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All the night is empty

from Like the river by Alex MacDonald

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about

This was written in the late Sixties. It's about a girl I knew then whose life seemed empty, until she met someone who really loved her. Donald Forsyth's guitar part really brings it to life.

lyrics

ALL THE NIGHT IS EMPTY

All the night is empty as she walks from the room
That is framed in the colour of her hair
She leaves her mind bleeding on each step of the stair
And the stones mock the movement of her heels
The cold wind clutches at her shadows on the wall
She feels that it's reaching to her soul
The orange light makes dry leaves alive round her feet
And the rustle reaches back into her dreams

She sees these dead leaves as they were six months ago
With the drizzle of the sky going through her hair
Her tangled web of life becomes the falling of the leaves
Her happiness a destiny of dust
If there was anyone to hear her she'd cry till he heard
But her wisdom tells her no one's really there
Her anguish and the hunger of a million children's eyes
Prove to her that no one really cares

But away behind the vision of her eyes and of her head
There's a picture that she never can erase
It's the awful sight of one who was broken by this hell
His mind and body torn against the sky
Her footsteps clatter from the dark wet cobble-stones
To run her mind away from what she sees
But his hands of love reach out down the arches of the years
His cry of desolation fills her ears

The ancient stony walls close in around her steps
She sees that she's got nowhere else to run
His loneliness is hers he took it for his own
His love has broken through this hell.

(c) Alex J MacDonald

credits

from Like the river, released October 4, 2008
Alex MacDonald: vocals, guitar, and harmonica
Doug MacDonald: guitar
Donald Forsyth: guitar

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Alex MacDonald Edinburgh, UK

Grew up in Kildonan Strath, Sutherland, where I loved the psalms and hymns and the old folk songs my father had learned from his drover grand uncle.Went on to Cash, the Clancys and Corries, Tom Paxton and Dylan. Started playing guitar and writing songs in my teens, but only started recording this century with my rock band sons! Either solo or with my band, I've played all over Scotland. ... more

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