TL:DR – Wrote and recorded a song, Bridges, for the homeless around the time our choir sang with Jimmy’s Night Shelter in Cambridge. Uploaded to Bandcamp and offering any profits to the charity. The song has had numerous live outings, most recently in front of the choir during our 2023 “Partners’ Evening” Christmas event.
Tuesday night, three-hour demo from first idea (the line “embedded with waifs and strays” which sprung unbidden into my head) and two evolutions of the chord progression, lots of lyrical ad libbing in various takes, played it “live” to friends at Sunday Arts Night with some tweaked and hopefully tighter lyrics and a bit of a modulated turnaround in the second time chorus. A week after inception, I’ve re-recorded it entirely this evening with a slightly higher tempo and added a “duet” harmony. Not sure whether this is the final version or whether there will be a full one-man-band production with a drum track, bass, keys/pads, electric guitar and egg shaker as is my usual wont. (Latest version now on Bandcamp does now feature tambourine and stombox percussion and bass guitar). I hope the message, for once, is obvious.
Bridges (Crossed and Burned)
She is down on her luck, with no place to turn
Embedded with waifs and strays, her skin patched with bruises and burns
The clothes on her back are tattered and torn
She sleeps in the doorways, where drunks spit out their cold scorn
A lonely young man, with no money to spare
Staggered to see her pain, not sure if he should care
He stretches out his hand, clings to the hope that she can stand
But her fear backs her into the shadows
A helpless girl in a hopeless land
He’s a stranger to luck got no place to turn
Embedded with the waifs and strays, his sin was only to yearn
The coat on his back is matted and worn
He sleeps in old boxes, wishing he’d never been born
If only somebody, with a minute to spare
Would offer some tea and their hand, to prove that somebody cares
So he reaches out to touch them, Grasps at hope but he can’t stand
And their guilt drags them out of the shadows
Their focus sharp on their homemade plans
What do you do when you lose your way?
How do you cope with that pain?
In a world that just turns away
Well bridges are crossed and bridges are burned
You know that the truth is the proof
It’s a lesson that never is learned
You know that the truth is the proof
A lesson that never is learned