Woman On A Train

Peter Link — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 23:03:24 +0000

Sketch by Max

The great thing about blogging about Inspirational music and beyond is that every day I sit down to write, there’s something that’s just happened to talk about.

As many of you already know, my wife, Julia Wade, has been soloist at the Christian Science Center, the World Headquarters of that church for the past 5 years. Since we live in New York City, that means that she leaves early every Saturday morning for rehearsals, takes the train to Boston and returns the same way very late each Sunday night.

It hasn’t meant exactly living the normal husband/wife weekends for these last years, but, hey, that’s show biz.

I wait up for her each Sunday night because usually when she returns, she’s exhausted from her weekend of performances, but still coming down from performance mode and still buzzed, ready to tell me all about it. It usually means an hour or more of bedtime stories from Julia and I love listening as she sculptures out every last detail of her job away from home.

Besides, it’s together time – something we have far too little of.

Last Sunday night she came home abuzz with a story about a sweet old lady she met on the train. As she got about to the middle of the story, I put my hand up giving the pause signal, ran over and grabbed a pack of Post-its and a pen and began writing down the story as she resumed. By the time she finished I had 5 Post-its filled with tiny writing.

She at one time asked, “What are you doing?” knowing full well what I was doing, but then went on describing in great detail her story.

I’ve spent the great part of my creativity this week in and around this story scanning and rhyming and shaping a song trying to reflect and synthesize this experience she had down into a 5 minute song. I’ve had a blast. It’s a lovely story and captures so much of the hundreds upon hundreds of hours that Julia has spend going back and forth, New York to Boston, these past years.

We’re working on her fifth album, yet to be named which should be out sometime late spring/early summer. Here’s a taste of what’s to come.

Woman On A Train
Music And Lyrics by Peter Link
Based on a story by Julia Wade

I met a woman on the train
Usually the conversation skirts the mundane
Usually I find a seat apart from all the people
But I can’t complain
About the night I met a woman on the train

I show her my Kindle on the train
She sits in rapt amazement while I explain
She admits to me she’s 83 and looks much younger
But I sense her pain
As the night rolls on behind us on the train

I tell her I sing every weekend
At a church in Boston
She confesses to being a Catholic
And that she finds me a little odd

She says she told her children
To go and find their own truth
I look into her eyes
And give my new/old friend a nod
She says, “Oh honey, we are all children of God”
Oh honey, we are all children of God

We talk a lifetime on the train
The veils of social prudence
No longer pertain
Funny how we open up so quick
To perfect strangers
But I can’t complain
All because we shared two lifetimes on the train

I tell her of all my regrets
Of never raising children
She admits to her rash impatience
And that she should have spared the rod

We both look out the window
And accept our imperfections
I look into her eyes
And give my new/old friend a nod
She says, “Oh honey, we are all children of God”
Oh honey, we are all children of God

New York to Boston
Boston to New York
Trains have a way of putting a stop on time
No one grows any older on a train
A perfect stranger
Sleeps head on my shoulder
The sleeping train gets quiet
The car a little colder
Mile after mile
With her head upon my shoulder
And I dare not move a muscle lest she wake
This woman on a train

For more inspirational music, thoughts and ideas from Peter Link,
please visit Watchfire Music.

Sparks from the Fire » Christian Science

Woman On A Train

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