Love Soldier — I wrote this song from the perspective of one of the pointy ends of a triangle. Some friends of mine, back in the early days, called this song my angry song. I'm not sure if angry is exactly the word - I think I'd redub it my fed up song, if anything.
— View Lyrics
Love Soldier
Chorus1:
So go, go and waste your time
Away with hers instead of mine
And I assure you I'll be fine and
Birds will sing and sun will sun and
Really all it takes is time
So play our song and drink our wine
And I'll be what you left behind
But I am fine, I am fine
Verse 1:
You were never one for thoughtfulness or compliments
You were never big on holding my hand
Your love was a tough love, and me your favourite soldier
Rewarded once your wrath incurred if I could still stand
Well what's this I see? Perhaps a shift in gear, or maybe in interest.
Have I not catered to your every fucking need?
It seems that she is eager, and less tired than I
So here I sit on the sidelines, dropping to my knees
Chorus 2:
So go, go and waste your time
Away with hers instead of mine
And I assure you I'll be fine and
Birds will sing and sun will sun and
Really all it takes is time
So play our song and drink our wine
And I'll be what you left behind
But I am fine, I am fine
Verse 3 :
You knew well I would not arrive unless you'd take me with you
I could never make a decent entrance on my own
I sat and waited to be rescued, and you knew well
And still decided to leave me all alone
Chorus 3 :
So go, go and waste your time
Away with hers instead of mine
And I assure you I'll be fine and
Birds will sing and sun will sun and
Really all it takes is time
So play our song and drink our wine
And I'll be what you left behind
But I am fine, I am fine
Bridge :
Well I've got my bottle and I've got my pride
I'll find a place to go and hide
Because tonight, you are not mine
I've got my bottle and some time to kill
Just waiting for this glass to fill
And wondering if I am still
Your love soldier
Chorus 4 :
So go, go and waste your time
Away with hers instead of mine
And I assure you I'll be fine and
Birds will sing and sun will sun and
Really all it takes is time
So play our song and drink our wine
And I'll be what you left behind
But I am fine, I am fine
You Walked Away — The subject and I had been broken up for a couple of months and I'd been having trouble getting to sleep. In my tossing and turning on one such night my hand brushed past my other hand. The sensation gave me this overwhelming sense of nostalgia for the subject. That's when I came up with the song's first line, which ended up being the first line of the chorus: "I'm holding my own hand, because you're not here to hold it for me".
— View Lyrics
You Walked Away
Verse 1:
Well I wake up once again, another lonely 8a.m., and I swear,
Even in the sunshine it feels a little colder than, the summer of you, when days were short and love was new
Pre chorus1:
I've got people I love to surround me
I have beautiful things all around me
But I just don't seem to care
Because I know that you're no longer there, yeah you're no longer there yeah
Chorus 1:
Well I'm holding my own hand, because you're not here to hold it for me
Sinking in the quicksand of your absence in my day
I made breakfast for one today, wiped all my own tears away
But the reason why I cry is here to stay -
You walked away.
Verse 2:
Well it's the end of another week
I should be somewhere dancing cheek to cheek with my man
But my man is no longer my man
I think he's someone else's now
I really hope he traded down
I wonder if she has a stupid
Pre chorus 2:
Laugh… or never washes her hair
Perhaps this all may seem just a little unfair
I know I'm not supposed to care
No I am not supposed to care
Chorus 2:
Well I'm holding my own hand, because you're not here to hold it for me
Sinking in the quicksand of your absence in my day
I made breakfast for one today, wiped all my own tears away
But the reason why I cry is here to stay -
You walked away.
Bridge:
So don't mind me if I play our song
I never meant to do anything wrong
It's all because I loved you
It's all because I loved you all along, I loved you all along
Chorus 3:
Well I'm holding my own hand, because you're not here to hold it for me
Sinking in the quicksand of your absence in my day
I made breakfast for one today, wiped all my own tears away
But the reason why I cry is here to stay -
You walked away
Hurry Up and Love Me — This song is my favourite of all of the songs I've ever written. It was the weekend and I'd written the first verse already a couple of days earlier. I was at home, and got very drunk by myself, and then for some reason went for the longest, fastest and most exhausting run of my life. When I got home I wrote the second verse.
— View Lyrics
Hurry Up and Love Me
It's not like I'd know what to say if you called. I think I'd stumble through 'hello' - try and think of something charming to make you fall for me again, til you said you had to go. Well I never meant to splash around, and I'm trying to keep it down, but I can't tell if I am floating or if I am on the ground. But you said 'keep your distance' so I pledged my resistance as you disappeared into the crowd.
So I watch, and I wait, and I bleed, and I break, and I grin, and I bear, and I pray this single prayer - hurry up and love me. Hurry up and love me.
I remember when you said you never wanted me to leave, and for a moment I believed in us. I believed in us. I shouldnt've known that spell would break, should've known the fear inside of you'd awaken, taking you away from me.
But that doesn't help me here, left behind, with no desire to go back home, because this fire is the only thing of value I own. And yet you would deny me that, too. Now you have denied me that, too. Well here is what I want from you:
See me fall - help me stand. See me reach - take my hand. See this lie - make it real. See me cry - help me heal.
And hurry up and love me. Hurry up and love me.
So, tell me - how well are you sleeping these days without me there?
How can you have so little to say?
The Long Way Round — This is one of the few songs where the guitar part came before the vocal part. Me and the subject were on holidays from uni, and he had a morning shift so I was hanging out one cold sunny morning on the balcony, drinking tea and playing around on my guitar. I came up with what I thought would be the most accurate soundtrack for that morning.
— View Lyrics
The Long Way Round
Sometimes I wonder what it is
I'm in such a hurry for.
I sometimes struggle with the
underlying deadline of life.
But you, you refuse to subscribe,
You abide by different rules
Of sleeping in and wearing thin
And always taking the long way
round.
And you tell me to jump
And you swear you'll catch me
And I'm thinking that maybe
That's not a bad idea
‘Cause lately I've been getting tired of rules and deadlines
And I think I'd like to try
Going the long way
Round with you. Going the long way round with you.
Hasn't any body wondered about the subconscious metronome
Clicking away our time?
Chasing away all that's left of lazy in the world
Well I'll be the first to raise my hand and say
“No, not this today”
For this today is mine for the moment
And the single reason I own it is
You.
Because you told me to jump
And you swore you'd catch me
And I've been thinking that maybe
That not a bad idea
‘Cause lately I've been getting tired of rules and deadlines
I'm so glad I finally tried
Going the long way
Round with you.,
Going the long way round with you
Rain Fall Dry — This is one of my oldest songs - I wrote it all the way back in 2002. That may explain the few chords I use - I didn't know very many back then! I'm not sure that I would come up with this song again if I faced the same situation now. That's something I think about often. I think this song came from a reflective and peaceful mindset that one can only enter after a whole lot of other mindsets that are much more difficult to cope with.
— View Lyrics
Rain Fall Dry
Tell me all about Heaven
Tell me names of every single star
And describe the sun on your face
And the warm and the safe and the far.
Tell me all about angels
And the way they can sing the rain dry
And the smell of their hair and the stars in their eyes
And how they never need to cry.
Tell me all about reason.
And the sense that it makes that you're gone.
And the way I'm supposed to be wrong when I say I'd rather you here.
So tell me all about heaven.
And make sure to include that you're there.
And make sure that you know that I never won't care
Any when, any why, any where.
And I wish I could say
Don't you leave me behind
And I wish I could say
That I don't really mind
And I wish I could know
That for sure you're alright
And I wish I could know
You were with me tonight
But dreams are real as realer things
So visit me in them
And tell me all about angels
And how now you can fly
And now you know why
And sing me a song that makes rain fall dry
Tell me all about Heaven
Don't tell me good bye.
Don't tell me goodbye
Because I Am All Woman, Baby — This is essentially my version of "I Will Survive". It's an empowering song and I was so relieved to get to the mindset that allowed me to come up with it. I sang this song in my final performance of my music degree and that made it even more special. I actually do have a strictly-special-occasion dress. It's the dress I wore on the shoot for the "Love Soldier" EP.
— View Lyrics
Because I Am All Woman, Baby
Verse 1:
I'm gonna wash my hair
I'm gonna paint my toenails red
Because I am all woman, baby
I'm gonna wear my
Strictly-special-occasion dress
Because I am all woman, baby
Chorus:
And you're not gonna come round anymore
No more roses sitting at my door
Well I may have shed a tear or two
But now it's clear that you
Are not the kind of man that a woman needs to cry for.
Verse 2:
I'm gonna hit the town
I'm gonna buy myself champagne
Because I am all woman baby
I'm gonna toast to the sunshine
That always follows the rain
Because I am all woman baby
Chorus :
And you're not gonna come round anymore
No more roses sitting at my door
Well I may have shed a tear or two
But now it's clear that you
Are not the kind of man that a woman needs to cry for.
Verse 3:
I'm gonna wake up
Roll up my sleeves and start scrubbing away
Until I have erased you, baby
I'm gonna rid myself
Cleanse myself – free myself
From every little trace of you baby yeah
Chorus:
And you're not gonna come round anymore
No more roses sitting at my door
Well I may have shed a tear or two
But now it's clear that you
Are not the kind of man that a woman needs to cry for.
