Possible trigger warning - depression, suicidal thoughts, suicide.

 

I've played in bands for most of my life, and in the last 15 years or so, I've written a few lyrics that have been based on my experiences of trying to get through difficult times. I tend to do comedy stuff with poetry and serious stuff with lyrics. I don't think of my lyrics as being poetry, but the band I'm in does have one song that started out more as a poem than a set of lyrics, although it's a blurred between the two! I usually write song lyrics in terms of verses, choruses, etc, but this one was just a case of trying to write what I felt  about something, and then trying to chop it up into a lyric to fit the song, so I've set it out as it was originally written below. The bit that ended up as the chorus is in bold.

I thought I'd share this because it's World Mental Health Day. The song is about depression, an attempt to describe how it feels. The last verse below is the chorus of the song, and that part is what I would say to someone who's struggling with depression.

I tried to make sure that there's a bit of hope in the song, rather than just talking about depression and then leaving the listener/reader down there.

The idea of it is just talking to someone when you feel desperate, even if it's the last thing you feel like doing, and it's also about keeping an eye on your mates, etc, to see how they're doing.

We recorded it and released it as a charity single in aid of Ian's Chain, who provide emergency counselling for people who feel like they can't go on because of depression. They also provide support for families who've been bereaved by suicide.

They do amazing work and have literally saved people's lives by talking to them when they feel suicidal and helping them take a step back and get help. Here's their website www.ianschain.co.uk 

Here's the link to a video of the song, which has an introduction from Alan Savill who founded Ian's Chain and runs it.  

 

Weight of Shadows

Flood of falling darkness

Crawling dragged descent

Can't get out from under

Heart will break again

 

Smothered sky can't hear me

Endless drowning rain

Hope and strength sink fast

Beneath this slow, black slick of pain

 

Steady outward pouring

Hidden reservoir

Fight and it grips tighter

Poison every glimmer

 

Hold me down and stain my eyes

Then you rob me blind

There's no mercy, no respite

But still a few feint sparks will shine

 

Feel the weight of shadows

Suffocate the scream

Slow-motion rip right through me

Seam by sadistic seam

 

You know it's not self-pity

When you say you can't go on

And it feels like years

Since any light last shone

Until you're through this, I'm not leaving your side

I'd rather lose a few hours sleep tonight

Than lose you for a lifetime