I was always old fashioned in my ways, I remember as a child thinking that when I grew up I'd have a wife with two children, one girl and one boy. We'd have a cottage in the country with red ivy growing up the slanted walls, and a chimney which would constantly churn out smoke in the midst of winter. My views on the house stayed the same, but the wife and the children changed. There was never really a point in life when realising I was gay came as a shock and a smack in the face, it fizzled in and out of my mind depending on my interests at the time (by interests I mean music, school etc rather than girls and boys). I came to accept it more with each string of hopeful romance until eventually you had to admit it to yourself.
I'd like to think of myself as a songwriter, or rather lyricist, my lack of knowledge with a musical intruments ruining that dream for me. I guess you could say songwriter with enough understanding of the guitar to write songs, but who leaves it to the professionals to make it individual. Seen as the musician in me is my weaker side I tend to focus more on the lyrics of a song. I found the name Willow Lake in a book shop and immediatly scribbled it down on my phone knowing that I could get a song from it. After the title is secure on paper/napkin/phone the next things race through my mind, what is the song about? where is it set? whose point of view is the song from? and can I relate to it? If no then the song usually doesn't get finished due to a lack of drive or sometimes knowledge but nearly every song I write is somehow drawn from my past or a fantasy of my future, or sometimes someone elses.
The end product produced was a simple song about a reunion between to lovers after a summer romance, a relationship between two men that was cut short due to a meddling father. Writing this now I'm already wondering if the song is to opinionated to be performed, the lines describing the male/male love are discreet so probably not, but you never know when the occasional clever clogs is in the audience and boos you off stage. It's sometimes a shame that for a moment we can't all stop and listen to each others stories, some as true as they were the day they happened, some a bit exaggerated and some so far from the truth that they're more like folk tales.
Verse 1
Hello stranger how have you been,
It's been so long since I've seen you,
Guess you've changed some,
I'm a fool to think you'd stay the same.
I remember how we'd spend,
Summer hols and our weekends,
Down on Willow Lake,
In your arms I felt so safe.
I saw each curve within your flesh,
As I watched you undress,
Then we'd steal away,
For a while beneath the shade.
Build
But your Dad he was the law,
Said you can't see me no more,
If you did you're out the door.
Chorus
Steal me away and take, me back to Willow Lake,
With your cold beer and me sipping lemonade.
When the Sun was high, in that big blue sky,
We thought we had it made, down on Willow Lake.
Verse 2
Lets stop a while lets talk the past,
Have you found someone at last,
When's the wedding set,
Does your Dad he know yet?
Do you still drive that banged up car?
Do you still get dressed in the dark?
Do you memories take,
You back to Willow Lake.
Build 2
But your Dad he know the law,
It's in Sodom and Gomorrah,
So you left me for the Lord.
Chorus
Steal me away and take, me back to Willow Lake,
With your cold beer and me sipping lemonade.
When the Sun was high, in that big blue sky,
We thought we had it made, down on Willow Lake.
Mid 8-
And when it's time for you to leave,
You turn around and say to me,
There's been no one of late,
Just you, me and Willow Lake.
Chorus
Steal me away and take, me back to Willow Lake,
With your cold beer and me sipping lemonade.
When the Sun was high, in that big blue sky,
Didn't we had it made, down on Willow Lake.
End
Karl Smitherman © 2013
Here's a video of my rewritten version of 'If I were a little sparrow' I performed this for a charity event at St Saviours, Guildford to raise awareness to stop trafficking.
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