It's Hard to Start a Fire in the Rain
by @headfirstonlyMod · @stephenwordsmith
Liner Notes
Here I am, shamelessly following the zeitgeist.
I was reading Stephen's lyrics and suddenly realised I was hearing an #oddtimesignature 5/4 cadence in them I could use, so I followed it to see how deep I could take Stephen's lyrics down the prog rabbit hole. Quite a long way, it turns out. With a diversion into 6/8 in the middle, because #prog.
Lyrics
There's nothing but the nothingness before the silver spark
That summons the illusions to illuminate the dark
The blood is cold, the spirit low, the mind a weathered plain
And it's hard to start a fire in the rain, in the rain
It's hard to start a fire in the rain
No matter how we wend the way, the first step's always trying
So armed with willing sticks of wood and will of well-wrought iron
And versed so well in what it takes to rub without refrain
But it's hard to start a fire in the rain, in the rain
It's hard to start a fire in the rain
The trickle through your fingertips of thoughts that hold too long
The shush of records broken on the promise of a song
The flicker of a line that leaps and falters just as fast
The sputter of a first light that could never hope to last
So once again we set our soul into the sparks that fly
To burden them with bursts of life, to burn alive and die
To help us find the fortitude to fall and rise again
For it's hard to start a fire in the rain, in the rain
It's hard to start a fire in the rain
Comments
"Damage" was released 30 years ago - I sense some similar ingredients.
I also appreciate that the lyrics have a very light hand on the tiller. You've found a good home for them here, but you could equally have wrapped this tune around a shopping list and still created an enjoyable experience.