STREAMS IN THE DESERT 

(The Gift Treasures from the Basement) 

(Volume 3)

I have always loved this prophetic song by my old friend Jarrod Cooper -  the line that always touches me is this one: “healing our nation - saving our children”!  When I used to sing it years ago at Bible college, I didn’t have a child, but declared it out in faith anyway, believing that one day, against all odds, I would. Here I am, nearly 30 years later, releasing this old recording, and one of the images in this video is of my miracle son - my fulfilled promise and gift from God! He is so faithful! X

         AUDIENCE OF ONE - demo

(written for the 'Talent is Timeless'

songwriting competition

Feb 2021

This song came, totally out of the blue .....as I was drying myself after a bath recently!!

I scribbled down the line ‘audience of one’ knowing it was a seed.

I write songs as an expression, an outlet - a communication of my heart, about things that touch me.

As a songwriter, I want to draw people into the story I’m telling- so they can resonate with the message, be transported into the story.. to be touched in some way... for it to make a difference ....

This song sums up my heart that even if a song blesses just one person, then it has done it’s job!

YOU MAKE ME FEEL

(Bigger Picture)

A friend of ours called Frieda had returned to Botswana, where she had been living & working for many years. Before her return, she gave me a book of her poetry that she'd had published a few years earlier, & wrote a little personal message in it for me at the front.  A few years later we heard the tragic news that she had died in a freak accident - so young, only in her early 30's!  Not long after, I found her book & this poem jumped out at me. I added just a few of my own words to complete the middle  section. I love the beautiful descriptive words she used.....such a sad loss. 

RIP Frieda. x

'Fashioned from molten light

In a flame so vibrant

That the cold in me

Fuses with your heat

Moulded by the warm earth

In a womb so secure

That the sky kneels to kiss the ground

You make me feel....

Shaped by living water

In a wave so deep

That the least of me 

Is exalted in you

Cast among the stars

In a heaven so infinite

That the end meets the beginning...

You make me feel....

You make me feel loved & secure

There's nothing more..'

It is now two years since I attended the funeral of Joby - a local homeless man who I had befriended. The church was packed with so many people! That's when the seed for this song came - it struck me in that moment, that his life had started out just as any other ordinary boy! Our lives are steered by the choices we make....let’s learn to choose wisely.

RIP Joby Boy. X

'Oh here's the lesson to be learnt

You touch the fire, you will get burnt

And where it rages, it consumes

Taking you prisoner, 

Turns you to ashes...

Life started out good

Like the start of every story

But no fairy tale end

Look what happened to

This ordinary boy.' 

YOU'VE BEEN THERE 

(Live in Lockdown) Vol 1

This song was written after a season  where I had been through many changes,  Sometimes we disappoint ourselves through making unwise choices, which then have permanent consequences! Even my faith was shaken and tested during this time, but as I looked back, I could see that God was always there! He remains faithful!

'You've been there in times of trouble

Helping me to stand

You've been there 

when I've had my doubts

Of who I really am

You've been there holding out Your hand

And I've seen the reason for it all

Yes I've seen it all

And You've been there!' 

NEW EVERY MORNING

(Live in Lockdown Vol 2)

I love mixing old with new!  Whether it be writing a new tune to some wonderful truth filled words of an old hymn, or, like this example, incorporating an old chorus, into a brand new song. The verses came to me as soon as I woke up on the 1st Jan a few years ago, I sat up in bed & scribbled them down, while they were still fresh in my mind.....& when I sat at my piano, the tune came so easily....I'm amazed how well the verses flow into this well known and loved chorus! 

'Every day when I awake

I will lift my eyes

Heavenwards towards Your face

So thankful for another day

Every morning is a gift

Every breath, a chance to say

I love You for loving me

Even though i don't deserve...

The steadfast love of the Lord 

Never ceases

His mercies never come to an end

They are new every morning

New every morning

Great is Your faithfulness O God

Great is Your faithfulness'

AUDIENCE OF ONE

30/1/2021

'Oh the wind blows cold, on a dusky morning

These deserted sands see a new day dawning

At this shore

Leaves me wanting more

When the tide is high, & the wind it lashes

And I taste the air, as the sea it crashes

To the shore

Leaves me wanting more

Have your faded dreams left your soul so empty

Lift your eyes to see there is hope a-plenty

At this shore

To leave you wanting more

Chorus:

Oh I live to care

To capture the essence

As if you were there with me

Not for my eyes alone,

This vision

This passion for the life that I know

Is my song

For an audience of one.

When the sun goes down that same roaring ocean

Now gives peace and rest in it’s gentle motion

At this shore

Leaves me wanting more

 Oh these days are hard, so now more than ever

We need songs of hope, bringing us together

To this shore

To leave us wanting more…'

44 MAYFAIR

(Bigger Picture)

For a short time, we rented a lovely old 1930's  detached house, with a large garden full of wildlife, & a beautiful view towards the Malvern Hills.  This house was full of character, but hadn't been lived in for quite a few years,  as the land it was on was up for development, so I knew it's time  was short!  It struck me at the time that I would write a song about this lovely place, so  when a few years later I saw the bulldozers demolishing it, this song came. 

It was a sad day!  

'You'd seen so many years 

pass you by

So many lives passing through

Seen the many changing seasons

All the children born in you

Only you would know the secrets

Hidden there within your rooms

Memories were made within you

Fleeting moments, gone too soon

You'd seen the golden glow of sunrise

Lighten up your darkened walls

Heard the happy sounds of laughter

Echoing within your halls

Birds would visit every springtime

Shelter in your boundaries

Bringing song into your garden

Nesting in the old oak tree...

What happened to the heart of you

The love, the life, the man, the wife

I'll never know what happened there

At 44 Mayfair

You were once somebody's treasure

Somebody's work of art

But you were left abandoned, empty

All alone without your heart

And I'm sad to see your strong walls

Crumbling to the ground

Will you ever be remembered

In the place you once were found...'

JOBY DREAM ON - SINGLE

I heard the tragic news of the death of Joby, on Christmas Day, huddled, & all alone, in a shop doorway! A few days later, I sat down & wrote this song - it was an outpouring of sadness! 

'Little acts of kindness, 

Little acts of love

Breaking down the barriers

That we all put up

Reaching out with tenderness

'Cos words are not enough

To show that you were cared for

Show that you were loved

Joby dream on......'

MIRACLE WORKING GOD

(from the album 'Always Near")

I remember my Mum ringing me back in '91, to tell me of a friend's accident in a gas explosion at his work. I wrote this song as a prayer for him - amazingly he came through unscarred! May it help you to pray for a miracle if you need one!

'What is man 

That You are mindful of Him -

The son of man, that You should care

For You know how we are formed

You remember that we are dust

Yet have mercy on us...

Lord work a miracle

Lord work a miracle

So the glory

May go you You!'