, I saw it float
And a black hole swallowed them whole
‘Cause I was makin’ plans, but now they all battered and torn
And the plans I had, got beaten up and now they all gone
Read the rest of the original article at Fan Fun With Damian Lewis