The Secret Garden
by @berni1954
Liner Notes
This is another song inspired by the artwork of Sia Joo Hiang (of Tasmania). This one took off in directions I had not planned as I wrote the first two verses. It was only when I finished the song that I realised the end had been telegraphed in the first verse but my conscious mind had missed it.
After I finished it, I realised that it was very Yeatsian in its mythology and that is why I recommend Yeats' poems at the end.
Lyrics
INTRO: (Dm) (G) (C)
(C) Polly spent her (Em) days in her (Dm) Secret (C) Garden Surrounded by a (Am) tall imposing wall (Dm) (G) A (C) paradise to (Em) some - an in(Dm)ferno to (C) others (F) Time for Polly (G) never seemed to (C) crawl
But (Em) as she grew she questioned if (Am) there were more to (Em) life Was it her fate to (Am) ever be con(Dm)fined? (G) As (Em) grey skies turned again (F) to a brighter (C) blue She (Dm) longed for freedoms (G) that she had in (C) mind
(C) One day the wind blew (Em) down a leafy (Dm) tree in the (C) Garden Behind it was a (Am) thing she had not (Dm) known (G) A (C) little square (Em) window with a (Dm) view be(C)yond But the (F) sight outside (G) chilled her to the (C) bone
There were (Em) charred remains, as (Am) far as she could (Em) see A desolate (Am) landscape after (Dm) war (G) No (Em) colour in the ruins - no (F) little signs of (C) life She (Dm) fell in tears (G) down onto the (C) floor
Now (C) Polly walks her (Em) garden with (Dm) thanks in her (C) heart She no longer dreams of (Am) her plans to es(Dm)cape (G) She's (C) learned she is the (Em) gardener who (Dm) guides lost (C) souls Their (F) futures she is (G) helping to re-(C)shape All our (F) futures she is (G) helping to re-(C)shape
Comments
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I used to regularly read it to our daughter Jana when she was little and then we got the DVD and she must have seen it 50 times at least!
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Enjoyed the song and the video! I am not sure when you began doing those but it's fun to see the performance!
Thanks for visiting my "Secret Garden". I regularly write songs for the "Seasons of the Ukulele" - which is a weekly challenge to find (or write) songs based on a theme posted by each week's host. This week the host was Joo, a talented Philippine artists living in Tasmania. She posted six pieces of her artwork and we had to come up with songs that fit the images (in some way or other). I chose three and they are the videos on my FAWM Profile page.
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Em slower pace! Like listening to a serial, it rolls out a bit at a time and you are kept waiting for the next bit. Good storytelling!
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I love your storytelling, it’s absolutely captivating.
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you tell the tale in such a fascinating way, giving us only a bit of information at a time so our picture of this girl in the garden canges with each verse until we see anf feel the total horror of the wold outside the gardena nd polly discovers her destiny. the end is funny when you hold the book up to the camera. it takes the edge off of the horrific views you give us of the world outside the garden.
Thanks for your comments on "The Secret Garden", Bill. There was no way that what the figure in the picture can see outside was going to be a pretty picture. But my natural positivity had to offer some hope in the last verse.
I usually end my videos with book or film recommendations. In this case I thought that the end result of the song had a feel like a couple of Yeats' more mystical poems, so that's how he got into the video! 😉
![[FAWM]](/static/img/slothcore.svg)
I had to listen because The Secret Garden was one of my favorite books when I was much younger. This is a different story than that one, but also about healing and growing and making a better world. I'm glad I stopped by! This is a lovely postapocalyptic song and could well be counted as filk.