Name: Healing River - Song for a City
Duration: P00H04M50S
Description: Original song. Written in early 2015, in the aftermath of the Christmas 2014 bin lorry tragedy in Glasgow. But essentially about all such tragedies, whether acts of God or of man, wherever they happen. This recording was made in summer 2023.

Healing River - Song for a City

by Jim McGrath

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about

Original song. Written in early 2015, in the aftermath of the Christmas 2014 bin lorry tragedy in Glasgow. But essentially about all such tragedies, whether acts of God or of man, wherever they happen. This recording was made in summer 2023.

lyrics

The Healing River (Song for a City) (Jim McGrath)

The river flows
Taking the city’s sorrows to the sea
And the sun sets, and the sun rises
Indifferent to the fate of you or of me
The city moves on

Private griefs and public desolation
Behind drawn blinds, or in the cameras’ glare
Cut flowers, news teams
Public griefs, private desolation
The city moves on

They went out that morning
And most came home
But some who went out that morning
They’re coming back no more
A carefree waive, a careless word
All that is left to the bereft
The city moves on

They say destiny, like a madman with a razor
He stalks the land
You turn up your collar to the wind and the rain
Shrug your shoulders and turn to go
Past cut flowers, the news teams
The public grief, the private desolation
The city moves on

And the healing river flows
Taking the city’s sorrows to the sea
And the sun still sets and still rises
Indifferent to the fate of you or of me
The city moves on
As time moves on

credits

released October 17, 2023
Written by Jim McGrath
Jim McGrath, 12 string and vocals
David Milne, bass, keyboards and production

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Jim McGrath Glasgow, UK

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