This song is part of a Castle Cooperative Records project, collating images, tracks and poetry around the theme ruins. Stuart Cochrane speaks about the process of writing a song.
Writing a song for me is more stumblering, fumbling, and mumberling until the words are right, I have written plenty where I have bullied the words into submission, and been fairly happy with the results, I mean who am I pleasing, why am I doing it anyway?
I did a lot of walking, in a very Forrest Gump way, I discovered the South Downs, stable in my german walking boots, and rain proof coat. I had no plans, no one to see, nothing to attend to, just walking.
One of the first things I noticed, was how people would acknowledge each other, a ‘Hello’, ‘Morning’ – I must admit I found it very strange, its not how we do it in the New Towns, Colours too – the Corn fields, the bright yellows of the Oil Seed rape, against a blue sky, …..
and no one about.
On the weekends, I had my children, and with my sister and her young daughter, I would take them to these places, where occasionally we would be vexed by cows, and territory anxious horses who would move us along.
One summer’s afternoon I headed for the South Downs via Kingston, near Lewes. Parking my car in a cul-de-sac, I found the direction post pointing to a beige path that weaved its way through a corn field, not too different from the yellow brick road. At the start of this road were two concrete posts to deter cars, by these, an old lady in a wheelchair was just looking out to the distant views, deep in thought...
Come See me
Dream as I do
Of the dust yellow flowers
I see you intend to walk through
The path that presents
14 years to this day
I would have followed you there
I can feel now
The sun on my skin
As the chalk cracks beneath your feet
A scene becomes clear
‘We hide from the storm, as the mice
Scattered through the corn’
Come see me
I sit by the window in vain
Come see me
I’m going nowhere today
This thought that now lingers
Weighs heavy on my heart
That I will never hold you again
Bitt´ness builds
as you climb the hill
To the place where we used to lay
Come see me
I sit by the window in vain
Come see me
I’m going nowhere today
‘The path that presents
14 years to this day
I would have followed you there’
– Stuart Cochrane
The Beighley Grange
Castle Cooperative Records 