A look into some songs

So it's been ages since I've even logged into this site to update anything (and even now I'm not updating anything)

I also had to go back and check if I'd already mentioned the T-shirts (I had...) although these may be slightly closer to happening!

while putting together this album that is currently having the time frame of Chinese democracy (the Guns n Roses album that took over 10 years to make...) I wanted to give people a bit of insight into some of the songs, where they came from and how they evolved. I'd originally planned to do this either as an audio thing or even short videos. I love the idea of going back to some of the places that inspired these songs with somebody who can film it so I can get across another layer of what makes these songs.

Some bring back pretty vivid pictures or moments of things as simple as surrounding scenery but conjuring those moments has always been something special about some of these songs.

Here's an old clip from a song currently known as Fly Away (not to be confused with the Lenny Kravitz song) I went through a phase of having song titles with brackets in so at one point this was called (Let Me) Fly Away hence this old version being called let me...

So a little background to this song... It was written somewhere in the 09/10 period, I can't remember a specific month but I know the majority of the lyrics were penned on a train travelling from Pembroke Dock towards Cardiff, specifically after the Camarthen station. As with a lot of songs from this album there are roots in relationships and more often than not they're not necessarily about the positives (Advice - when the positives are there go and live them!) It should probably also be noted that not too long after this period I was diagnosed with depression, this blog will end up being probably the most open I've been in public about that journey/battle/however people choose to label it however not so much in this post. The song brings back the South Wales train journey (I have a strong distaste of train journeys however they always provided time to reflect and to write despite their many discomforts) Also for anyone who does read this the South of Wales is a truly beautiful place with some breath taking landscapes and scenery, it also has some excellent castles... but enough of that for now!

Here's the lyrics for Fly Away -

it's over now

suns come up to shine a new light

to start the day again

time to put up another fight

or maybe turn away

face the day a different way

close my eyes wish it all behind

wish me back to yesterday

Let me fly away

I'm at peace to die today

one more run I don't need to make

It's another chance I don't want to take

I could learn to love again

but I don't really need to

I've seen it all and done enough

with everything I've been through

see I've already danced with fire

fallen for the darkest soul

tried kissing many shadows

and turned water into gold

Let me fly away

I'm at peace to die today

one more run I don't need to make

It's another chance I don't want to take

seen your face a thousand times

run my hands across the lines

breathed the air that you fed to me

I was everything that I could be

now I'm done with all life brings

let me untie these wings

so i can fly away somewhere new

all Im left to say is thank you

always said I could live forever

but now Im ready made for heaven

so let me die today

let me fly away

This is the lyrics presented in their original form, since then there's been a couple of tweeks in how they fit with the music but the general outline is the same, as various times the 3rd verse/bridge has been dropped from the song but i've always been fond of it.

The song has an underlying message of being at peace despite the less than happy overall tone and is probably one of my favourite sets of lyrics I've written (I may quickly regret starting with a favourite)

Hopefully it's been a semi interesting read and as mentioned before if I have chance to revisit these as short videos I certainly will. I wish I could remember more about how the music for this came about, I know the bridge in the recorded version comes from a very old song I wrote probably around 2006, it's a simple idea with some build and delay but you'll have to wait for the album to hear it!