Nemo James

Like Crystal

From the Album Silly Old Man

It was just an ordinary day
Like most that pass that way
But it only takes one second to change the world
Two strangers in a park
Some words to light the spark
Just an ordinary boy and a girl

But then they had found
A crystal picked from the ground
And held tight within the hands of prayer
And who can understand
The power of a love so grand
And why should such a crystal be so rare?

Chorus
Like crystal, like crystal,
Their love was such a precious thing
A mysterious and many-sided gem
Like crystal, like crystal
A song that only two can sing
A wonder that never will die

A lifetime passes by
No need to reason why
With perfect love there is no fear
Now she sits alone
Their time has come and gone
Old woman, who never shed a tear

She talks inside her head
For there alone, he is not dead
But patiently awaits their time resumed
Their crystal will not die
Will hold the earth, reflect the sky
And embrace that wondrous power entombed

THE STORY BEHIND THE SONG

This song was written about my parents. My father was stationed in Milan at the end of World War II, following the liberation of Italy. It was the happiest time of his life. He was a chronically shy man, so when he and his friend saw two young girls walking through a park, I don’t know how he managed to pluck up the courage to speak to one of them. He proposed on their second date, and they were married six months later. Their marriage lasted sixty-seven years until my father died, aged ninety-three.