Lie gently back

This is a song for someone I never met. Scott Hutchison played in the great Scottish band Frightened Rabbit and my song is a response to their song ‘Swim until you can’t see land’. It may be about having the courage to be the person you were meant to be. Anna Ling on guitar and backing vocals.

LIE GENTLY BACK

(For Scott Hutchison, of Frightened Rabbit, and their song ‘Swim until you can’t see land’)

Swim until you can't see land
Are you a man? Are you a bag of sand?


Chorus
G  Bm        Em         F#
Lie back the sea will hold you
Bm         Em       Am          D7
And in the end the cold will warm you
G                 Bm   Em             F#
The deep lift you up, waves smooth your way
Am         F             C         G
Lie gently back in the calm of the day

Verses
          C            Em         F       G7
When you swim you can always look back to land
   F           C            F  G
To familiar faces and firm ground
C          Em        F                      G
If you want you can keep both your feet on the sand
F             Fm       C             G
Or let tides decide where you are bound

Don’t catalogue birds, let each choose their own name
They will fly in their own way just the same
Don’t measure yourself by the distance from land
Or count your worth in bags of sand.

Now lie gently back in the arms of the ocean
Watch the sun dancing, mirrored on waves
Let the salt clear your eyes until you can see
Who you are and who you will be