In my life

Words and music by
PAUL McCARTNEY AND JOHN LENNON
From the BEATLES album RUBBER SOUL (1965)

This was sung by John Lennon, but came towards the end of the time when Lennon and McCartney were genuinely writing songs together, which may explain the subtlety of the some of the lyrics. I think of this song every time I return to Glasgow; everybody's a bit older (including me), somebody else has died, the landscape - especially of my old area in the East End - has changed; but there's still the memories of life and love among the ashes of areas forgotten for generations by planners and politicians.

There are places I remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain

All these places have their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I've loved them all

But of all these friends and lovers
There is no one compares with you
And these memories lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new

Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more

Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more

In my life I love you more

Life is

Words and music by CALUM AND RORY MACDONALD
From the RUNRIG album IN SEARCH OF ANGELS (1999)

This is the song that most struck me from the band's In Search of Angels album, at a period when their lead singer of over 20 years, Donnie Munro, had left to pursue other interests. By the time the next album, The Stamping Ground, had been recorded, Bruce Guthro from Cape Breton in Nova Scotia had been recruited, but for most of this album Rory MacDonald handled the vocals. The lyrics to this song are sublime, and show the touch of the metaphysical poet that the MacDonald brothers' writing can sometimes reveal.

Life is hard, somehow
Life is cold, somehow
It can make you, it can break you
In pieces all around

There is no return
Once the seal's undone
Morning dawning with life abounding
But in time we all must fall
And it seems to be this way
Hearts change and brightness fades
And it leaves you facing the days
When your hope is blown apart
Life is hard

I walk you down that road
It's the only road we know
Nights so blinding, the world denying
That love so loved the world
What words to ease the pain
A life to live again
What can lift you up from this place
Where you hold a broken heart
Life is hard

One day in your life

Words and music by RENEE ARMAND and SAM BROWN
Released in 1975, re-released in 1981

This song was sung by somebody whose name gets mentioned less and less in polite society as time goes by. He didn't write the song, however. The lyrics have haunted me since I first heard the re-release in 1981. Although happily married now, I remember a time when a relationship ended and it took my Mum to point out that I was spending hours watching a blank TV screen into the wee hours. This song seemed to encapsulate perfectly the feeling that a relationship is dead in the water and it wouldn't be a wise move to try to resurrect it...and yet, if the other party were to indicate they were willing to revisit it...

One day in your life
You'll remember a place
Someone's touching your face
You'll come back and you'll look around you

One day in your life
You'll remember the love you found here
You'll remember me somehow
Though you don't need me now
I will stay in your heart
And when things fall apart
You'll remember one day...

One day in your life
When you find that you're always waiting
For the love we used to share
Just call my name
And I'll be there

You'll remember me somehow
Though you don't need me now
I will stay in your heart
And when things fall apart
You'll remember one day...

One day in your life
When you find that you're always longing
For the love we used to share
Just call my name
And I'll be there

Summer highland Falls

Words and music by BILLY JOEL
From the album TURNSTILES (1976)

Billy Joel has famously struggled with depression, but has given hints in interviews that he feels he might be manic-depressive. Being manic-depressive myself, when I hear the words of this song I think his hints are right.

They say that these are not the best of times
But they're the only times I've ever known
And I believe there is a time for meditation
In cathedrals of our own

Now I have seen that sad surrender in my lover's eyes
And I can only stand apart and sympathize
For we are always what our situations hand us
It's either sadness or euphoria

And so we'll argue and we'll compromise
And realize that nothing's ever changed
For all our mutual experience
Our separate conclusions are the same

Now we are forced to recognize our inhumanity
Our reason coexists with our insanity
And though we choose between reality and madness
It's either sadness or euphoria

How thoughtlessly we dissipate our energies
Perhaps we don't fulfill each other's fantasies
And as we stand upon the ledges of our lives
With our respective similarities
It's either sadness or euphoria

In this Place

Words and music by STUART ADAMSON
From the BIG COUNTRY album
PEACE IN OUR TIME (1988)

The classic exile's song.

All the years I spent in this place
The friends I knew here,
I loved every face
I loved the smoke, the heat and the noise
But the profit's too small
For the black-suited boys

Oh angel, it's coming down stone by stone
It's breaking up home by home
Take it away, take it away

In this place I will lay my life down
In this place I will let you carry me
As I age so my learning grows
I still touch the vision
I still smell the rose in this place

All the years I lived in this place
The people I knew here,
I loved every face
I loved the parties, the funerals and fights
The supermarket needs my land
I have no rights

Oh angel, it's coming down stone by stone
It's breaking up home by home
Take it away, take it away

In this place I will lay my life down
In this place I will let you carry me
As I age so my learning grows
I still touch the vision
I still smell the rose in this place

All the years I spent in this place
The children we raised here,
I loved this country, the land of my birth
But how much am I wnated
How much am I worth

Oh angel, it's coming down stone by stone
It's breaking up home by home
Take it away, take it away

In this place I will lay my life down
In this place I will let you carry me
As I age so my learning grows
I still touch the vision
I still smell the rose in this place

Letter from America

Words and music by CHARLIE AND CRAIG REID
Released as a single by THE PROCLAIMERS in 1986
From the album THIS IS THE STORY (1987)

This song was released towards the end of 1986, and was given a thumbs-down by Donny Osmond. Ouch. I'd returned home from Italy in the summer of that year, unprepared for the unemployment that was sweeping the nation. It was easy to blame the government of the day, but the easy course usually leads to rapids. The Miners' Strike, which rode the momentum of Edward Heath's defeat in 1974 when he went to the country to ask them as adults who ruled, and the country replied as scared children "the miners, who are cutting our power", had been over for a year. We were in the midst of a domestic cold war. But one line still hits the spot - "Do we have to roam the world to prove how much it hurts?" I don't know the enswer to that one. The second-last time I left Glasgow, I asked the taxi-driver to do a loop round George Square because, I guess, I couldn't believe I was leaving. I returned later in life, and came to chair my housing association in an area of multiple deprivation. I got a temporary job elsewhere, as there weren't too many shifts going in Glasgow, and when it turned into a permanent job moved my family away. Perhaps the answer to the question is that we roam the world to feed our families, not to prove how much it hurts: but it still hurts.


When you go will you send back
A letter from america?
Take a look up the railtrack
From miami to canada

Broke off from my work the other day
I spent the evening thinking about
All the blood that flowed away
Across the ocean to the second chance
I wonder how it got on when it reached the promised land?

I’ve looked at the ocean
Tried hard to imagine
The way you felt the day you sailed
From wester ross to nova scotia
We should have held you
We should have told you
But you know our sense of timing
We always wait too long

Lochaber no more
Sutherland no more
Lewis no more
Skye no more...... etc

I wonder my blood
Will you ever return
To help us kick the life back
To a dying mutual friend
Do we not love her?
Do we not say we love her?
Do we have to roam the world
To prove how much it hurts?

Bathgate no more
Linwood no more
Methil no more
Irvine no more.

Always a Woman

Words and music by BILLY JOEL
From the 1977 album THE STRANGER

Billy Joel found himself being saddled with accusations of mysogyny because of this song, by individuals who thought that the title was "She's only a woman". It seems that his sin was to have the dexterity to be able to describe a man's experience of loving a flesh-and-blood woman with the darkness as well as the splendour that entails, as opposed to expressing solidarity with whoever could best deconstruct an oppressive patriarchal narrative which, more often than not, didn't exist in the first place. Joel was surprised that this song was a hit because of its unusual time-signature, but his fans weren't surprised. It was the best of songs from a songwriter who demands nothing but the best from himself.

She can kill with a smile
She can wound with her eyes
She can ruin your faith with her casual lies
And she only reveals what she wants you to see
She hides like a child
But shes always a woman to me

She can lead you to love
She can take you or leave you
She can ask for the truth
But she'll never believe you
And she'll take what you give her, as long as its free
She steals like a thief
But shes always a woman to me

Chorus

Oh-she takes care of herself
She can wait if she wants
Shes ahead of her time
Oh-and she never gives out
And she never gives in
She just changes her mind

And she'll promise you more
Than the garden of eden
Then shell carelessly cut you
And laugh while youre bleedin'
But she'll bring out the best
And the worst you can be
Blame it all on yourself
Cause shes always a woman to me

Chorus

She is frequently kind
And she's suddenly cruel
She can do as she pleases
She's nobodys fool

But she can't be convicted
Shes earned her degree
And the most she will do
Is throw shadows at you
But shes always a woman to me

Remember my forgotten man

Words by AL DUBLIN
Music by HARRY WARREN
From the 1933 film GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933
And the album HOORAY FOR HOLLYWOOD:
THE BEST OF BUSBY BERKELY AT WARNER BROS (1995)
Sung by ETTA MOTEN, JOAN BLONDELL AND CHORUS

A lot of people who have posted videos of jazz musicians performing this on YouTube have misinterpreted it as the song of a war-widow for her deceased husband. In fact, she is singing about the effects of the Great Depression, which started in 1929 and lasted for most of the 30's, upon her husband, at a time when a woman who wasn't financially supported by family or a husband faced terrifying uncertainty at least. In the film the men, veterans of the First World War, are shades of themselves. They have no job, therefore not only no self esteem but no means to support their families. It marked one of America's darkest moments, and was more or less contemporaneous with President FD Roosevelt's inauguration of the "New Deal". The next year, Etta Moten, who takes the second part of the song, became the first black woman to sing at the Whitehouse, on the occasion of FDR's birthday. This is the song she sang.

I don't know if I deserve a bit of sympathy,
Save your sympathy, that's all right with me.
I was satisfied to drift along from day to day,
'Til you came and took my man away!

Remember my forgotten man,
You put a rifle in his hand,
You sent him far away,
You shouted "hip-hooray,"
But look at him today!

Remember my forgotten man,
You had him cultivate the land,
He walked behind a plow,
The sweat fell from his brow,
But look at him right now!

And once he used to love me,
I was happy, then!
He used to take care of me,
Won't you bring him back again?
'Cause ever since the world began,
A woman's got to have a man,
Forgetting him, you see,
Means you're forgetting me,
Like my forgotten man!

Flying Sorcery

Words and music by AL STEWART
From the album THE YEAR OF THE CAT (1976)

Like many of Al Stewart's works, this haunting piece works on several levels. The theme of unrequited love (the best kind, as a friend of mine says) runs through it, but I also like the references to flying. Especially tiger moths, which can be seen in the skies above Cantabrigia, and Faith, Hope and Charity, the three biplanes which kept Malta supplied during the German blockade of World War II. Again, as with much of Stewart's work, shades of presence and absence are deftly woven into the fabric of the song. The album was hardly off my turntable for years.

With your photographs of Kitty Hawk
And the biplanes on your wall
You were always Amy Johnson
From the time that you were small.

No schoolroom kept you grounded
While your thoughts could get away
You were taking off in Tiger Moths
Your wings against the brush-strokes of the day

Are you there?
On the tarmac with the winter in your hair
By the empty hangar doors you stop and stare
Leave the oil-drums behind you, they won't care
Oh, are you there?

Oh, you wrapped me up in a leather coat
And you took me for a ride
We were drifting with the tail-wind
When the runway came in sight
The clouds came up to gather us
And the cockpit turned to white
When I looked the sky was empty
I suppose you never saw the landing-lights

Are you there?
In your jacket with the grease-stain and the tear
Caught up in the slipstream of dare
The compass roads will guide you anywhere,
Oh, are you there?

The sun comes up on Icarus
As the night-birds sail away
And lights the maps and diagrams
That Leonardo makes
You can see Faith, Hope and Charity
As they bank above the fields
You can join the flying circus Y
ou can touch the morning air against your wheels

Are you there?
Do you have a thought for me that you can share?
Oh I never thought you'd take me unawares
Just call me if you ever need repairs
Oh, are you there?

He was a friend of mine

Words and music by BOB DYLAN
From the album THE BOOTLEG SERIES
VOLUMES 1-3 - LIVE AND UNRELEASED (1991)
and THE VERY BEST OF THE BYRDS (1997)

The first verse of this song was performed by Street Voices at the memorial service held for the 17 members of the street community who had died in the last year, which was held at the Leper Chapel in Cambridge on Friday 20th June. Depending on how you quantify and define the city's street community, this represents a mortality rate of 3.7-8.5%. I know of no other estate of life wherein such an attrition rate would not cause an immediate national crisis.

He was a friend of mine
He was a friend of mine
Every time I think about him now
Lord I just can't keep from cryin'
'Cause he was a friend of mine

He died on the road
He died on the road
He never had enough money
To pay his room or board
And he was a friend of mine

I stole away and cried
I stole away and cried
'Cause I never had too much money
And I never been quite satisfied
And he was a friend of mine

He never done no wrong
He never done no wrong
A thousand miles from home
And he never harmed no one
And he was a friend of mine

He was a friend of mine
He was a friend of mine
Every time I hear his name
Lord I just can't keep from cryin'
'Cause he was a friend of mine.

The Special Years

Words and Music by BOB LIND
Released as a single by VAL DOONICAN(1966)
From his album HIS SPECIAL YEARS(1999)

I was listening to Pam Ayres' Sunday show on Radio 2 during a prolonged hospitalisation when this song came on. I thought of my family, Maxima looking after Minora and Minima on her own, and the girls being very young and without me. As the tears came I suddenly felt very alone, but determined that I would get back to them as soon as possible.

From pigtails to wedding veils
From pinafores to lace
And in between are the special years
Time never can erase

From play toys to college boys
From little girl to wife
And in between are the special years
You remember all of your life

The special years are filled
With sweet promises and pain
But love will never taste
Quite so wonderful again

So slow up, don't rush to grow up
You'll be a woman before long
So stay awhile in the special years
Their magic will soon be gone

Just stay awhile in the special years
Their magic - will soon be gone...

Chance

Words and music by STUART ADAMSON
From the 1983 album THE CROSSING
by Big Country (1983)

This song by Big Country reads like a story of the bleak post-industrial heartlands of Scotland as might be told by William McIlvanney. I grew up in the same sort of background as the girl whose tale forms the tale of the song, although by then the jobs had gone: but I got a chance to get away. I can't help wondering if Stuart Adamson was talking about himself in the words of the chorus.

All the rain came down
On a cold new town
As it carried you away
From your father's hand
That always seemed like a fist
Reaching out to make you pay

He came like a hero from the factory floor
With the sun and moon as gifts
But the only son you ever saw
Were the two he left you with

Oh Lord where did the feeling go
Oh Lord I never felt so low

Now the skirts hang so heavy around your head
That you never knew you were young
Because you played chance with a lifetime's romance
And the price was far too long

Oh Lord where did the feeling go
Oh Lord I never felt so low

The Boxer

Words and music by PAUL SIMON
From the album BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER (1969)
and SIMON AND GARFUNKEL'S GREATEST HITS (1972)
and OLD FRIENDS: LIVE ON STAGE (2004)

This is the first Simon and Garfunkel song that I knowingly came into contact with when I went to livein Italy in my late teens, and is connected in my mind with Strega, penne arrabiate and the sort of summer sunsets that you only appreciate within a certain timeframe in your life. At the end is the extra verse which was left out from the recorded version, but is sometimes performed live, as was performed in music-nights in the students' common room by Joe Keenan, who taught me to play guitar.

I am just a poor boy.
Though my story's seldom told,
I have squandered my resistance
For a pocketful of mumbles,
Such are promises
All lies and jest
Still, a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest.

When I left my home
And my family,
I was no more than a boy
In the company of strangers
In the quiet of the railway station,
Running scared,
Laying low,
Seeking out the poorer quarters
Where the ragged people go,
Looking for the places
Only they would know.

CHORUSLie-la-lie.....

Asking only workman's wages
I come looking for a job,
But I get no offers.
Just a come-on from the whores
On Seventh Avenue
I do declare,
There were times when I was so lonesome
I took some comfort there.

CHORUS

Then I'm laying out my winter clothes
And wishing I was gone
Going home
Where the New York City winters
Aren't bleeding me,
Leading me,
Going home.

In the clearing stands a boxer,
And a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders
Of ev'ry glove that laid him down
Or cut him till he cried out
In his anger and his shame,
"I am leaving, I am leaving."
But the fighter still remains

CHORUS

Now the years are rolling by me,
They are rocking evenly.
I am older than I once was,
But younger than I'll be.
That's not unusual.
No, it isn't strange,
After changes upon changes,
We are more or less the same.
After changes we are more or less the same.

The only Rose

Words and music by
CALUM AND RORY MacDONALD
From the 1987 album
THE CUTTER AND THE CLAN by RUNRIG

My first Runrig album was 1987's The Cutter and the Clan, bought with a record (remember those?) voucher from my cousins. It blew me away. Recently, after my daughter bought me a CD copy, I played her this track from the album. She was left speechless. This is the MacDonald Brothers at their most heart-rendingly lyrical, speaking of the feelings of loss and separation of a generation for whom to leave the Highlands, even for another part of Great Britain, was to become an emigrant. Enjoy.

Between the shifting shadows
In the no-man's zone
There's a bar at the
end of the street
Some poor country music
One or two sixties songs
In the place where
the night owls sleep
Oh, loneliness
You're a hard earned crust
You're the night at
the end of the day
'Cause you pay your dues
On the road you choose
With the price you have to pay

Down the neon aisles
And the twilight miles
Where the world takes
comfort in shame
And all I can hear
Is a voice in my ear
And its calling out your name
Still the silence glows
The four winds blow
And a dark moon rising above
To rest by your side
In the heat of the fire
In the sleep of the night of love

When darkness hangs
On the dirty city
Winter falls on a foreign town
And it's all I can do
To be with you
Tonight as the sun goes down
But I would cross
The ocean wide
I'd walk the mighty foam
If I could lie
In your arms tonight
You're the only rose I know

Let it Be

Music and lyrics by
PAUL McCARTNEY AND JOHN LENNON
From the BEATLES album LET IT BE (1970)
and LET IT BE NAKED (2003)

This has been one of my favourite songs for decades, and seems to have followed me round during my life. Paul McCartney wrote it in memory of his mother, Mary, but there is an undeniable Gospel-style arrangement, and the midde-verse seems to be a meditation on a line of the prayer to Our Lady of Lourdes, prièz pour ceux qui aiment et sont partis - pray for those who love and are parted.

When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
And in my hour of darkness
She is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

Let it be, let it be.
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.

And when the broken hearted people
Living in the world agree,
There will be an answer, let it be.
For though they may be parted there is
Still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer, let it be.

Let it be, let it be. Yeah
There will be an answer, let it be.

And when the night is cloudy,
There is still a light that shines on me,
Shine on until tomorrow, let it be.
I wake up to the sound of music
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
Let it be, let it be.

There will be an answer, let it be.
Let it be, let it be,
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be