FAWM: "Memories Of Me"

Memories Of Me

Liner Notes

#singersongwriter #indiefolk #biab
Sir Bill White's lyrics often bring out a very sophisticated version of heartache that's far beyond the purely romantic oriented ones that tend to show up in so many songs. So when I get the honor of getting to put one of them to music, I have to try and check myself from going way too melancholy, but it still bleeds all over the place I'm sure. Thank you, Bill, for letting me play this one.

Lyrics

Memories of Me
Lyrics - Bill White
Music - Jeff Walker

memories of me are fading
as each lost friend now fades away
at least im lucky to have shelter
throughout these slowly passing days

my past will never catch up with me
it crumbles behind me as i run
into a future so uncertain
each day falls into the sun

its not that i have burned my bridges
there are no bridges left to burn
some say you cant go home again
And I’ve no home to which I could return

memories of me are fading
as each lost friend now fades away
at least im lucky to have shelter
throughout these slowly passing days

my life is now an ancient fresco
smudged and chipped like aging paint
each step i take now must be taken
carefully and with restraint

my past will never catch up with me
it crumbles behind me as i run
like the man who left the moon
only to fall into the sun

Again, I have not burned my bridges
They were on fire before I crossed
A man like me should never gamble
I won so much before I lost

memories of me are fading
as each lost friend now fades away
at least im lucky to have shelter
throughout these slowly passing days

Comments

@nancycunning 1w

Wow. That first line is so strong and rips my heart open a little, and the rest of the song just keeps ripping a little each line...Aging is such hard work, and you lay it out without self-pity. It's a very different implementation but it makes me think of what I think was Guy Clark's first song "Step into This House" that clear portrait of someone with not much left of a life lived with so much love.

@deleted 1w

(deleted)

@lbrewington 1w

Was excited to a see jeff + bill collab pop up. Was not expecting the full production, but here we are, nice job on that. You have done a good service to the song and all the parts work together well. The main guitar parts gives it bit of a tumbling feel which I think echoes the theme of the song. I really like the lyrics

"into a future so uncertain
each day falls into the sun"

and also

"Again, I have not burned my bridges
They were on fire before I crossed"

And really liked the repetition of the bridge scene, with the first being no bridges to burn, and the second one being on fire.

Relatable song to me, and many others I'm sure. The usage of the of the word "lost friend" in the chorus really cements that feeling.

@ttg105 2w

The wistful music and vocals really captures the feeling of loss in the lyrics. There's real poetry in "Memories of me are fading" and the bridges "that were on fire before I crossed" and "the man who left the moon only to fall into the sun." Some beautiful 70s-type chords in there as well!

@coolparadisoMod 2w

Top collaboration Jeff has squeezed every bit of that lyric into the delivery! Really enjoyable listen

@gfandme 2w

Great collaboration. Your memories aren't fading. By making songs like these they only get stronger!

@gwynjones 2w

Poignant, engaging and beautifully written words by @billwhite51 put to sublime and heart rendering music and vocals by @jeff9 that linger long in the heart and mind!

@raspberry33 2w

Great collaboration! And, this is a song that could only be written by someone across the half-century mark. The line "have not burned my bridges - they were on fire before I crossed" is great. I love the vocal delivery.

@jibbidy34 2w

Amazing. Collab gold. You two should deffo do more together. Jeff has captured Bill’s lyrics perfectly. ‘No bridges left to burn’. You could have gone quite dark with this but instead Jeff shines a light tinking of guitar strings and a gentle Americana musical treatment to blow the blues away.

@davidtaro 2w

I think you guys must have some sort of psychic connection, because it feels like the work of one person rather than two. Jeff's vocal is typically burnished and aching, and there's some lovely guitars tucked into the mix. Jeff, as you say, Bill's words never stray anywhere near cliché, and having worked with them myself, what always amazes me is that the longer you sit with them the clearer it is just how intentional every single word in every single line is. Here, it's the simple "its not that i have burned my bridges / there are no bridges left to burn" which really jumped out to me. Such a classy turn of phrase. Wonderful collab!

@nadine 2w

These lyrics are brilliant! So happy you collaborated, this is a good team. The phrase "My past will never catch up with me" is so good. I have to think about that. A lot.

@sbs 2w

Lyrics are absolutely brilliant! Thinking about what you said about Bill’s sophisticated heartbreak writing, I was curious how this would go. But you’ve given it more of a sophisticated Bobby Goldsboro treatment rather than your usual country sound, which is so fitting! Quite well done!