I Never Learnt to Share

It's an in-joke, he's an only child. The joke is that his "brother and [his] sister" can't "speak to [him]" because they don't exist, so obviously he can't blame them.

But then the title reveals the depth of the song, in that he always resented being an only child because he never learnt the basic social skills that other kids developed through interaction with their siblings, like how "to share" toys and the like.

This is what he said in an interview with Clash magazine:

CLASH : What inspired the lyrics of "Never Learnt to share"? Was it a lament at being an only child? JAMES BLAKE : (Smiles)Possibly,yeah. I mean I don't think I thought of that at the time,but maybe you could extrapolate that
from it. It's sort of an in-joke with myself,because I don't have a brother or sister;I don't blame them because they don't exist.

Love this song because it seems so simple and childish at first, but when you take another second to think about it you realize his "brother and sister" are actually his peers, and what he never learned to share is his thoughts and feelings.

This is going to be huge. Wait until this drops in the US. Pitchfork will be all over it...

I could be wrong here, but I think his brother and his sister doesn't speak to them. He doesn't, however, blame them.

(Just joking around, I love this song.)

Before researching this song, I interpreted it as being about having burnt bridges with family and dealing with the repercussions; his siblings don't speak to him due to a fault in his personality/actions. By acknowledging and accepting these faults, Blake can't "blame them," because he understands that he would do the same thing if he were in their shoes. I came to this conclusion more from my personal life rather than thinking about it through his life.

After a quick Google search, I know now that Blake is an only child and meant the song to moreso be a commentary on being one. The message is still profound nonetheless. I feel pretentious now lol.

This is great stuff! James Blake is very a talented musician and he´s only 22 years old. What to come...?

For a while my brother-in-law and sister didn't speak to me because I dropped out of high school. They still don't talk to me like they used to. Guess I shamed the whole family. I've cried to this song, and it still hurts, but I'm just gonna suck it up and move on. If they don't want a relationship with me any more its their loss. I'll always love my sister and she'll never know how much I looked up to her.

Such a great song. Beautiful and sad, my favorite kind :)

This is going to be huge. Wait until this drops in the US. Pitchfork will be all over it...