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Beach

from Sistine Dreams by Alf Whitby

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about

I’d never really been to a beach like the one in this song, so not sure why it’s so vivid for me. It’s not
particularly idyllic, nor out of the ordinary. But quiet at least – as in no one there.
The songs about time, and especially about how time affects your perception of things. Things that
linger (e.g. grains of sand). Things that leave (e.g. boats). Things that may come back (e.g. tides, the
moon). Or even things that are changed indefinitely (e.g. through corrosion). Life’s full of these ‘things’.
Some hardly ever happen. Some won’t bloody stop happening. But the sum of these events makes up
your life.
Despite your general sense of the beach hardly changing, no matter how many times you stroll up and
down it, no two strolls could ever be exactly the same. And that’s something that has both annoyed and
relieved me I suppose.
I have a nasty habit of holding on to things for too long. Beating myself up about mistakes or for saying
silly things, and carrying them with me like sand stuck in your undies, making you uncomfortable when
you should be enjoying a nice stroll. I’m also very unobservant. I don’t notice or try to be attentive to the
good things that I do or that happen in my life. Just stroll right by.
Change is inevitable. The past is invariable. The future is ineffable. The present is ephemeral. And this is
something I’m trying to learn to accept, and a struggle at the heart of this song.

lyrics

Lyrics
I’ve seen so, many tides come and go,
And I’ve seen boats, sailing off into the unknown,
I’ve seen stones, wearing under constant load,
But I can’t make a moment last,
No I won’t ever get this back,
Evanescent bliss don’t last,
Inevitably doomed to pass,
Wish I could take it on a last stroll, overturn the pebbles
And kick away the things that passed, and let them go,
If the moon was any brighter it wouldn’t be so clear, the ripples moving through the years,
The whispered tones,
Watch the shoreline making gains please wash away these grains,
That cling to me wherever I go, and weight my soul,
Why can’t life be this slow, its collecting a hefty toll,
But I can’t make a moment last,
I won’t ever get this back,
Evanescent bliss don’t last,
Inevitably doomed to pass,

credits

from Sistine Dreams, track released January 30, 2020

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about

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Alf Whitby Manchester, UK

Alf Whitby is the alter ego of Manchester based songwriter Andrew Keaveney. New music coming in late 2022.

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