John, Chris and I worked on this beautiful song of John’s in memory of Giles. We hope it brings comfort to anyone who’s lives have been effected by Alzheimer’s. John’s words are below.
In 2021 it’s five years since my friend and long time musical collaborator Giles succumbed to Alzheimer’s. Here’s a song I’ve written in the last few weeks, trying to express the experience. Please share.
Thanks to DiElle and Chris Wood for the BVs and bass guitar.
Miles Away
A look that went through me, a shift of the eyes
A momentary delay
As he tried to remember and then realised
And said, ‘I’m miles away!’
He was slipping away to a separate place
His colours were fading to grey
Such a hard road to travel you cannot retrace
The steps that lead you away
Away miles and miles away, miles away so far
Far from the memories that make us who we are

A moment’s deception as we said, ‘Hello’
A smile, a shake of the hand
We talked about things we did so long ago
Old friends, the songs and the band
Now the songs have no words, though the melodies shone
The fingers still wanting to play

But the skill of a lifetime had already gone
Joylessly drifting away
Away miles and miles away, miles away so far
Far from the memories that make us who we are
I still have then, you only have now
And now is a frail butterfly
You sometimes look back but you can’t turn around
This long and lonely goodbye…..
A poor conversation I tried to contrive
The silences grew much too long
When I sang ‘Blackbird’, his face came alive
He still remembered the song
If songs can recapture the past, on the wing
An echo of life’s cabaret
Let the harmonies ring with the comfort they bring
As the echoes are fading away
Away miles and miles away, miles away so far
Far from the memories that make us who we are

Share

4 comments

Maria Fernandez

This song is so beautiful and moving. I love that it has a bit of a Spanish sound. And I love the vocals. The singer has such a strong voice. Like a folk balladeer.

Leave a Reply

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>