LIKE THE RIVER
| 1. |
The Fall of Tam Moncrieff
|
10:37
|
| 2. |
All the Night is Empty
|
3:35
|
| 3. |
Big Man Big Heart
|
8:06
|
| 4. |
The Glory
|
3:35
|
| 5. |
Newfoundland
|
4:05
|
| 6. |
The Tay Boat Song
|
6:36
|
| 7. |
Tears
|
3:06
|
| 8. |
He Stands a Beggar
|
8:03
|
| 9. |
Scotland’s Story
|
4:28
|
| 10. |
The Runner
|
7:55
|
| 11. |
Bon Accord
|
5:45
|
| 12. |
The Shepherd’s Song
|
4:05
|
LIKE THE RIVER songs
The Fall of Tam Moncrieff
This song is the most recent and unlike anything else I have written. It does of course tell a story (and it’s long!) So in that way it is similar to others I have written. I have always loved stories and songs that tell stories. I suppose it goes back to listening to some of the old songs my father used to sing when I was a boy. This one is very cinematic. In fact I think I could write the screenplay for it! It came to me in a series of pictures or scenes. At first I wasn’t sure if they all belonged together in the same story, but gradually they blended into one. It’s different from my other songs in that there is very little grace in it. It’s summed up by what one of the characters says: “I’ve come in judgement, not in grace.” Ultimately it’s one or the other.
All the Night
This was written in the late Sixties. It's about a girl I knew then whose life seemed empty, until she met someone who really loved her. Donald Forsyth's guitar part really brings it to life.
Big Man Big Heart
Douglas MacMillan died on the 3rd of August 1991. Evelyn and I had been with him and Mary at a wedding the day before. The news came as a big shock. Douglas had been a spiritual inspiration to many of us. He was one of my heroes. All was well if Douglas was there. And now he wasn’t there – or to be more precise, he wasn’t here. As it turned out I wasn’t able to get to the Memorial Service in Edinburgh or the funeral in Ardnamurchan. A few weeks later I was ill, and this song came to me in one go. Big man, big heart.
The Glory
This is all about oppression in various forms, about how people can take all sorts of things from you, but there’s one thing they can’t take… or is there?
Newfoundland
I first heard this being performed by The Corries. It has always been one of my favourite folk songs.
The Tay Boat Song
My father had a bad stutter when he spoke. But he had a great singing voice (far better than mine) and he had no speech impediment when he sang, whether precenting the Psalms or singing at weddings and ceilidhs. The Tay Boat Song was one of his best. This is a different arrangement and was recorded live.
Tears
This is a difficult song to sing. It is about failure to live up to what you hold to. But there's hope there too.
Scotland’s Story
This was written some time in the early Nineties when there was talk about looking for a new national anthem for Scotland. I had a go, but it turned into this, which tries to tell the whole history of Scotland in five minutes!
He Stands a Beggar
Lachlan MacKenzie was an eighteenth century preacher in Lochcarron. He once preached in Aberdeen and the more sophisticated citizens of Aberdeen thought his appearance somewhat uncouth. But he began his sermon by telling a story, and by the time he finished you could have heard a pin drop. I thought it worth turning into a song.
The Runner
My brother, Donald, was a surgeon in central India for 15 years. While there he treated a man who had rabies. The anti-rabies serum Donald took caused a reaction which led to his developing MS. In his younger days he was a great runner, especially cross-country. At a summer camp in 1991 I realised Donald would never run again. I wrote this for him.
Bon Accord
In 1993 we left Bon Accord Church in Aberdeen as I was called to Buccleuch in Edinburgh. It was a very emotional time. A farewell meeting was arranged and, for someone who makes his living in a form of public speaking, I am not very good on those sorts of occasions. Thankfully this song came to me. Bon Accord is the motto of the City of Aberdeen and the chorus is based on the Aberdeen Toast: “Happy to meet. Sorry to part. Happy to meet again. Bon Accord!”
The Shepherd’s Song
I grew up on a hill sheep farm on the Strath of Kildonan where my father was a shepherd, and as a wee boy I would never go to sleep at night unless my father or mother would sing me a particular song. It was “The Ninety and Nine” which tells the story of the lost sheep and the Good Shepherd. In December 1989 my parents were due to celebrate their Golden Wedding, and I wanted to write a song for them. It became apparent early in the year that my father was seriously ill, and would probably not make it. I wrote this song, and I’m glad I was able to sing it for him before he died.
