This is song number 15. To listen to it, please click here: Nothing but Love
Nothing but Love
If it could be so
I would take you out
Where you wanted to go
Take you fast or slow
Let you suit yourself
Along the way
I would listen to what
You had to say
When we arrived
Where you wanted to be
We might climb up a hill
Or stare at the sea
Or sit in a bar
And sing an old song
And remember some things
That we knew all along
Such a popular boy
And so talented too
You could have done anything
That you wanted to do
You could have seen any place
That you wanted to see
You could have been a great dad
To your own family
You could have got married
On top of Lough Crew
With a reggae band playing
For Clio and you
And a carpet of red
And yellow and green
It would have been the best party
We ever had seen
Now that’s all washed away
Like castles of sand
Yet we still laugh and sing
As we walk on the strand
Because we had so much
That we all were part of
And you’ve left us with nothing
Nothing but love
And you’ve left us with nothing
Nothing but love
But that isn’t so bad …
Because love’s all we had
The road to God knows where ... Brendan O'Brien 
All of your poems/lyrics are painful to read Brendan.
But apart from their intrinsic worth they are valuable in another way.
Perhaps one day I’ll explain why and what they mean to me.
OK, Badger … thank you for this.
Bob this is lovely; a very calm song – it’s sent my pup to sleep!
Is that Pauline singing? It doesn’t sound like her but I can’t decide if it’s someone else (Martina perhaps) or if you’ve just moved Pauline closer to the mic.
The words are fabulous – I particularly like the wedding verse.
Hi AP … thanks very much … and I hope you’re all enjoying the pup!
Yes, it’s Pauline. It’s a very simple song (my first with just three chords), but seems to be popular. I like it. Clio was here yesterday … she loves it. The ‘wedding’ verse is based on something she told us. It came into my head while we were at the blues festival in Warrenpoint, and I was waiting for an opportunity to use it.
My niece Aedín is staying with us for the weekend. She’s a fabulous singer and very good on guitar and whistles … she made a big impression in the pub last night (we were welcoming home Texas John, the cowboy). She’s been asked to sing there next Saturday night (she sings professionally at weddings etc.).
Next weekend she and her sister Aoife are going to come and stay, and Aedín is going to bring her eight-track recording equipment. Clio is going to come too (she’s a good singer also), and we’re hoping to record this song and ‘Sean and Clio in the Snow’. So, that should be fun.
So had you moved Pauline nearer the mic then as her voice sounds for up front than yours this time.
Great that John and his mule have made it back. I couldn’t see how to donate on the facebook page. Did you hvae a good night last night then? I take it ou had a bit of a party?
Next weekend sounds exciting. Two good choices for the recordings. Let me know how you get on.
Yes … Pauline is getting a bit more confident about her singing, which is good.
Yes, we had a good night. A lot of talent on stage, with Martin, Martina, Aedín, Timmy and John. I sang a bit too, but I never like it when microphones are involved.
Yes, it should be a really good musical weekend if all goes as planned.
Another lovely simple and moving song. Isn’t it wonderful the links that music can bring? I love the last verse. Just loved the words.
Ad idem with you about the micophones!!
Seán
Hi Sean … thanks very much – I’m glad you like it. Aedín, my niece, sings some great harmonies on it (not yet recorded). We might do it in the pub next Saturday night.
This is a real sing-a-long, snug-in -the-pub song. I can see everyone joining in. I think that your songs are a wonderful way to celebrate Sean, his life, his hopes, his friends. They are all uplifting and reach out to all who miss Sean, and to all of us who never met Sean, the songs are like Sean reaching out his arms to us and saying “come on, join in, meet my girl and my mates; meet my dad and mum”. I hope these songs live long in the lifetime of your family and friends.
Again, thanks, PapaG for these very kind words. I know that Sean would be pleased and proud that I and others are making this effort to pay him tribute keep his memory alive.
And so, I have listened again. These two songs “Nothing but love” and “Devil’s Bit” go very well together. And I’m not surprised people love them so. In a way these songs, and singing them, transcend the tragic subject of loss, at least by sharing your emotions with the community. It is as if singing these songs give a clue as to an an end-party, one in which you and your family are re-united with Sean. Each sing-song a preview or snapshot of that end party, each song a preparation for seeing Sean again. If this sounds a bit sentimental I apologise; but friendship, love and life, when expressed in music and song, stirs passions and thoughts that make me want to join all threads together.
Thanks, PG … very interesting thoughts and not at all sentimental, in my view. I like the idea of the reunion end-party. Maybe that is what we are groping towards, all us human fragments wanting union and unity in love, instinctively rejecting separation (although it too is a necessary part of life on earth).
I do believe in a meaning, purpose and process. Beyond our understanding, but something of which we are perhaps intuitively aware.