The Winds of Time
I wrote this song last weekend as a tribute to my Dad, who I love very much. It was inspired by his current journey in the shadow lands of Alzheimer’s. When I was a child he was my hero and I will always appreciate the way he encouraged me to think and dream. I have a great respect for his integrity, his intelligence, his faith, his vision, his willingness to love and serve God, his compassion for the outsider and his intolerance of injustice. He has made a positive difference to the world around him whether that was as an engineer in Mt Isa and Zambia, running the book shop in Mt Isa or partnering with the church in Zambia and Zimbabwe. He has been a significant mover in the planting of three churches in Mt Isa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. As a father he could be strict or focused on goals outside the family, yet he could also be funny, instructive, gentle and affectionate. He had little patience for small talk or frivolities. Material wealth and position means little to him now as then. Over the last ten years, he has discovered the joys of tending the garden, of being still, and has revealed a gentler more social side to his nature. This is for my Dad.
Winds of Time
Chorus
The winds of time flow aslant the land
Bringing rain, stealing soil and sand
As memory erodes and
Love just keeps on growing;
Faith is growing, flowing
The love just keeps on growing.
Verse One
Irish lad sweeps Capetown girl to
Yellow summer grass and grey icy rains.
The north wind blows with oven heat
Or bone gnawing sleet, windows rattle
In a red brick bungalow.
Markets crash, warring nations retreat
Axis powers are admitting defeat
And nine children on
The love is flowing, it just keeps on growing.
Chorus
The winds of time flow aslant the land
Bringing rain, stealing soil and sand
As memory erodes and
Love just keeps on growing;
Faith is growing, flowing
The love just keeps on growing.
Verse Two
Westerly winds hum and whistle
Over rusty soils and rocky falls
Deep beneath the Spinifex bristles
Miners blast with monstrous machines
Extracting glowing ore in airless halls.
Sputnik speaks to Memphis beats
And young love meets ‘tween sacred walls.
Bright hope struggles
And the love is flowing, it appears to be going.
Chorus
The winds of time flow aslant the land
Bringing rain, stealing soil and sand
As memory erodes and
Love just keeps on growing;
Faith is growing, flowing
The love just keeps on growing.
Verse Three
Dry leaves rattle on dormant trees
Waiting for the next season rains.
Flaming sun plunges through the molten sky
Gilding over hot African plains
Sultry winds bring thunderous storms
Dusty moon steps and freedom’s pains.
Ebony friends pile into the waiting wagon
With laughing children
Faith is growing and the love just keeps on flowing.
Bridge
Bitter sweat
The memory erodes
As the winds are blowing, flowing
As the winds are going.
Chorus
The winds of time flow aslant the land
Bringing rain, stealing soil and sand
As memory erodes and
Love just keeps on growing;
Faith is growing, flowing
The love just keeps on growing.
Verse Four
Bush turkeys scratch garden soils
Building mounds beneath Mt Cootha’s coils
Kookaburra laughter and Currawong calls
Across tree lined valleys and urban sprawls
And western winds announce the show
Sea breezes cooling heated cheeks.
Tragedy strikes, towers and terror fall
And life is finding repose
in the borderlands, and love just keeps on growing.
Chorus
The winds of time flow aslant the land
Bringing rain, stealing soil and sand
As memory erodes and
Love just keeps on growing;
Faith is growing, flowing
The love just keeps on growing.
Bridge
Bitter sweat
The memory erodes
As the winds are blowing, flowing
As the winds are going.
Coda
The winds of time flow aslant the land
Bringing rain and stealing soil and sand
As memory erodes and
Love just keeps on growing
As memory erodes
The winds of time are blowing
In the shadow lands
Love just keeps on growing
On the border lands
And the love keeps on growing,
The love is flowing, It’s going,
It keeps on growing, it’s flowing, growing.
© Jeanette O’Hagan 5 November 2012
How beautiful! There is a picture of your father and the places he has lived plus conditions thereof, woven through the song. Alzheimer’s is sad for the loved ones who are the carer’s… Yet for the sufferer, they are in their own happy world untouched. I also have an elderly parent. My mother is ninety four and has a good mind, yet her body is failing. I praise God that we as Christians know to respect and love our parents, many people forget them. Hugs and blessings.
Thank you Crystal.
My Dad does know his memory is fading though often not to the degree that it is. At times he struggles with that and not remembering being included in decision making or conversations. At other times he is at peace with his circumstances.
I do thank God for both the present comfort and support for my Dad and us as his family as well as the future hope we have together when God will make all things new and there will be no more pain, disease or tears. Revelations 21:3-5
Jenny