I Thought I Heard You Crying
I thought I heard you crying In the darkest hour of night
But it was just a long forgotten scene
How it hurt to see you while your body shook with fright
Till I told you it was just a silly dream
I did my best to comfort you and wipe your tears away
And sing gently while you drifted off to sleep
Then all would be forgotten at the start of every day
My love for you was as tiring as was deep
I thought I heard some clapping in the darkest hour of night
But it was just a long forgotten scene
You hit the ball for six, a perfect cover drive
A stroke as powerful as it was clean
I lived through you with bat in hand, a game I love so much
But I was never good enough to play
How I longed to tell you how proud of I was of you
But I was too embarrassed to ever say
I thought I heard you calling in the darkest hour of night
But it was just a long forgotten scene
Halfway through life’s journey, your business left in ruins
Your marriage passed into something that had been
We didn’t have a lot to give but we did what we could do
With us you knew you always had a home
We watched you get back to your feet and go from strength to strength
And built a life where the sun has always shone
I thought I heard you playing In the darkest hour of night
But it was just a long forgotten scene
in the bar we’d sit at night from start until the end
Those Madeira nights for us did reign supreme
Though my ears were blocks of wood and music lost on me
I was so deeply moved by your words
you sang with such conviction even I could see
You touched the hearts of all of those who heard
Now I can hear you crying in the darkest hour of night
But this is not a long forgotten scene
You are standing by my bedside as I slowly waste away
At my final stop behind a sterile screen
how I wish that I could say to l you that I hear your every word
and comfort you as I did right from the start
through all the years before you, you will never be alone
I will always live inside your heart
THE STORY BEHIND THE SONG
I knew I had to leave this first line exactly as it was but wanted to avoid the well-trodden path of lost love, so I decided it would be a child that was crying.
I had a very happy childhood and a great dad, so this song was a joy to write. The strange thing is, although we had a good relationship and he was a brilliant role model, I wasn’t at all upset when he died. He had a good and full life, and I had no regrets as I knew I had been a good son. Despite taking his death so well, while I was writing this song, there were tears rolling down my cheeks, and I had to stop at times.
I employed an artist and created a video of it. I would love to create an animated version, but that is well beyond my means. What surprises me is that some people see the video as sad. My father had a good life, thirty years of very happy retirement and died peacefully at the age of ninety-three. In the last scene of the video, he is standing beside me saying, “I will always be inside your heart,” which is true. What more can we ask for? and how can that be sad? Sad is when a parent dies, and a child regrets not having been closer to them.