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THE HOLY LANDS

by David Heavenor

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Nick Smith
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kshema
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about

Written when I was 22 and volunteering for an organisation called The Edinburgh University Settlement which placed students in the community helping mostly elderly people down at heel or unable to shop or do tasks around their homes through illness. I visited an old man who was on his last legs and living alone in a very sparse, inhospitable flat. It was the first time I’d ever experienced such infirmity and deep need being a naive middle class boy. He was originally a tram driver on the Edinburgh Trams which ran until 1956 and there were a few sad mementoes on the wall showing groups of colleagues in uniform. He died soon after and I still can picture the scene and the fear set in his eyes as he lay in bed and sucked on his pipe. I suppose I was at the age when you start confronting all the big questions in life rather than deflecting them. Then the song sort of morphs into a rant against religious dogmas and the so called faiths which are supposed to help us cope with the big existential questions in life but seem to mostly set one person against another.

lyrics

THE HOLY LANDS

I’m so glad to see you’ve managed to come
I thought that you’d flee, go back on the run
But now that you’re here have you anything vital to say
About the day and its passing away?

I stood by the bed of a diseased dying man
I caught his last breath in the cup of my hands
To give to a child at the instant of womb and of birth
And he cried ‘Am I here for the earth?’
And I cried ‘Am I here for the earth?’

I know I’ve got the mind of a dreamer
I go the way the fool understands
I know the light is striking somebody
But I can’t see for my hands

I know that the days should be filled up with praise
I know that the time has been released to be mine
But I’m caught in a storm
I’m fighting with death to be born
A storm that I see every dawn

I’m so glad to see you’ve got religious concerns
You build all your towers
In your fenced off holy lands
To give to a child at the instant of womb and of birth
And he’ll cry ‘ Am I here for the earth?’
And I’ll cry ‘Am I here for the earth?’

credits


From the album The Innocent's Eye
Acoustic Guitar David Heavenor Sandy Butler
Bass Dave McGowan
Drums Stuart Kidd
Electric Guitar Sandy Butler
Vocal Suzanne Butler Annie McCaig
Piano Steve Butler

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David Heavenor Edinburgh, UK

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David Heavenor is a Scottish singer songwriter based in Edinburgh Scotland. He has produced 8 albums plus 3 EP's.

I'm Watching Rosanna. ' An insightful song....beautifully written and observed. Iain Anderson. BBC Radio

'Jenny & the Cold Caller. One of the best songs ever written...' Ricky Ross ... more

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