I found you Brian!  Came looking for your music after your lovely comment on my Write it Forward on my youtube channel.  Wow....i absolutely LOVE this!!  What a great song!!!  You are a wonderful writer!

I recently found myself in France visiting my daughter and, as I stood looking over the river Somme in the beautiful city of Amiens, I thought it might be nice to have a stab at writing a song in French. Standing in such a beautiful place tends to put a chap in the mood, but what kind of song should it be? I was pondering this when, much to my surprise, I caught sight of my friend Aldo Sachs, the band's alto sax player sauntering along the river bank towards me. He seemed in remarkably good spirits and the story he told me soon revealed why.

Followers of the band will be aware that none of us is what you might call lucky in love. The romantic travails of guitarist Dee Sharpe in particular have been detailed elsewhere, as have those of drummer Kit Bashir. This tends to give some of our music a bit of a melancholic tinge. How nice, therefore, to find inspiration in a happy tale.

Five years ago, before joining the band, Aldo met and fell in love with a beautiful young street musician at the very spot at which I stood. Their careers took them to separate corners of the earth but, as they said their tearful farewells, they vowed to meet again by the banks of the Somme five years to the day from when they parted. As I watched, a dark haired beauty caught sight of Aldo from across the bridge and, dropping her cello, ran, crying with joy, into his arms. A tear formed in my eye too, and this song formed in my head as the lovers embraced. Aldo was too emotional to play the saxophone, and he'd left it in his hotel room anyway, so he held the mic, but Marie retrieved her cello from where she'd dropped it and joined in during the instrumental break.

Un Jour à Amiens

This song came to me this morning and I couldn't get if off my mind.  Wrote it and recorded it in two takes using acoustic guitar, banjo, bass, shakers, tambourine, and vocals.

When We're Together (© 2015)

The idea for this song came to me when one evening as I was leaving a restaurant I recognized one of the nurses from the hospital I had worked at years before, although it had been about a decade since I had last seen her. She really has nothing to do with the piece except provide an excuse to channel my innate artistic nature into this project.


STILL ON MY MIND



You have always been a source of inspiration
It’s good to see you in town
This is a time when I am full of expression
Which needs to come out somehow

It’s been nearly ten years
And the feeling’s still here
And my heart feel redeemed

I hope you say you will
And together fulfill
A cherished personal dream

And I hope you are happy to fine
You’re still on my mind after all of this time

Still on my mind
Luck is very much on your side
You’re still on my mind
Still on my mind after all of this time

While it is not always a good idea
To jump back in out of the blue
There’s no reason not to go through when
Fortune is smiling on you

Let’s go home and get dressed
I’ll take care of the rest
And I’ll see you ‘round nine

Later on you may be left
To wonder if you are in
The right place at the right time

But for now just be happy to find
You’re still on my mind after all of this time

Still on my mind
Luck is very much on your side
Yes, you’re still on my mind
Still on my mind after all of this time



STILL ON MY MIND

A song about loss and remembering those empty glasses and empty chairs in our lives. In the case, of my brother, the glass was pretty much always full and probably wasn’t a glass at all, but a can of Tennent’s Lager.

This song would be best with each verse sung by a different person, probably none of them me, and everyone joining in on the chorus. But that's not going to happen, at least for now, so it's just me stumbling through it. Probably best sung and listened to, if at all, while fairly drunk. We were when we recorded it.

OVERFLOWING

Many the night that we have sat around this table
The tales we’d tell and the jokes that we would crack.
I’d put my arm around you now if only I were able
If only I could have you back.

We’ll save a place for you, my friend
Whom we’re so proud of knowing
And though the chair be empty now
Our hearts are overflowing.

Many the glass that we have raised to one another
Laughing eyes across the foam
This was a party that we thought would last forever
I cried when you went home

We’ll raise a glass to you, my friend 
It is our way of showing
That though the glass be empty now
Our hearts are overflowing.

This old room still may ring with our laughter
At the memories that you left behind
But in our hearts there’s a before and there’s an after
A clock we can’t rewind 

We’ll tell our tales of you, my friend
Until it’s time for going
For laughter’s never empty when
Hearts are overflowing


Copyright 2016 Gavin Sinclair

Overflowing

When a favorite librarian at my local library retired a few years back I wrote this song following a conversation I had with her on her final day. Can fit is pop, easy listening, folk or country genres.LADY OF THE BOOKS


Linda’s been a librarian for over thirty years
But when the last day came she tried hard to hold back the tears
The rigors of the daily grind were getting to her soul
Having seen the world evolve from roll cards to digital
She knew in her heart that now it was her time to go
When the last moment comes
She’ll be flying away in a dream

She’s been a lady of the books for
As long as she can remember
Checking in new titles from
January to December

After years of bringing forth
Wisdom from the heart
Now it’s time to consult hers
And make a new start

For the next few weeks she settled into new routines
She now knew that retirement was her cup of tea
Linda has a family for whom she would behold
Now it’s time to make some popcorn, watch the movie of life unfold
Then step in to play her part; when it’s time she’ll know
And when that time comes it will be
Time for her to spread the wings and fly

She’s been a lady of the books for
As long as she can remember
Checking in new titles from
January to December

But there are folks that
She will never forget
So her choice is sprinkled
With a touch of regret

Like a buzzing bee heading into a field of flowers
Linda’s mapping out some things to fill the passing hours
She drops in at the library to share all of the news
Staff and patrons both felt that it would be hard to fill her shoes
She began to feel as if goodwill might be hers to lose
And she began to question
If she made the right move after all

She’s been a lady of the books for
As long as she can remember
Checking in new titles from
January to December

But precious memories
They still come to call
She wonders if she made
The right move after all

Although she looked forward
To the day she would leave
She still wears a touch of
Regret on her sleeve

LADY OF THE BOOKS

Brian Beecher

Recent comments

Linda Jean

Related tracks