Written in 1997, I’m sure this is a true historical event taught in schools across the country, and if not it should be!  Listen with headphones.


The King In His Maze


The King was strolling in his maze,
It’s how he likes to spend his days,
The Cardinal walking slightly behind,
With something heavy on his mind.
“Sire far be it for me to tell,
But the Queen has loved an infidel,
‘T would be best if word remained sound,
For you know how gossip abounds”

The King was strolling in his maze,
Enjoying the flowers beneath his gaze,
But this news most irksome 
Spoiled his mood,
He thought the Cardinal tactless and rude,
“Throw her in the tower!” he said,
“And in the morning cut off her head,
Then find for me,
A new wife to wed!
If the King decreed it
Better that you heed it
Let the dreadful deed be done!”

The King was strolling in his maze,
Counting out the magpies and jays,
Said the Cardinal
“Sire don’t think me a dolt,
But the peasants have risen up in revolt,
This morning when the Queen met her death
She uttered with her very last breath
“How I wish the King to be dead!”
(The basket neatly caught her head),
Now to the peasants she was by far,
Of the two of you the most popular,
As she spake up went the hurrah,
“If the Queen decreed it,
Better had we heed it,
Let the dreadful deed be done!””

The King was strolling in his maze,
While all around the palace ablaze,
The Cardinal and the courtiers adjourned,
“Better to leave than get yourself burned!”

The King was strolling in his maze,
Amid the labyrinthine ways,
In all his years he’d gradually learned,
The way the maze twisted and turned,
The peasants tried to look for the King,
They reached the maze and entered within,
But ‘ere long they found to their cost,
The maze so convoluted,
Caused the phrase now mooted,
“We are well and truly lost!”


Image by CJW biro and coloured pencils on printer paper

The King in his Maze

We never really leave the places we grow up in, despite them changing beyond all recognition, or we physically move far away, they stay with us always.  Written July 1993.


Old Town 


Everybody knows an old town,
A place where they can
Put your feet down,
Everybody knows where they belong,
Familiar calls you,
A bond so strong,
Home sweet home.

On the places long since pulled down,
Giant hoardings stand
On waste ground,
Red brick houses turn to dusty air,
In the heart they’re always there,
They’ve gone nowhere.

Oh old town 
Here I’ve grown,
Never leave you 
All I’ve known,
Old town.

Names remain where shapes have changed,
The scar of carriageways 
Over twisting lanes,
And when all the changes come,
I’ll imagine the harm undone,
So let them come.


Image taken by CJW

Old Town

Breakups hurt, but still we don’t give up on the idea of finding our ideal love, it’s a prison we make for ourselves.  Written July 2020.


My Beautiful Prison 


Well I know how it feels to hurt,
Though I don’t claim to be an expert,
I’m not letting this make my heart inert,
So I will remain always alert.

I’ve not made disbelief my religion,
I can hope without condition,
This has been my own decision,
So here am I in my beautiful prison.

Maybe it’s better to tend
The flowers I’ve grown,
Keep up with all of the friends I’ve known,
That way I’ll never be on my own,
But I still feel like a man alone.

I don’t want to give up hope,
I’m not despairing, I can cope,
The idea of love is not 
Hanging from a rope,
It’s just sealed away in an envelope.


Image taken by CJW

My Beautiful Prison

July 2021, written quite quickly, I’d taken a picture of the blue house and wanted to write a song with that title, simple as that!  Listen with headphones.


Blue House
 

I live in a blue house,
Blue like the day,
Blue like the sky 
With the clouds blown away.

You had a red house,
Red like a fight,
Red with the shouting
In the middle of the night.

I live in a blue house now,
With Love in a Mist
And Glory of the Snow,
I live in a blue house now,
Not blue like the Blues,
But blue as the water’s flow.

I live in a blue house,
Where everything’s cool,
There’s no place for trouble
In my Casa Azul

You live in a red house,
Of chaos and strife,
I couldn’t stay there 
That’s not my life.


Image taken by CJW

Blue House

Sometimes you feel divorced from everything, like everyone is going about their lives but you’re just watching from afar.  Written in 1995.


Something To Liken It To 


A table with a name scratched deep,
A window pane thick with dust
Unwoken from an endless sleep,
All moving joints seized with rust,
Here is something to liken it to.

A garden choked with weeds and thorns,
A cobweb hangs across a door,
The pathway is so overgrown,
Since no one has been here before,
Here is something to liken it to.

It’s not about keeping up,
It’s not about giving up,
Time is standing still 
While all around it moves so fast,
People growing far apart,
Here is still trapped in the past.

In perpetual eventide,
A newspaper on the chair,
A faded photo on the side,
Unopened letters on the stair,
Here is something to liken it to.


Image taken by CJW

Something To Liken It To

Written in January 2022.  Imagining love, loss and grief.  Listen with headphones.


So Loved


So loved, so adored
So much grief, out it pours 
So must I soldier on
It’s so much harder now you’re gone
You must have known this from the start
When you resided in my heart
Where just a smile, just a touch
Would cost so little, mean so much

So alone since your sojourn’s done
Solitude is all I’ve known
So what now?  My soul is bared
My soles are worn through running scared
What made you special, made you shine
Made you for all, made you mine
Made you holy, made you royal
Has all dissolved into the soil

In the end you played your part
The empress of my head
The queen of my heart
You came like an angel
You came like a dove
And you’re so adored and so loved

So I’m here to consolidate
My solemn vow, though it seems too late
So I end this soliloquy
Soaked in tears that wash over me
In the light of the setting sun
Your shadow touches everyone
But it’s not enough for me to hold
You were my world, now the world’s revolved

You must have known this from the start
When you resided in my heart
Where just a smile, just a touch
Would cost so little, mean so much

In the end you played your part
The empress of my head
The queen of my heart
You came like an angel
You came like a dove
And you’re so adored and so loved
Of everyone I’ve ever met
You gave so much
I’m forever in debt
And though you’re gone
I can’t shut the door
‘Cause you’re so loved
And so adored
In the wake of loving you
I’ll always remember
The things that we’d do
Yes, you came like an angel
Down from above
And you’re so adored and so loved


Image by CJW felt tips on printer paper

So Loved

Of course I’ll come to your shindig, but only if you’re going to be there too.  I wrote this in 1998 after I’d been to a lot of weddings.  Listen with headphones.


Invitation


I’ve got an invitation,
I’m going to a garden party,
On a Saturday in June,
I’m rubbing shoulders with
The rich and famous glitterati,
I must present myself at noon,
And I’ll try hard not to stare
At the Queen, who may be there
Seated in a golden chair.

I’ve got an invitation,
Now I’m going to a wedding,
See the bride walk up the aisle
On her father’s arm and meanwhile
Mother’s eyes are shedding
Tears that trickle down despite her smile,
But the best man forgot the ring
And the choir couldn’t really sing,
And the vicar’s known to advocate sin.

Let me know if you are going to be there,
Oh I need to know,
So repondez s’il vous plait!

I’ve got an invitation,
Request the pleasure of my being,
At the Onion Peelers Ball
A well known annual event,
To be held on Friday evening,
At the old Oddfellow’s Hall,
A tradition of fifty years,
All the Peelers come from far and near,
But it always ends in tears.

Let me know if you are going to be there,
Oh I need to know,
So make that date sill vooz plate!

I’ve got an invitation,
And the chance of your acquaintance,
But I know I’ll have to wait in anticipation
‘Though I’m trying to learn patience,
I fear I’ve left it too late,
There’s nothing more for me to do,
As it all depends on you,
And if you’re invited too,
No there’s nothing else for me to do,
But comb my hair and shine my shoes 
And hope that you’re invited too.


Image by CJW, pencil, felt tip and envelopes

Invitation

Written in 1995.  I thought of the title, got a dictionary, a thesaurus, picked up my guitar and 15 minutes later I had this.  Listen with headphones.


The Soul is Defined


The soul is defined,
As our spiritual part,
The soul is defined,
As what we keep in our heart,
It’s the wheels on our car,
Going‘round and around,
Forever searching.

The soul is defined,
As our passions and affections,
The soul is defined,
As our moods and imperfections,
Our dislikes, our predilections,
Going ‘round and around,
To keep us searching.

But there’s more to this 
Than you’ll read in a book,
There’s more to this 
If you’d just take a look,
What I feel inside,
whatever emotion
Whatever frame of mind,
What makes me whole,
That’s my soul.

The soul is defined,
As what drives us along,
The soul is defined,
As what makes us belong,
It’s what’s keeping us strong,
Going ‘round and around,
Always searching.

Avoiding all confusion,
It’s all down to evolution,
But that doesn’t stop me singing,
There’s more to this
than what you’re thinking…

The soul is defined,
As our spiritual part,
The soul is defined,
As what we keep in our heart,
It’s the wheels on our car,
Going‘round and around,
Forever searching.


Image taken by CJW

The Soul Is Defined

Written in March 1997.  The message behind this one is “don’t worry, be happy” although I appreciate that’s not always easy.  Listen with headphones.


Time and Tide


Time and tide they wait for no one
You know it when you’re melancholy
Oh so down and blue
So don’t fill your cup with sorrow
Nor lace it with bad news
Open up your eyes
See the brand new skies
Stretching overhead

Lips that touched the brim of knowing
What is good and felt it glowing
But never took a drop
You’re wanting something better
And hope it comes along
Remember time’s not tide
Once it’s offered you a ride
Won’t come this way again

It’s difficult to make predictions 
Based on what you think is true
Uncertainty prevails
Everybody feels like this
Each moment is a precipice
So step up to the edge
And when you take that stride
Spread your wings and glide
Let loose all the threads

When the moon pulls on the ocean
And makes you feel so melancholy
Oh so down and blue
Don’t fill your cup with sorrow
Nor lace it with bad news
Open up your eyes
See the brand new skies
Stretching overhead
Reach for them instead


Image painted by TGW

Time and Tide

Written in December 2020.  This is how it feels to have a panic attack.  Listen with headphones.


Red Lightning


Like red lightning on a prairie
Could strike the unwary 
So I knew that it was coming 
When I saw the beasts all running 

Oh red lightning 
It is lighting up the sky 
I feel my stomach tightening 
With every second that goes by 

Watch the flames blazing high 
Hurts my eyes as they fill the sky 
The horizon’s turning red now 
And the thunder fills my head now 

Oh red lightning 
It is lighting up the sky 
I feel my stomach tightening 
With every second that goes by 

My mood is in the gathering clouds 
That press around me like a crowd 
Trying to hide will do no good 
For lightning strikes me where I’m stood 

Oh red lightning 
It is lighting up the sky 
I feel my stomach tightening 
With every second that goes by 

Sky is dark as my knuckles whiten
It’s time for flight or fighting 
Red flash and the grass is torched now 
I feel panic as the earth is scorched now 

Oh red lightning 
It is lighting up the sky 
I feel my stomach tightening 
With every second that goes by 


Image painted by TGW

Red Lightning

Written August 2022.  She really does love the rain.


She Loves The Rain


Oh she loves the rain 
She stands in bare feet
How she loves the rain 
She runs into the street 
Let it soak her 
That heavy downpour 
It’s no joke, it’s what 
She’s renown for 

She doesn’t like humidity 
She prefers to keep cool 
Feel the raindrops on her skin 
She doesn’t need validity 
To jump in the pools 
Where the water’s gathering 

I love her in the rain 
That wettens her hair 
As showers fall again 
I’ll follow her there 
Of all the raindrops 
I know which I’d be 
One billion raindrops 
Those ones are lucky 

That splash into her hands 
And onto her cheek 
The ones she catches on her tongue 
Not the ones that quench the land 
Nor fill up the creek 
Nor make rainbows with the sun 

Of all the raindrops that must have fallen 
In darkening blooms on paving stones 
Or pointlessly into the ocean deep 
Or dripping from the eyelashes
Of rain lashed North Sea fishermen 
Or hiding lonely tears when someone weeps

Not swished by windscreen wipers 
From cars speeding towards maternity wards
Or bouncing down from leaf to heavy leaf
Or running in silver rivers
Down umbrellas held over elderly lovers 
When they kiss as if they’re teenagers beneath 

What I’d be is those that fall down upon her feet 

Oh she loves the rain 


Image by CJW, water colour, biro and pencils on watercolour paper.

She Loves The Rain

Written October 2022.  Threats of armageddon are stupid beyond belief.  Listen with headphones.


Don’t Cross That Line 


I go to bed so fearful 
I wake up so tearful 
Don’t want to see those flowers of yours bloom 
I have children you see 
And I love my family 
I don’t want to know that they’re all doomed 

So what gives you the right 
To cloak the world in night 
And set a dying wreath upon our tomb 
Please don’t cross that line 
Please don’t cross that line 
Please don’t cross that line 
Just let the daylight shine 

To see the rockets fall 
In blinding flashes all
Where everything I love will be consumed 
The power that it brings 
To which your dirty fingers cling 
Means nothing to those alive nor in the womb

So what gives you the right 
To cloak the world in night 
And set a dying wreath upon our tomb 
Please don’t cross that line 
Please don’t cross that line 
Please don’t cross that line 
Just let the daylight shine

The world should only be over 
When the sun goes supernova 
And not burnt on the whim 
Of one whose ego matters more to him
Than all the lives you disrespect 
Who it should be your duty to protect 
Not destroy while you stand so proud 
In the shadow of a mushroom cloud 
But would press the button and then hunker 
Down inside a concrete bunker 
To emerge when entire nations
Are engulfed by the conflagrations 
And if this is what goes through your mind 
I don’t trust you not to cross that line 

So what gives you the right 
To cloak the world in night 
And set a burning wreath upon our tomb 
Please don’t cross that line 
Don’t you cross that line 
Don’t you cross that line 
Just let the daylight shine

Oh you’re all the same 
Leaders just in name 
Tyrants, despots, dictators, all fools 
As you try to shape the world 
With your hellish flags unfurled 
You’re creatures of my nightmares, demons, ghouls 

So what gives you the right 
To cloak the world in night 
And set a burning wreath upon our tomb 
Please don’t cross that line 
Don’t you cross that line 
Don’t you cross that line 
Just let the daylight shine


Image by CJW, coloured pencils on paper with filters

Don’t Cross That Line

My Christmas song.  Written originally in December 1994 with a little bit of inspiration from TS Eliot’s ‘The Journey of the Magi’, I changed some of the lyrics before recording this.  I was aiming for epic, I hope that comes across.


Brilliant Blue Star


It was cold, so cold,
The coldest time of year,
We crossed the tree line to reach here.
From scorching sands,
Through frozen wastelands,
We who once were kings,
Now on our knees.

From our endless observations
And the charts we drew we knew 
Our journey would be long,
And while we left our native kingdoms
To pursue the signs we saw,
The brilliant blue star shone.

Our departure had been 
A great affair of state,
We took diamonds and emeralds 
To pay our way 
Through neighbouring countries 
Hostile to our needs,
We traded with them
In gold and slaves.

From the fertile river deltas
To the barren desert plains,
We travelled westward,
Onto the mountains that we climbed
And the canyons that we crossed
The brilliant blue star shone.

As exhaustion claimed us,
Our numbers dwindled fast,
The strength of those remaining
Could not last,
Our riches stolen when we,
Too weak to fight,
Had sheltered from a sandstorm overnight.

We were alchemists, astrologers,
Astronomers and kings,
Men of highest breeding,
But now our wills are all but broken
And we fall to the ground,

It was cold, so cold,
The coldest time of year,
We crossed the tree line to reach here,
From scorching sands,
Through frozen wastelands,
We who once were kings,
Now on our knees.

It was cold, so cold,
For a journey such as this.

The brilliant blue star 
Showed us this,
He was sleeping when 
We offered Him our gifts.


Image by CJW colour pencils on a scrap of paper

OKAY!

Written January 2023
How is it this time of year already?
Listen with headphones.


January


I’m not one for acting on the wing
Nor New Years resolutioning 
Although I plan for things ahead 
Keep a diary beside my bed 
Make a list of everything I’ve done when
January comes around again 

In March I’ll see the daffodils arrive
Bluebells always make May come alive 
In June it is my birthday then July 
I’ll gasp at how the year is flying by 
Autumn takes me by surprise and then 
January comes around again 

The children grow so fast I can’t believe 
How one day they’re dependent next they leave 
I remember thinking childhood was so long 
With the swiftness of my blinking it was gone 

The sun and moon go racing through the sky 
The days get ever shorter don’t know why 
Can’t push upon a brake and slow it down
Can’t stop the Earth from spinning round and round 

One day there’ll be no chorus left to sing 
No more will summer follow on from spring 
The final chapter and the book will close 
The final petal falls down from the rose 
Until that time I’ll wait in line for when 
January comes around again

Image taken by CJW

January

Why do these perfect moments have to end?
Listen with headphones 


Three Perfect Endings


The sun had set
A reddened glow across the sky 
The evening star was beckoning 
Drawing into the night 
So quiet and still 
No breath of wind 
No breath at all
A soundless world 
We’re watching as the sun goes down 
Beyond the lake 
And trees so tall 
Why can’t this just go on

And on
The moment will not wait for us too long 

But when it’s here 
Really here 
So close, so clear 
You feel 
If you could hold it now 
If it would stop somehow 
It would be the perfect end 

Together when the crowd had gone 
Looking down 
To the street where traffic passed 
As grains of sand 
Through an hourglass 
Feel the softness of her hand 
Pressed in mine 
Holding tight 
Something said without a word 
Just a touch 
Beneath the light
Of street lamps and the moon 

Too soon 
The moment is just passing through the room 

But when it’s here 
Really here 
So close, so clear 
You feel 
If you could hold it now 
If it would stop somehow 
It would be the perfect end 

Flying over 
A diamond sea
Beneath me 
A million stars flash off and on
As they rise and fall 
To greet me 
A light like nothing else I’ve seen 
A midnight sun 
And shadows long 
Are waiting there 
To lead me in
To a place where I could belong 
Just don’t wait too long 

Too long 
The moment is a spark and then it’s gone 

But when it’s here 
Really here 
So close, so clear 
You feel 
If you could hold it now 
If it would stop somehow 
It would be the perfect end


Image taken by CJW

Three Perfect Endings

Life is a bit like a jigsaw puzzle, except there’s no picture to follow, pieces are missing and some pieces are from a completely different jigsaw altogether, you just have to make the best of what you’ve got.  Listen with headphones.

Jigsaw

The first piece looks like the sky
The second piece looks like the land
The third piece looks like part of a face
The fourth piece looks like the back of your hand

This piece could be someone you love
This piece could be a friend
This piece could be the start of your road
And this piece could be the end

And if nothing never ever
Seems to fit so well together
As the picture that you’re given would imply
You can but only try to see it through

One piece holds so much detail inside
Another piece seems so bland
Over there a piece that looks a bit out of place
And this piece I just don’t understand

And if nothing never ever
Seems to fit so well together
As the picture that you’re given would imply
You can but only try to see it through

Image by CJW using coloured pencils on paper

Jigsaw

Touch

Aiyana (Home is Wherever You Are) Demo

My State of Mind

How can one person make you feel like this?!  Written in 1992 when my voice was younger and could hit those high notes.  At the time I was in a band and we played this as a rock track which I rather liked but this demo is closer to what I originally had in mind I think.


This Is All


This is all
This is all it’s meant to be,
All my life I’ve been waiting it seems.
When before
Was a haze of clouded dreams,
Now is clear as day to me.

I know better now,
Better not to waste away,
Better not to live life at a crawl,
And it’s for you,
You and only you,
That I’m made to move at all.

Once was a small boy
Who hid behind his hands,
Afraid to catch a glimpse
Of what he might not understand,
But now,
Now I know what’s to be done,
You’ve given me the confidence
To laugh aloud and run

Down the road,
Watch me go, oh see me run,
What on Earth has come over me?
This is you,
Can’t you see what you have done?
This is all it’s meant to be.

Once was a small boy
Who hid behind his hands,
Afraid to catch a glimpse
Of what he might not understand,
But now,
Now I know what’s to be done,
There’s a whole life there in front of me,
I can catch it if I run…

Image taken by CJW

This Is All

This is a very old song of mine.  I wrote it in 1988 when there was a lot in the news about the 70th anniversary of the end of WW1.  Also I’d bought a book about the war poets which I loved.  My lyrics aren’t exactly poetry and as usual have been through a few changes over the years.  For this recording I kept everything very simple, that’s all it needs.  I’m pleased with this one.


Remember Me To Mary


Trapped in the trenches,
As the volleys came,  
Blew holes in the fields, 
With an orange flame.
Another took a life 
And I watched it fall away,
The last words were a whisper,
But I heard them clear as day.

Hope you find me
And remember me to Mary.

There’s blood in the sunset
And in the hiss of gas,
The boys are fumbling and falling,
With their masks in their hands.
The crack of the rifles
And the cannonade,
Falling blindly on their victims,
Deaf to the wish that they made.

Hope you find me,
And remember me to my Mary.

Bodies stretched across the wire,
Face down in the mud,
Spattered with the dirt,
That gets mixed with their blood.
See the soldier stand up,
Put a hand to his head,
A salute or a bullet,
Won’t change the words that he said.

Hope you find me 
And remember me to Mary.


Image taken by HGW

Remember Me to Mary

An almost true story.  I‘ve changed the names to protect the innocent.  Oh Lillian Babcock, where are you now?  December 2020.  Listen with headphones.


SuperHero


Way way back in our playground days,
When Top Trumps was the latest craze,
All I ever wanted to do,
Was be a hero and rescue you.

When Barry Bates made you cry,
I wanted to give him a fat black eye,
Throw him with my bionic arm
And make sure you were safe from harm.

I’d be your superhero,
When you need me I’d appear-oh,
I’d be your superhero.
I’d be your superhero,
I’d fly in and everyone would cheer-oh,
I’d be your superhero.

When Sally Huxtable pulled your hair,
I wanted to swing on a web right there,
Use my powers of nuclear fission,
And zap her with my laser vision.

To keep you safe was a no-brainer,
Your enemies would be smoking trainers,
You would fall and I would catch,
Bullies will have met their match.

I used to dream for hours,
About having super powers,
To keep you from harm’s way.
But I had just one ability
And that was invisibility,
You never looked my way.

Then one day my chance came,
When Danny Briggs called you names,
I stood my ground, clenched my cheek,
He knocked me clean into next week.

Then you stepped forward and with one hand,
Threw him over your shoulder, I watched him land,
I never knew you did karate,
Then you turned and invited me to your party.


Image by DRW

SuperHero

Written in January 2021 after nearly a year of Covid and lock downs when everyone was getting a little tired of it all, we needed something to look forward to.  I was just noodling about on my guitar and came up with the simple riff and the rest came naturally.


Looking Forward


I’m looking forward to Springtime,
I’m looking forward to sunshine,
I’m looking forward to bluebells,
I’m looking forward to living well.

I’m looking forward to seeing my family,
I’m looking forward to meeting for coffee,
I’m looking forward to, holding my love,
And walking with her ‘neath the stars up above.

I’m looking forward to simple things,
I’m looking forward to hearing birds sing,
I’m looking forward to having friends round to stay,
I’m looking forward to going on holiday,

I’m looking forward to shaking hands,
I’m looking forward to seeing a live band,
I’m looking forward to hugging once more,
I’m looking forward to throwing open my door.

I’m looking forward to removing the mask,
I’m looking forward to freedom at last,
I’m looking forward to the end of disease,
I’m looking forward to no more conspiracies.

I’m looking forward to hearing the truth,
I’m looking forward to seeing the proof,
I’m looking forward to a word from the wise,
I want to hear from someone who doesn’t lie.

I’m looking forward to a feeling of hope,
I’m looking forward to knowing that I can cope,
I’m looking forward to a past left behind,
I’m looking forward and not changing my mind,
I’m looking forward and I’m not looking back,
I’m looking forward, I’m looking forward.

I’m looking forward to Springtime,
I’m looking forward to sunshine.


Image taken by CJW

Looking Forward

I have been writing songs on and off over the last 30+ years. In that time I’ve filled a couple of exercise books with quite a bit of music. I do my best with a very simple recording set up, the songs are all recorded using my 29 year old Washburn guitar and GarageBand on my iPad with a cheap mic in my front room, usually with a cup of coffee. And some biscuits.

Christopher Joseph Wallace

Pinned to spotlight

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