FAWM: "This Boy's Life"

This Boy's Life

2 weeks ago by @hornesgiftshop

This Boy's Life

hornesgiftshop

00:00

Liner Notes

It's easy, and very dull, to feel superior to Americans these days. And then I read elderly members of my extended family down south posting on Facebook, "sharing" jokes about dinghies sinking in the Channel and kids drowning, and I want to give up.

#movietitlechallenge

Lyrics

This boy's life would have been settled
Wearing the shoes his father wore
They work you hard and pay you little
Every day you're wanting more

A, E (x4)

This boy's brother was a soldier
Paid for the house outside town
Twenty five and well remembered
In full colour, smiling proud

C#m, D, A / F#m, B7 /
E, B7, E / E, B7, E

On the screen you see glass towers
Reaching up into the sky
The Lord God's very own sunflowers
Built by man to please His eyes

Am+9, E7, E7(b9) / Am+9, G, F
Am+9, E7, / Am+9, E7

This boy's wife would have been chosen
Letters passed and money too
Not too pretty, says his mother
His father laughs, says 'just like you'

A, E (x4)

Some days you can't see or breathe here
When the wind picks up the dust
And when you're waiting for the rain to come
You can watch the iron rust

C#m, D, A / F#m, B7 /
E, B7, E / E, B7, E

On the screen you see headlights
Words in yellow, you can't read
Everyone's awake at midnight
In the land of plenty

Am+9, E7, E7(b9) / Am+9, G, F
Am+9, E7, / Am+9, E7

On the screen there are searchlights
An empty boat on dirty sands
No names, no pictures; a black night
Somewhere between two foreign lands

Am+9, E7, E7(b9) / Am+9, G, F
Am+9, E7, / Am+9, E7

This boy’s life would have been lived
Yellow on the first day of spring
There’s nothing sure in this world
Open the curtain to the morning

Comments

@motorcitymusicman 2w

A powerful story about a timely issue really well presented lyrically and musically. Very well done.

@rockstarsmd 2w

Puts me in the mind of Ray Davies early work. Nicely written and delivered!

@audrey 2w

Good melody filled with, a melancholy that suits the movie and your lyric well. Growing up with abuse like he experienced can't be easy.

@joeycyclone 2w

Great take on the prompt. Beautiful words to acknowledge the humanity behind the devisive headlines

@siasa 2w

Wow! You're really stretching out both lyrically and musically on this one.

@hornesgiftshop 2w

Hi @bradbrubaker . Thanks for the comment. The chords feel like very natural positions - I have small hands and tend to thumb chords when I can. The Am chord is in the barre position leaving the B and e strings open, thumb A on the E string (supposed to be alternating with open E but I didn't get that bit together and had to dash for school parents' evening - single dad in FAWM syndrome). The E7 thing is the C7 shape up a few frets, also with open B and e. I added the sinister F on the B string to stop it sounding like Hotel California. (Then I thought a quote from Hotel California would be perfect in the context of someone in the global south watching videos of the west and thinking he could live there - but it was already in the tune by the time I had that thought).