Nemo James

Come a Little Closer

Song Not Yet Released

Each day he wakes
And walks slowly down the sleepy village streets
Till he stands beside his faithful fishing boat
His heart is full

He takes the wheel
Glides slowly through the harbour to the sea
Looks around at all he holds so dear
His heart is free

God touches those
Who know when they are happy and content
Not crying for the things that they don’t need
His heart is touched

There’s the island that he’s passed a hundred times or more
Something’s changed, but what it is he’s not quite sure
Then she appears
before his eyes
Like a dream

Please come a little closer
There’s no need to be afraid
Those rocks are harmless
Over here is where dreams are made

Then she was gone
As quickly as she came, she disappeared
Left him wondering if it had been real
But life goes on

Day after day
He sees her and she’s singing the same song
He wants to go and meet her, but he’s scared
The rocks aren’t safe

Then one day their eyes meet with a feeling strong and true
She tries to fight but knows that there’s nothing she can do
She feels so confused as her head begins to spin
But her heart is melted when she hears him sing

I can’t come any closer, those rocks will sink my boat
So far from land, I’ll be lost without a hope
But you could swim here to my side where we’d both be safe
Then we could be together, riding the waves

Please come a little closer
There’s no need to be afraid
Those rocks are harmless over here
Is where dreams are made

But he is wise
He shakes his head and slowly sails away
He knows how many lives those rocks have claimed
But his heart aches

She stands alone
She knows her world will never be the same
She wants so much to stand there by his side
But she is scared

The next day when she sees him, she casts caution to the wind
She jumps into the sea and to his boat she swims

Please come a little closer
There’s no need to be afraid
Here inside this boat with me
That’s where dreams are made

And so they live
With a love that just gets stronger every day
But there is one thing that she asks of him
That he should see
Where she came from

And so one day they sail up
To the island of her birth
Cautiously he waits there
But then he hears her sing.

Please go a little closer
There’s no need to be afraid
I know a place to land
it’s there, my dream was made

Against his better judgement
He feels she must be true
For if the rocks where dangerous
Then she would perish too
As the boat goes closer
The sea begins to change
He’s seen it many times before
But nothing quite so strange
He tries so hard to turn away
But there’s nothing he can do
The wind is so relentless
As the rain obscures his view
Soon the boat is crashing
on the unforgiving rocks
He knows beyond a doubt
That this last fight will be lost
As the sea take hold of him
He sees his love close by
And with his last remaining strength
He swims there to her side

Then suddenly
Just as they both surrender to the sea
He takes her in his arms and asks her why?
I don’t understand

Why did you guide me to those rocks
Now you will die as well?
Why would you trade what we had
For a one-way trip to hell?

I could not help myself, that is who I am
It’s just in my nature, there was no thought or plan

Please come a little closer
There’s no need to be afraid
At last, we’re together
That’s where dreams are made

THE STORY BEHIND THE SONG

This song is featured in my novel, A Single Tear. A friend of mine asked me for help with a song he had written about a siren. In common with most beginners, the lyrics were disjointed sentences thrown together, so it was impossible to determine what the song was saying. I gave him some suggestions which he rejected out of hand. In particular, he said the twist in his song was that the siren was a good person. I pointed out that if she was a good person, then she wouldn’t be a siren, but it fell on deaf ears.

However, a song about a siren sounded like a good idea, so with his approval, I wrote my own version which combines Greek Mythology with the well-known story about the scorpion and the frog.