Empty Places
(I wrote this song for my mother Judith while I was visiting my sister in Geneva in 2007, and waiting for my partner to come and meet me, we’d spent ages apart again. The Rhone is the river that flows through Geneva. I was aware of all the ways in which we try to avoid empty places in our lives, how quick we are to fill the gaps left by loss or grief or absence… I would like to be slower about letting so many things rush to fill empty places)

3 days to go, 88 too many
it’s 9.30 at night, the lights on the cathedral are switched on
and a cool breeze’s got my skin
+ it’s stilling the fire demons that play within my earth again today
there’s so much to say, there’s so much to learn
all day, I pat the ground with my feet,
all night I hold the sun between my teeth
Every day is a treat, says Judith, she comes and then she goes…

I know this but
So many things rush to fill empty places
And the Rhone is the fastest river I know,
Every time I sleep, you toss and you turn
And you move like there’s something you yearn for
So few things are in my hands, so many things slip through my fingers
So many things rush to fill empty places
And every day is a gift

Took ten thousand miles to feel far enough away
To feel     somehow within
So long I’ve turned my outsides in
Fear is your greatest fear, says Judith,
your greatest strength is strength

I know this but
So many things rush to fill empty places
And the Rhone is the fastest river I know,
Every time I sleep, you toss and you turn
And you move like there’s something you yearn for
So few things are in my hands, so many things slip through my fingers
So many things rush to fill empty places
And every day is a gift

So no more transfer
And no more blame
No more waiting around
To be lifted out
Cos every day is a gift
Says Judith, she comes and then she goes