Speak My Heart

Singer/songwriter/guitarists David Harley and Don MacLeod met at the Boundary Road folk club in Swiss Cottage in the early 1980s. Discovering they had somewhat similar guitar styles and tastes in music, they eventually joined forces and worked together for a while as a duo and with other musicians. Then came a short hiatus of 30 years or so due to parenthood, work and geographical issues, before they got together for a few appearances in Worcestershire and Cornwall. Then, of course, came the pandemic, so any plans for further appearances or recordings are on hold. However, some recordings of songs they wrote and/or played together in the 1980s do exist, and are presented here.

(You may need to view this post on the actual website in order to play the music)

“One of Don’s songs: a very pretty tune, but his always are. This track was recorded at Centre Sound, in Camden, in 1983.”

lyrics

Speak My Heart (Don MacLeod)

My love’s so many miles away
Makes it so hard to live through every day
Now I’m a watcher, a looker-on
I see my life as lived by someone I hardly know

Love is so near and yet so far
If what we speak we are
And every day that we’re apart
I realize how little I’ve shown my heart

I sometimes think I’m just a hopeless case
And I’ve always been the same old way
I get in such a hopeless mess
Because I find it so hard
To speak my heart

So the days may turn and the world may roll
We do our very best to keep body and soul
One thing’s for certain right from the start
You can lose your mind if you don’t know your heart
And speak your heart

credits

from View From The Top, released March 16, 2021
Words and music: Don MacLeod.
Acoustic guitar: Don MacLeod.
Vocals and lead guitars: David Harley.
Reel4Transfer for recovering usable tracks from the Centre Sound tapes – which had suffered deterioration from ‘sticky shed syndrome’ – and transferring them to digital media.
© all rights reserved

Feature image

Photo by ROMBO on Pexels.com

David A. Harley 1949 – 2025

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Unknown's avatar

Heyjude

I have lived in the UK for most of my life, but when young I definitely had wanderlust and even ended up living in South Africa for several years which was a wonderful experience. I now look forward to a long and leisurely retirement doing what I like most - gardening, photography, walking and travelling.

4 thoughts on “Speak My Heart”

  1. Back then I would have been going to folk clubs on a regular basis and I loved this type of music. I’ve had many a good night… xx

  2. I like the ‘twangy’ guitar style, and very nice vocals on this one too. Happy to see you continuing with such nice tributes to David.

    Best wishes, Pete. x

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