It’s not often I publish a completely new song. Usually I put something out when it’s been through five to ten years of attempted recordings, live trials, years of being ignored etc. This has gone from an idea to a completed recording in just a couple of months.
I was driving over to Gerry Callaghan’s to work on the Heaven Sent album when I started making up a song, just as I ascended Drum Brae. It seemed like a song to a lover from long ago. When I got to Gerry’s I put down a quick version, expecting I’d forget it soon. But it haunted me for a few days, as more lyrics fell into place and I realised I wasn’t thinking of an old girlfriend but of my adoptive father Lewis, who died aged 55 while I was living abroad in my early 20s.
I’d been snide and sarcastic to him for many of my teenage years despite the gift of music and performance he’d given me, and I’d never had a chance to apologise or make amends. Perhaps this will do.
If I could be with you
Tell you what we’d do
If I could be with you
We’d sing the songbooks through
Taking on the whole world with our love
If I could be with you
If you came through that door
That ever open door
If you came through that door
Five steps across the floor to me
We’d take on the whole world with our love
If I could be with you
If I could turn back time
And take a different line
If I could turn back time
I’d take your hands in mine
We’d take on the whole world with our love
If I could be with you
If I could be with you
Tell you what we’d do
If I could be with you
We’d sing the songbooks through
Taking on the whole world with our love
If I could be with you