This is my latest song for Sean. To listen to it, please click here: Bridges2
BRIDGES
I walk the room and I walk the road
I have companions to share the load
They’ll be with me to the end
But someone’s missing … it’s you, my friend
The table‘s laid and the food is served
We sit and eat without saying a word
One place is empty, one voice is gone
We no longer hear your opinion
All the bridges falling down
All the bridges falling down
How will we get around
With all the bridges falling down?
You walked in time with your inner song
You had a heart that could do no wrong
Burning up with the things you loved
Never still while the spirit moved
I see the moon escape the cloud
I glimpse your face amid some crowd
On a city street or at a rugby game
You’re with us still, though it’s not the same
All the bridges falling down
All the bridges falling down
How will we get around
With all the bridges falling down?
I’ve been thinking of one occasion when
We were in the park – you were nine or ten
You rode your bicycle out of sight
We barely found you before the night
You understand what I mean to say
You know the score in your own sweet way
You’ve gone ahead of the rest once more
And we can’t find you – not on this shore
All the bridges falling down
All the bridges falling down
How will we get around
With all the bridges falling down?
The way we miss you will never change
Not to have you here will still be strange
For as long as we are on this earth
But we love our lives, for what they’re worth
In every moment the world is new
And every time that we think of you
We’ll remember how it should be done
To live for love, and for joy and fun
All the bridges made of light
Pierce the darkness of the night
All the bridges that we’ll cross
To ease the pain and heal the loss
The road to God knows where ... Brendan O'Brien 
painfully beautiful
Thanks a lot, Badger.
Beautifully expressed melancholy ending in luminous hope. First class.
Thank you, Shermeen … you’re very kind.
“The way we miss you will never change
Not to have you here will still be strange
For as long as we are on this earth
But we love our lives, for what they’re worth
In every moment the world is new
And every time that we think of you
We’ll remember how it should be done
To live for love, and for joy and fun”
Aspirational (is that a real word?)
Hi AP … yes (although you may have meant inspirational :-)).
Pauline likes the end of it too. I finished it last night, and recorded it this morning … she’s out for the day; otherwise she’d be singing on it too.
We’ve been thinking and talking about Sean a lot (perhaps even more than usual). In general we’re very positive, and never at all depressed about it … just really missing him and sorry he’s gone.
No I meant aspire – for sure – not inspire. I would aspire to live by those words.
You have been amazingly positive about Sean’s death and I honestly don’t know where you have all got your strength from. I’m pretty sure the way you have dealt with everything has made everyone around you stronger.
Thanks, AP. The people around us have made us stronger too, and the love and support from people like you has been great.
Luckily we had good family relationships to begin with … it would be much harder if there had been problems, I think.
Brendano – I really like the words, gentle, tender, achingly beautiful, the chorus is grand and the last two verses give hope. I especially like “bridges made of light”. But has the song tune matched the words! I shall have to wait to listen for I am due to attend a church service shortly. I can see these words (this song) could be inspirational to all those who have lost someone on life’s journey. And I do think the quality/gift you have in springing lines is being distilled into a fine art. I can’t wait to hear the song – you continually surprise me!
Thanks very much, PG … I hope you’ll like the tune. Sometimes when I’ve just written a song and am trying to read it from the computer screen and to remember the chords and tune at the same time, I think my voice’s tuning may suffer a little!
We were at a pub session in Ballyjamesduff last night – I did my ‘Come Back and See Me’ song with a microphone and plugged-in guitar; also Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘Homeward Bound’. Good fun. ‘Come Back and See Me’ gets a good reaction from people.
You’re right, PG, Brendan is no mean poet. He has surprised me for a long time.
The time may well come when he should consider publishing a collection together with an introductory chapter that tells the tale.
Thanks, Badger. I used to write some poetry; now I’m concentrating on songs, which I think need to be heard and not just read. To that end we’re still planning to assemble some musicians and singers next month and make some tracks that can go on YouTube in tribute to Sean.
Having a blog like this is a great resource for me, as it allows the posting of anything I think is relevant – photos, songs, stories, poems …
What a medium the Web is in times like these. To know that hundreds maybe thousands of people are silently following your journey, sharing empathetically. A valuable experience, and not just for the O’Brians either.
Thank you. Yes … it has been a big help to us, and I’m very glad of it. I think the past months would have been more difficult without this outlet.
Brendano, before my son commands me to look up “railway engines” on the internet I have just time to say I just listened to the song. Yes you’ve done it again! A wonderful touch switching minor chords to major – thats a nice pattern throughout. People can sing this and be uplifted. Gotta go now …. well done matey.
Cheers, PG .. many thanks for the encouragement. 🙂
Best wishes to the family.
Excellent Brendano.
Hello Metin … thank you very much.
It is a beautiful song, Brendano. I understand when you say that you want your words to be heard rather than simply read.
I like the idea of bridges of light. This weekend I went to an island using the causeway rather than the bridge. Most of the time the causeway is covered by the sea, but it is truly magical when it can be used, and the road is always there even when it seems not to be and is covered by the dangerous sea.
Thank you, Cymbeline. I know what you mean about the causeway usually covered by the sea … something in you is revealed when you go on it.