Walk Softly into the Night
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Submitter Comments
I felt compelled one night to go to the piano after midnight, and then compelled to write the music of this 3-part round over the next few hours. Very unusual for me as I usually write lyrics first. Over the next day or two I crafted the lyrics that, again, I felt driven to do even though I had other pressing things to do. I didn’t even quite understand all the images I wrote into these lyrics, but as I reworked the wording of each phrase over and over, I knew when each phrase somehow felt ‘just right’ and left it at that. The day I finished the lyrics, my mother, who had been totally healthy, had a stroke. She died two weeks later, and in those two weeks, as I sat by her hospital bed, I hummed this soothing melody to her often, since it was fresh in my head. When we moved her to a hospice situation for her last few days, I began to also sing the words — just as I had presciently written the piece, with music first and then the lyrics! It was only then that I realized the song was actually about her passing and moving forward into light, as we had whispered loving thoughts in her ear for two weeks (she was very hard of hearing), then eventually encouraged her to let go! An astounding experience.
T2P:OK—OK to share your own recording for this purpose.
T2P:SW—OK to share recording provided by songwriter for this purpose. I am happy if you use this recording OR if you record your own versions as long as the latter are only for private patient/caregiver use.
Lyrics
Walk softly into the night.
The whispers of the dark will show the way.
Turn as the breezes begin to blow,
Stepping lightly, letting go.
Know when daylight breaks you will be
Moving forward.