NOTES
& LYRICS
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Lyrics
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NOTES ON WRITING THE SONGS
Lyrics are the most important part of the song for
me. I try to write from experience as much as I can. Here are some of the stories behind the writing of the songs on this first album.
Atlas
While throwing out some old school stuff, I came across an atlas. It was full of interesting maps and statistics. But what first jumped out at me was our need to categorize everything, including people. Maybe there would be less fear and hatred if we could see each other more as individuals rather than belonging to a race, religion or country. Ideas like patriotism seem to widen the gap between cultures. With the feeling of pride that comes with being a part of a group, sometimes comes a false feeling of superiority.
Leave It To Fate
What is it like to live in the shoes of someone who has ruined people's lives in order to be rich or successful? How well do they sleep at night or do they become numb to it all? Every gain that disadvantages someone else, changes you inside, for the worse.
Times Change
The inspiration for this song came when walking through the city. I walked past a beautiful old sandstone church completely dwarfed by office buildings. Stone and wood shaped by human hands, standing next to concrete and steel built by machines.
I imagined that once the church steeple could have been seen from miles away. Now the sun can barely touch the walls. It also symbolizes the power the church has had in the past and how its role has diminished.
One Happy Day In A Year
When I wrote this song I had been living in Bondi for about a year. While walking down Bondi Rd, I often saw an old homeless man. He'd be standing in an unused shop entrance, his head down, facing away from any passers by. He stood like a statue for most of the day, you could see him in the morning and then late in the afternoon in the same position. I often wondered what events might have shaped his life.
Then one day, when walking down Bondi Rd with a friend, I looked up ahead to see the old man smiling, nodding his head and greeting people passing by. It made me wonder what had happened that day to make him so happy.
Did the day treat you well or was it a change of heart?
Full Moon Night
Away from the city, at an isolated farm in the hills, the moon stood out in the winter night sky with a spectacular life of its own. Once a month, from time before memory, the moon has shown its full glory - from the fire of its rising to the ashes of its setting. Something you need to see at least once before you die! - Jacqui
Winn.
LYRICS
A Game
Enchanted soul I fear
As I reach out to touch you
I lose my nerve and run to more familiar ground
It seems when it matters
I undermine my own beliefs
In your eyes
That look in your eyes
An invitation or a game
That look in your eyes
An invitation or a game
Just knowing there's a chance
That you'll crush me
It's reason enough to live to fight another day
With only my pride left
As a consolation prize
In your eyes
That look in your eyes
An invitation or a game
That look in your eyes
An invitation or a game
And what was left unsaid
Will only lead me on
A reason to believe
And reason was to come
Fortunate Man
I'm standing alone on the mountain
All fear of harm has left me
I've come so far and I've struggled to reach
What was here all the time
Cause down in the valley hidden from view
There's a fire burning bright
I can't feel the cold or the weight of the world
When I'm thinking about you
When I'm feeling down On a losing hand
I cheat life's chill I'm a fortunate man
Cause I'm alive as long as you're here
The shadows grow longer but still I feel stronger
Pretending you're beside me
I dream of a place where I've been before
Where time gently ambles away
Cause down in the valley hidden from view
There's a fire burning bright
I can't feel the cold or the weight of the world
When I'm thinking about you
When I'm feeling down On a losing hand
I cheat life's chill I'm a fortunate man
Cause I'm alive as long as you're here
Reflection
Years full of clear days
A life of comfortable moments
I loved you in my own way
You offered me no pretence
Together we were just
A reflection of the world
Often beautiful but never perfect
A sea of unresolved thoughts
My arms wrapped around thin air
Time rewinds all the faults
Remember the happiness shared
Together we were just
A reflection of the world
Often beautiful but never perfect
My memories hold the warmth of your touch
And I could never forget the place in my heart
Where your smile hides
Sinking Down
I'm sinking down like a sickness
Draining my strength
Low thunder clouds hedging me in
I want these shadows gone
I'm sinking down I'm feeling lost again
I'm sinking down I'm feeling lost without you
The sound of a song helps me to clear my head
But balance seems to fall away
I'm sinking down I'm feeling lost again
I'm sinking down I'm feeling lost without you
Atlas
I see those western hands
Clenched firmly around the dollar
And I wish I could loosen that grip
And spread those fingers wider than the ocean
I found a book which carved the earth
Into countries language religion and wealth
I'd like to blur the lines and smear the shading
Till the idea of us and them starts fading
And there's only you and me
There's only you and me
There are far too many borders
Too much distance between us
And I see that we misunderstand
The language and customs we find in foreign lands
I found a book which carved the earth
Into countries language religion and wealth
I'd like to blur the lines and smear the shading
Till the idea of us and them starts fading
And there's only you and me
There's only you and me
Leave it to fate
Leave it to fate
If it's meant to be
It's meant to be
She said to me
Or does progress come
From clearing your own path
Defying all foes
Like the sea on an angry day
I dream I'm sailing through
Murky waters, grey skies alone
The abandoned coast is strewn
With the wreckage I have sown
Every battle won
I feel more lost at sea
Somehow defeated
The wind howls and haunts me
I dream I'm sailing through
Murky waters, grey skies alone
The abandoned coast is strewn
With the wreckage I have sown
If history unrecorded ceases to exist
Then the sorrow of a million forgotten stories
Teaches us nothing
Times Change
A spire built to spear this skyline in two
The sunlight through stained glass frames
Now progress throws shadows over the walls
Forever will surely fade
Stone blocks blackened by time whisper secrets
Wearing the scars of years past and forgotten
Oh times are changing
Seasons come and go
Oh times are changing
The sun was banished long ago
A landmark of beauty slowly consumed
A city devouring its prey
Steel forged in days gone by
Tells tales of glory
Wood carved by hands of hope
Yield one mans story
Oh times are changing
Seasons come and go
Oh times are changing
The sun was banished long ago
Taylor
Taylor sits drawing as her friends play out in the street
The dog from 94 lies outside half asleep
She's mapping out her future in crayons and HB
Torn between a fireman and a big star on TV
More like a daydreamer
Than the Indians out at play
Too busy wishing for tomorrow
As the world and time spins away
Now she's found a good job and an apartment on the quay
Taylor's still drawing now more faces in the street
Still sorting out her future defining who she wants to be
Lost by her daydreams she's still trying to break free
More like a woman
Than the girl from yesterday
Too busy wishing for tomorrow
As the world and time spins away
Now her hands too frail to hold her paints and her brush
Taylor at 94 still daydreams just as much
Mapping faces in the clouds from old faces in the street
Now she's found contentment among her restless thieves
More like a daydreamer
Than the Indians out at play
Too busy wishing for tomorrow
As the world and time spins away
One Happy Day In A Year
I always see him set in stone
Where ever there's a vacant store
His back towards the city drone
His head hung heavy fighting some lost war
One happy day in a year
Did the day treat you well
Or was it a change of heart
A weathered statue grey with time
Guarding over all he keeps
Do days seem more like years
Does history hide why you choose this life
One happy day in a year
Did the day treat you well
Or was it a change of heart
Bondi on an average day
I see him up ahead
Instead he's turned to greet the world
With a joyful unwashed open smile
One happy day in a year
Did the day treat you well
Or was it a change of heart
Full Moon Night
Fire on the hill
The full moon rises
Brassy like a redhead
Brazen in gold
Silver in the sky
The high moon gazes
Secretive geisha
Elegant in white
Sallow in the west
The old moon dozes
Her night's glory over
Desolate in grey
All music and lyrics written by PAUL WINN except "TAYLOR" written by MARCEL BRACKS / PAUL WINN and "FULL MOON NIGHT" from a poem by JACQUI WINN.
