Lyrics:
Time heal me. Time free me
Take this pain. Make me whole again
 
Children hear me. Always be near to me
Take my hand. Understand
 
Don’t you run away from me, just stay with me, and lay with me

Lover, hold me. Caress the cold from me
Free your will. Time stands still

Father, teach me. Mother, reach me
Brother, raise me up. Sister, show me love

Don’t you run away from me, just stay with me, and lay with me

Time heal me, time heal me, time heal me.

Commentary: This song expresses a desire to be healed. The phrase “time is a healer” is used so often when explaining grief that it’s almost a cliché. Clichés usually contain a grain of truth and I’ve found pain does ease with time. But it doesn’t disappear, and the implication of the song is that I’m not yet healed. I don’t know if anyone ever is completely but this song is a plea for peace and intended to soothe the listener. The inclusion in the song of my children, a lover, my parents and sister acknowledges that the ones you love can help you get through tough times.

Sing like your life depends on it

Ben Westwood: Time Heal Me

Lyrics:
Sometimes I wake and I cannot find the light
Although it’s day, I’m stuck here in the night
Life knocks me down to the floor. I cannot take anymore, I need the strength to fight

But only you can get me through this. What I wouldn’t do for one sweet kiss

Because I miss you my love, I miss you my love
When you’re gone the blues will come,
And I know they won’t leave, til you’re here with me

Sometimes I dream and I don’t want it to end. 
And in my dreams every stranger is a friend
Wish I could fly away there, let go of every care, not crash to earth again

But only you can get me through this. What I wouldn’t do for one sweet kiss

Because I miss you my love, I miss you my love
When you’re gone the blues will come, 
And I know they won’t leave, til you’re here with me

Only you can get me through this. What I wouldn’t do for one sweet kiss

Because I miss you my love, I miss you my love
When you’re gone the blues will come, 
And I know they won’t leave, til you’re here with me
So don't ever leave
Til you're here with me
Til you're here with me

Commentary:
This is probably the saddest song on the album. It was written just before going into the studio and was something I knew I had to write. Whenever you lose someone very close to you, the feeling that never ends is missing them. This is also one of the few songs in which I include my children’s experiences. The first verse about “being stuck in the night” is about their bad dreams. The second verse about not wanting dreams to end is about the good dreams we have all had about their mum, which can be both comforting and traumatic. The lyrics of the bridge are perhaps the most desperate lines I’ve written: “What I wouldn’t do for one sweet kiss.” It took me a long time to be able to put grief into words but this song sums it up as well as I can. There is optimism at the end though, with the line “til you’re here with me” expressing hope that we will see her again somewhere.

Ben Westwood: I Miss You

Lyrics:
My love for you, how it grows. 
I fell for you, that’s the way it goes
I hoped that you would cure my woes
Bring me out of the shadows

But no, no. Don’t you think of leaving
Don’t go. If you go, I may stop believing in anything
Cos you’re my everything now

My love for you, how it grows. 
I fell for you, that’s the way it goes
I hoped that you would cure my woes
Bring me out of the shadows 

But no, I said no. Don’t you think of leaving
Don’t go. If you go, I may stop breathing

Just hold me til it hurts, hold me til it hurts
Don’t let me go til the dawn, just lay in my arms

Your love is like a naked flame
And like a moth I burn again 
But I want you wild, don’t want you tame
In lonely hours I say your name

I say now, tell me now, don’t you keep me waiting
And how, tell me how, could my world keep rotating? 
Without you,  and I can’t be without you, no

So hold me til it hurts, hold me til it hurts
Hold me til the break of the dawn in your arms
In your arms
In your arms

Your love is like a naked flame
And like a moth I burn again
But I want you wild, don’t want you tame
In lonely hours I whisper your name 
I whisper your name now

I said now, tell me now, don’t you keep me waiting
And how, tell me how, could my world keep rotating? 
Without you, and I can’t live without you, no

So hold me til it hurts, hold me til it hurts
Hold me til the break of the dawn in your arms. 
In your arms
In your arms

Commentary: This is a darker, desperate love song which expresses the feeling of wanting someone so much that it's painful. There is a brooding mood to the song which I think comes from trying to reconcile desires and loneliness. It's also one of my most ambitious songs, testing my vocal range to the limit over two octaves.

Ben Westwood: Hold me til it hurts

Lyrics:

Sometime you’re sweet, sometimes you’re so cold.
Don’t you get tired of playing games?

I want to see how this story unfolds.
Am I deluded, do you feel the same?
 
Is this falling in love, falling in love, am I falling in love or just falling?
Don’t wanna be falling
 
Sometimes I see you and you look right through me.
Are you just playing hard to get?

And do you care what you’re doing to me?
I guess I haven’t got you figured out yet
 
Is this falling in love, falling in love, am I falling in love or just falling?
Don’t wanna be falling
 
When you go it’s like I’m falling fast. 
I don’t know if we are going to last
But when I’m with you I touch the sky
You make me feel I can fly, like I can fly
 
Sometime you’re sweet, sometimes you’re so cold
Don’t you get tired of playing games?

I wanna see how this story unfolds.
Am I deluded, do you feel the same?
 
Is this falling in love, falling in love, am I falling in love or just falling?
And only you can keep me from falling

Commentary: This song is about the precariousness of love. Those moments when you are not sure if the other person feels the same. Are you falling down a hole with unrequited love or is this really falling in love? It’s a special song to me because I wrote most of it weeks before my wife was first diagnosed with cancer, so the precariousness is real. But there’s also an innocence about the song that I appreciate. It’s almost like a postcard from a previous life.

Ben Westwood: Falling

My new single off my upcoming 2nd album, Coming up for air.
Check out the video which has received over 5k hits so far: https://www.facebook.com/benwestwoodmusic/videos/2208969769385461/