Smoke
So as promised I wanted to introduce you to some of the songs from The Latchkey Kid in the run-up to it's release in August. We'll start with Smoke, one of the earliest I wrote for the album.
Let me preface this by telling you that I cannot play the piano. I think that was kind of the point when it came to writing some of the songs this time around. I was in something of a funk, and I wanted to be challenged into writing again. The simplicity of my playing brought a new naivety that I hadn't felt in a while.
My mum had recently passed and I took a trip to the coast, a beach resort that I spent a lot of my childhood at. I was walking what felt like an age from the beach to the water's edge - it must have seemed so much longer as a child! There wasn't a great deal of people around, and I took a moment to take in the stillness of it all. It was then I felt this history on my shoulders, almost like I could feel my parents' presence. I've never been one to believe in any of that sort of thing but there was an acceptance of some sort, I felt at peace with it and the next day I wrote Smoke. It's about all of that, but it's also a reflection on so much more. It dropped out of the sky, into my head and out of my mouth!
Hope you like it folks.
LF x
Chequered flag Vans and an old suit jacket.
You and I were on a tear, running rabid.
Time waits for no man, time has passed me by.
It’s still you for who my soul is thirsting.
It’s the bad dream I’ve been having every night this week.
On a balance beam.
It’s a day late – I was sleeping in this stalemate.
Treading water.
Time, oh time - did I wither on the vine?
You were mine, all mine.
Was I clear enough in the words we spoke?
Did you know I was that ghost?
We are smoke.
So I’m going where the ocean meets the land.
My father walked the steps in which I stand now.
Was I drinking the Kool Aid when I told you I felt you there?
In this new loss I feel the weight of you, I swear.
Its the shoulder fake.
For each passing car, a half-life taken - I bide my time.
Keep it well hid, a book of matches for the latchkey kid.
I set a fire to my insides.
You hold it up to the light.
Take a look from both sides.
You hold it up to the light.
Say never mind, let it ride.
