Composers
Words Paul Herron
Music Jim Walker
This is a poem written to a piece of music composed by Jim Walker. Jim had originally recorded a song to this – but he wasn’t happy with the lyrics (which was a shame because I liked his lyrics which included the lyric ‘did you hear he’s coming home’) It was originally about a man who had lived away from home for a lifetime and was returning home.
I took the original idea and reworked it as a poem.
On the recording, we removed the original vocal line that Jim had recorded – but, if you have very sharp hearing, Jim’s original vocal line is still the background. The vocal track was picked up on subsequent instrumental layers from the headphones. We considered re-recording the instruments – but we were afraid that the song would lose freshness. We also left in some of the original lyrics as we play out the song.
And I Remembered
I stood tall
Boots on the heather and stone
The city far behind
And I looked out across Atlantic skies
Rain on the Islands
Sunshine on the sea
Dark and light
Blue, grey and green
I breathed deep the sweet scent of mountain flowers and salty air
And closed my eyes and remembered
The back room
We sat on the floor with cousins
Listening to the talk
Of Uncles and aunts, mums and dads
Together, tight
Close as Aran knit
Laughing and singing
Safe in numbers
Smiling, wisdom, times of change
And outside the streets echoed
This town, would never be the same.
I stood tall
Boots on the heather and stone
The city far behind
And I looked out across Atlantic Skies
And I remembered
Did you hear, did you hear – he’s coming home.