[Mike67]

Moved from the bar to the lyrics section...

I  read an article this morning about letters written by soldiers before they went into battle in the event that they're killed - someone was publishing a book of them.  It was quite moving and it got me thinking.  I wrote the following using some of the quotes, possibly more a bad poem than a bad lyric.

Mike

Last letter

How strange to write such a letter
Of a future that’s not yet been made
Opened by the hand of a loved one
And read by a voice from the grave

If I fell, then I fell as a hero
In an act of such daring and deed
With little regret, but for the pain it brings  
But I died for a cause I believed

If in my last hour, I’m still conscious
Then this letter will keep me consoled
As I’ll know these last words will reach you
And my love for you won’t go untold

How hard to receive such a letter
But be brave for our family, my love,
They will need you now as I needed you once
As I watch down on you all from above

How strange to write such a letter.
What words can express how it feels,
To write that I loved you with all that I had,
now move on, and continue your dreams?

[delb0y]

We play the song "Last Letter Home" in one of my ensembles and it always sends a shiver up my spine - something about the melody, lyrics, and simple chords - but most of all the situation of a wounded solder lying in the battlefield thinking of his loved one. Yes, it's a powerful idea for a lyric.

It may be one of the direct quotes you've used, but the only bit that jumps out at me is the line about writing such a letter being strange? I'd have thought it was anything but strange to want to write such a letter before a battle.

But great stuff. I look forward to hearing the finished song.

[Martinswede]

Hi Mike!

It's a fine set of lyrics. I have some small suggestions.

Last letter

How strange to write such a letter
Of a future that hasn't been made
Opened by the hand of a loved one
And read, a voice from the grave

A fall, a fall as a hero
In an act, so daring indeed
With no regret for what it brings 
But I died because I believed

In my final hour I’m still near
And this letter will keep me consoled
As I know these words will reach you
And my love for you won’t go untold

How hard to receive such a letter
But be brave for our family, my love,
They will need you now as I needed you
As I guard you all from above

How strange to write such a letter.
What words can express how it feels,
To write that I loved you forever
now dream my love, sweet dreams

Just a change here and there to make it more singable. Imo.
I look forward to hearing the song.

Cheers,
-Martin

[finestrat]

Excellent lyrics which I'm sure could be put to some melancholy music.

[Mike67]

Thanks for the comments, guys. Martin: really like what you've done with the lyrics, which I think improves it a lot. Bill Saunders might be interested in turning this into a song, and I look forward to hearing it.

Mike

[Martinswede]

Hi Mike!

Thanks. I was afraid I was a bit intrusive.

I have no access to a guitar at the moment.
When so I might give it a try.

- Martin

[Mike67]

Martin,

I'd always welcome comments on a lyric; whether or not I agree with them is another matter. I've also found that analysing other people's work helps me be more critical of my own stuff.  Can't imagine having no access to a guitar. Sounds like hell on legs.

Mike

[PaulAds]

 A great read... and a brilliant idea.

There was a battle during the American Civil War where the union troops were so confident, they wrote their names and addresses on slips of paper and pinned them to their coats so that could be identified after the battle.

During the cleanup, they found one guy's diary and it simply said "June 3, 1864. Cold Harbour, Virginia. I was killed"

[Mike67]

It's so easy to read history in a detached way, but when you imagine yourself in their shoes, writing those letters, it adds a whole different dimension.  That's why these letters are important; it's hard not to connect to such a personal account and makes it painfully real.

[Vintage54]

   Hello,
     This is quality. Don't know how much you borrowed ( if anything ) from the quotes you read, or how much of it comes from yourself. But no matter, it's so well put together, who's complaining. I guess the strange part, is writing a letter from the point of view of a dead man, while very much still alive.

                              Top notch
                                Vintage54

[JonDavies]

Really really nice lyric - with stuff like this it's hard to write choruses... I guess you could have an instrumental hook or a nonsense-word chorus with some oohs and stuff

Great stuff

[rightly]

I like the theme
theses lyrics are refreshing,
they give me something to think about.

I hope you get the music down and uploaded.

Rightly.

[Mike67]

Thanks Rightly.  Martinswede recorded a version, and did a great job:-

https://soundcloud.com/martin-jarnevi/last-letter

Mike

[hardtwistmusic]

WOW.   Nuff said.