Lyrics and Vocals: American singer and songwriter, the late John Lester Nash Jr.(1940-2020).
Johnny Nash.
Released in 1972, “I Can See Clearly Now” is the bright, reggae-laced, pop-soul single that became Johnny Nash’s signature recording; written and produced by Nash, it pairs an easy, sun-after-storm groove, with a simple message of resilience, moving from setback and confusion to renewed confidence and perspective.
I Can See Clearly Now.
I Can See Clearly Now.
I can see clearly now, the rain is gone. I can see all obstacles in my way. Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind, It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright), Sun-shiny day. It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright), Sun-shiny day. I think I can make it now, the pain is gone. All of the bad feelings have disappeared. Here is the rainbow I’ve been prayin’ for, It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright), Sun-shiny day. Look all around, there’s nothin’ but blue skies. Look straight ahead, nothin’ but blue skies. I can see clearly now, the rain is gone, I can see all obstacles in my way. Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind. It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright), Sun-shiny day. It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright), Sun-shiny day. Gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright), Sun-shiny day. Oh, what a bright (bright), bright (bright), Sun-shiny day…
Lyrics And Vocals: American singer, songwriter and guitarist Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen rightly named the “Boss”.
I personally welcome and strongly supports Bruce Springsteen’s “Streets of Minneapolis”, released as an urgent act of witness and solidarity with Minneapolis, a city now in distress, and with immigrant neighbours who have been left feeling exposed and afraid.
In his accompanying statement, Mr Springsteen dedicated the song to the people of Minneapolis and to “our innocent immigrant neighbors,” and to the memory of Mr Alex Jeffrey Pretti and Mrs Renée Nicole Macklin Good.
This song release matters not only for what it condemns, but also for what it protects; the idea that a community is more than its sirens and headlines, it is families, friendships, small kindnesses, and the ordinary love that holds a place together when the temperature drops and the pressure rises.
In that sense, “Streets of Minneapolis” lands like a fierce kind of love letter: not romantic in the shallow sense, but a vow that people are worth defending, and that grief should never be met with total indifference.
Bruce Springsteen.
Mr Springsteen’s words and the song in its framing are explicit about the moral claim he is making and we stand with that claim, and with the principle behind it. Artists should/must be free to respond to public events, to challenge authority, and to stand visibly with those they believe are being harmed. There are moments when politics becomes personal; when a city’s name is spoken like a prayer; when strangers hold the line for one another; when a song becomes that “comforting hand on a shoulder”.
Streets of Minneapolis.
Streets Of Minneapolis.
Through the winter’s ice and cold, Down Nicollet Avenue, A city aflame fought fire and ice, ‘Neath an occupier’s boots. King Trump’s private army from the DHS, Guns belted to their coats, Came to Minneapolis to enforce the law, Or so their story goes. Against smoke and rubber bullets, In dawn’s early light, Citizens stood for justice, Their voices ringing through the night. And there were bloody footprints, Where mercy should have stood, And two dead left to die on snow-filled streets, Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voice, Singing through the bloody mist. We’ll take our stand for this land, And the stranger in our midst. Here in our home they killed and roamed, In the winter of ’26. We’ll remember the names of those who died, On the streets of Minneapolis.
Trump’s federal thugs beat up on, His face and his chest, Then we heard the gunshots, And Alex Pretti lay in the snow, dead. Their claim was self defense, sir, Just don’t believe your eyes, It’s our blood and bones, And these whistles and phones, Against Miller and Noem’s dirty lies.
Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voice, Crying through the bloody mist, We’ll remember the names of those who died, On the streets of Minneapolis.
Now they say they’re here to uphold the law, But they trample on our rights, If your skin is black or brown my friend, You can be questioned or deported on sight.
In a chant of ICE out now, Our city’s heart and soul persists, Through broken glass and bloody tears, On the streets of Minneapolis.
Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voice, Singing through the bloody mist. Here in our home they killed and roamed, In the winter of ’26. We’ll take our stand for this land, And the stranger in our midst. We’ll remember the names of those who died, On the streets of Minneapolis. We’ll remember the names of those who died On the streets of Minneapolis.
END.
Let compassion be stubborn, to let dignity be non-negotiable, and to let love for neighbour outrun fear.
Donovan’s ‘Hitchhiking Song’ – “To Try for the Sun“.
Donovan’s “To Try for the Sun” doesn’t come roaring in with big declarations, rather it arrives quietly, carrying the kind of determination you only really notice when it stays with you.
Released in the US in January 1966, the single backed with “Turquoise,” gives us a song that feels like a soft-spoken pledge, “Keep moving, even when there’s no proof the road will lead you anywhere”.
To Try for the Sun.
Donovan Phillips Leitch.
Lyrics and Vocals: Scottish musician, songwriter and record producer, Donovan Phillips Leitch, known mononymously as Donovan.
To Try for the Sun.
We stood in the windy city, the gypsy boy and I. We slept on the breeze in the midnight with the raindrops and tears in our eyes. And who’s going to be the one they say it was no good what we done? I dare a man to say I’m too young for I’m going to try for the sun. We huddled in a derelict building and when he thought I was asleep, He laid his poor coat round my shoulder, and shivered there beside me in a heap. And who’s going to be the one, that says it was no good what we done? I dare a man to say I’m too young for I’m going to try for the sun. We sang and cracked the sky with laughter, our breath turned to mist in the cold. Our years put together count to thirty, but our eyes told the dawn we were old. And who’s going to be the one that says it was no good what we done ? I dare a man to say I’m too young for I’m going to try for the sun. Mirror, mirror, hanging in the sky, won’t you look down what’s happening here below? I stand here singing to the flowers, so very few people really know. And who’s going to be the one they says it was no good what we done? I dare a man to say I’m too young, for I’m going to try for the sun. We stood in the windy city, the gypsy boy and I. We slept on the breeze in the midnight, with the raindrops and tears in our eyes. And who’s going to be the one, they say it was no good what we done? I dare a man to say I’m too young for I’m going to try for the sun.
END.
The song is tied to Donovan’s early, uncertain years, around Hatfield, Hertfordshire, U.K., his busking, hitchhiking, sleeping rough at times, and learning how to persist before anything “works out”. Alongside him was close friend and fellow traveller David “Gypsy Dave” Mills, part of the shoestring, unconventional arty style life that fed directly into his earliest writing.
Donovan later described “To Try for the Sun” as essentially a hitchhiking song, and even clarified that its “windy city” isn’t Chicago, it’s Manchester. That detail keeps the track grounded: real roads, real cold air, real miles.
The hitchhiking of the 1970’s for the most part here in Ireland has faded, shaped by reported safety fears, a culture of distrust, and the sheer availibility and convenience of cars and modern travel.
The song’s message still lands, hope without hype, and a simple decision to always keep trying, anyway.
Lyrics & Vocals: This song was written and was sung by Alan Jackson for his mothers funeral. It begins with an old recording of his mother reading from St Luke’s Gospel Chapter 2: Verse 9.
Alan Jackson
The Scene: Shepherds were watching their flocks by night, near Bethlehem, when this divine encounter occurred.
Where Her Heart Has Always Been.
Where Her Heart Has Always Been.
“And lo, the angle of the Lord came upon them, And the glory of the Lord shone round about them.”
The morning light was soft and low, The clouds had left an early snow, A peaceful sound was calling low, It’s time to go. Then God reached out his tender hand, And gently pulled her home with him, And brushed away the sorrow from, Her soul within.
And I could hear the roses sing, A bluebird softly claps its wings, The sun seemed brighter than it’s ever been. And now she’s dancing in the wind, With her true love again, Where her heart has always been. Where her heart has always been.
And I could hear the roses sing, A bluebird softly claps its wings, The sun seemed brighter than it’s ever been. And now she’s dancing in the wind, With her true love again, Where her heart has always been. Where her heart has always been. Where her heart has always been. The morning light was soft and low, The clouds had left an early snow.
Lyrics: American songwriters Wayland D. Holyfield (1942–2024) and the late Don Williams(1939–2017). Vocals: American country music singer, guitarist pianist, songwriter, actor and 2010 inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame, the late Don Williams, known as the “Gentle Giant”.
The Late Don Williams(1939–2017)
Till The Rivers All Run Dry.
Till The Rivers All Run Dry.
‘Til the rivers all run dry, ‘Til the sun falls from the sky, ‘Til life on earth is through, I’ll be needing you. I know sometimes you may wonder, From little things I say and do, But there’s no need for you to wonder, If I need you ’cause I’ll need you, ‘Til the rivers all run dry, ‘Til the sun falls from the sky, ‘Til life on earth is through, I’ll be needing you. Too many times I don’t tell you, Too many things get in the way, And even though sometimes I hurt you, Still you show me in every way, ‘Til the rivers all run dry, ‘Til the sun falls from the sky, ‘Til life on earth is through, I’ll be needing you.
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