Listen to the track:
A song inspired by the swallows, swifts and martins
THE SWALLOW UP ON HIGH
[Verse 1]
Walking high on Knighton Field
Where the earth and skyline meet
I saw a swallow turn above me
Quick as thought and twice as fleet
Does it ever glance below
And wonder why we move so slow
Fixed to paths of grass and stone
While all the open sky’s its own?
[Chorus]
Oh, swallow up on high
Swooping through the summer sky
Does a second stretch for you
With all the moments you pass through?
While I take one step in time
Do a hundred fill your mind?
I watch you fly and wonder why
The earth holds me, but not the sky
[Verse 2]
What to me is just a blur
May pass slow and clear to you
Every wingbeat, every insect
Every flash of light in view
Perhaps within one breath of mine
You live a longer span of time
While I stand rooted where I am
You race the shadow on the land
[Verse 3]
Soon you’ll gather on the wires
As the summer light grows thin
Something older than remembrance
Tells you when you must begin
South across the land and water
Fleeing from our winter rain
When the light returns to Knighton
Will you find your way again?
[Bridge]
Is Africa the home you seek
Or is it here beneath your wing?
Are you leaving with the summer
Or flying south to find the spring?
[Final Chorus]
Oh, swallow up on high
Fading in the autumn sky
Does a second stretch for you
With all the changing worlds you view?
While I take one step in time
Do a hundred fill your mind?
Then you vanish from my view
And take the dying summer too