James Varda – Pass it On – from the brilliant Chance and Time album. Lyrics with a heartfelt meaning.

I cannot eulogise about this album enough. The delicate beauty and haunting melodies of the songs; but what is even more important is the simplicity and depth of the poems. I won’t give them the disservice of calling them lyrics.

James has reached deep within himself to dredge up all that is valuable in life and encapsulate it into these statements; and each song is a statement. They are strange celebrations of all that is valuable in these seconds we have in this wondrous universe; they are tributes tinged with sadness, optimism and loss. It is a unique combination of emotions that is lifting to the spirits.

These songs are a celebration and farewell. They touch the core of those moments that count in life as if examining each memory and thought and cherishing its essence. We should all do it more. It is what makes life count.

Once again I wish James all the best and thank him for sharing so deeply of himself.

Pass It On

This is the sweetest place

The mist and blossom kiss

And the willows lean down

To touch the snowdrops on the ground

This is the sweetest place

Fields and hedges, church and sky

The farmer and I

Await the geese to fly to Cley

And all that I know

Is carried in these things

Pass it on

This is the sweetest place

Tummy down on WindmillBridge

In an ancient scene

We watch the eels swim upstream

This is the sweetest place

The rhythms are known and sure

Seeds in the spring

An autumn table for a king

And all that I dream

Is written in these things

Pass it on

This is the sweetest place

Following the road home

Through shades of England’s brown

To the pond, the common and the town

And all that I know

Is carried in these things

And all that I dream

Is written in these things

Pass it on