Let it go

This song was recorded in the wintery month of July-2000 in the Piha Valley, New Zealand. It’s a collaboration with the artist and producer Shinya Asakura. We recorded several songs together, this is my favourite.  

It’s a haunting and simple song with the added depth and psychedelic swirls of Shinya’s production.

Lyrics

Cherish this life
(Josephine Costain)

I like the silence to she said
He wore brightly eyes of smiles
Red is lucky for dragons
And lovely on brunettes

Cherish this life
Cherish this life
Let it go
Let it flow

I called and you answered me
A praying mantis told me so
I did not know how you would shelter me
And love me so

Cherish this life
Cherish this life
Let it go
Let it flow

Angel of mercy

Angel of Mercy

This is another song that kinda slipped away from me. I have reconnected with it because it’s about finding hope and light in a place ravaged by war. I have been drawn back to this song because of how I’ve felt watching the horrors that are taking place in Syria. 

The Carrie Fisher quote that Meryl Streep spoke at the end of her golden globe speech “Take your broken heart, turn it into art” echo the sentiment of this song.

Lyrics

Angel of Mercy
(Josephine Costain)

Through the darkened earth
I have wondered
Over Mountains and the seas
Into the hearts of men I have witnessed
The most tenderness and cruelty

Wrap me in your love
I don’t ever want to let this feeling go
Like an angel of mercy
By my side
Guiding me

When I looked into the soldiers eyes
Black as coal and colder than the night sky
I felt his fear
Oh my God how did we get here

Wrap me in your love
I don’t ever want to let this feeling go
Like an angel of mercy
Guiding me

When all the fires have burned out
And the land lies in peace
I will pick up the pieces of my heart
And make of them a chandelier

Wrap me in your love
I don’t ever want to let this feeling go
Like an angel of mercy
Guiding me

See the snow go

There are some songs that have travelled well with me through my years and others that were just for the time that I wrote them. This song kinda slipped away from me but popped into my consciousness recently one morning. There is something about seeing the snow go that keep playing on my mind. It makes me think of what’s happening to our beautiful Earth. 

The song was inspired by an interview that I saw with Elton John where he was reflecting on some dark days in his life when addicted to cocaine. He talked about how insane he had become that he even wanted his people to stop the wind blowing because it was irritating him. 

It’s a dark song and a bit tongue in cheek, but to me the lyrics are poignant of our precipitous times.

Lyrics

See the snow go
(Josephine Costain)

We live in metaphors
Allusions from the past
Fragments of our lives
In our coffee

No one here goes to the museums
Our lives are like pulp fiction
We are living in a decaying dream

Oh give me vaseline
My petroleum baby
You look fantastic
Made of plastic
But I can’t breathe
I can’t breathe
Close the windows
Tune the light bulbs
Stop the wind blow
See the snow go
See the snow go

Bag ‘em up and tie the strings on
Wave a flag and make a sing song
Tell their mother they did their country proud

Fill our lungs with nicotine
Sell the babies to the magazines
Call the lawyer Jack
The towers burning down

Oh give me vaseline
My petroleum baby
You look fantastic
Made of plastic
But I can’t breathe
I can’t breathe
close the windows
Tune the light bulbs
Stop the wind blow
See the snow go
See the snow