FAWM: "Cardboard Boxes"

Cardboard Boxes

Liner Notes

Lyrics

I packed your life away in cardboard boxes
Possessions that you don’t need anymore
The jewellery and the rings and all those other things
I boxed them and left them at the thrift store

You never were one to be sentimental
You knew when all the spending had to stop
And so I fill a box, with pictures and with clocks
And take them to the town charity shop

There isn’t much to show for eighty years or so
I guess it’s going to be a paradox
When everything I touch which used to mean so much
Is going to be packed up in a box

I guess that I’ll keep something to remind me
Of good times and the way things used to be
But cardboard boxes hold Those things worth more than gold
The memories of what you once meant to me

Comments

@tjeff 4d

Sweetly played and sung, I love the gentleness in the recording. A matter-of-fact telling of a story that happens for so many of us that is both sad and a part of life. Well-done.

@mtanguay 4d

This is very sweet. The light uke and your charming delivery tempers the melancholy, so that this becomes a lovely song for a lost love.

@chrisgray 4d

What I love about this song is how giving the stuff to charity is the wish of the departed person. So many songs focus on the bereaved. But here, in just a few lines, I get a strong feeling for what the the late person was like. Really good!

@ethnodrew 4d

This is so relatable! Keep something to remind us of our loved ones, and give the rest away--relatable story and a good melancholy!

@cicpisces 4d

Sad when memories can be distilled down to contents of a cardboard box. Nice sentimental lyric. Sung well with a sad tone to the melody. Nice work.

@gordon 4d

This is really well done. Very relateable lyrics for many I think. Nicely done and well delivered as ever, especially the phrasing. Great stuff

@val 4d

This is where I went with the theme too. I really like they way you put the spin on it about not being sentimental. Actually reminded me of how I felt giving away my mother's things after she passed. In fact, I remember thinking, "Mom wasn't sentimental. She wouldn't want this stuff."

@hmstreetteam 4d

I always like a song that mentions clutter clearing. The story speaks to the nature of life and the way physical things may depend on a life to give them meaning. Good thoughtful writing,