Page 13 - Jan InDesign

H
Bill O’Halloranappy Ron Hill

Close Your Eyes And Remember

I got the news that the love of my life had I had never done a serious song as a sing-
died. It hit me hard because a year ago we along, yet they loved it and sang along and I
had thought we were going to spend the felt closer to everyone.
rest of our lives together. I had never had
someone near my age die that I had been It came to me that I could take the power of
that close to. the sing-along to build community to make
the song more powerful. So I added into the
The day after I got the news I started mak- first half of final double chorus lyrics about
ing a list of how I would handle my emo- how loss is universal “you’re not the only
tions. For instance, when I felt bad about the one” then another chorus then “everyone
terrible way she died I would instead think loses someone”. This made the shared ex-
about the wonderful way that she lived. It perience of singing along transition people
didn’t take long to realize that I had the start from the solitary experience of grief to the
of a song here. The verses are mainly this realization that it happens to us all. This
list I had made. has brought me closer to people in general
because now when someone says they have
This first time I played a rough draft in front lost someone I know what it is like.
of an audience was one of the most pro-
found things I’ve ever experienced on stage. What a gift to write and sing music is to us
The crowd was pretty rowdy and expected all.
me to do the fun sing-alongs I am known for.

w
www.writeawaymagazine.co.uk 13ww.writeawaymagazine.co.uk 13