Just a trick of the light
This song-poem is a personal story about my arrival in Weymouth, after a long series of knock-backs both financially, emotionally and health-wise. Weymouth had held mixed memories for me (both good and bad) from the times I spent there during almost every school holiday between the ages of about 8 and 14yrs. My parents both worked and Dad used to drive me down to Weymouth each holiday period to stay with my Aunt Bertha who ran a Guest House on Abbotsbury road. My own personal 'baggage' that I brought with me comes out strongly in these lyrics. The lines "Echoes of another Age" and "as your past gets caught up in the tidal flow, just let it go" are urging me to throw off the past and embrace Weymouth anew. The repeated refrain "trick of the light" is used to highlight both catching false glimpses of an old lovers face (reflected in a shop window) , the shimmering of moonlight on the bay - mistaken for dancing shoals of mackerel - and that 'voice in your head' telling you that you must be misreading the smiles from ladies .... that were there? ..... as being just a trick of the light. I really like this piece, and it's musical structure. Thank you Weymouth for giving it to me.
Here we go again, that voice in your head convincing you that it's right
and that the hint of a smile, you thought you saw in her eye
was just a trick of the light
​
I've been walking out in the rain wandering down by the harbour wall
echoes of another Age ,
that Tall Ship's rigged just right
Two lovers are kissing on the quay, a paper blows by in the wind
I thought I saw your face today, but it was just a trick of the light
and as your past gets caught up in the tidal flow,
just let it go
​
There's a storm hitting Chesil tonight,
I know, because there's Tankers laid up in the Bay
as I walk out on the pier in the dying light
two fishermen are packing their rods away
the wind's now whipping up a foam
I can see mackerel dancing out in the moonlight
but those fish don't come here any more
that was just another trick of the light
I wish I could be like the Tides and just go,
with life's ebb and flow
​
Playing tonight in another bar, bearing your soul for a night
there's a new face over in the corner now,
did she really catch your eye?
but we all know where this is gonna go
​
Once again,
that voice in your head convinces you that it's right
and that the hint of a smile you thought you saw in her eye
was just a trick of the light
once again, that pain in your heart that's always winning the fight
makes you think that the smiles,
that were there in their eyes,
was just a trick of the light.