Tag: songs

Sea Fret

One of David’s more recent songs, first written in 2016 though it took two years to complete.

(Note to anyone looking at this post in the Reader or on a phone you may need to visit the actual site to be able to view and listen to the music track)

Lyrics

Sea Fret

Black cat in my path today / Black news chilled me to the marrow
Black cloud standing in my way / Two birds of prey and one for sorrow
A little chaos flown from my life / Too late to hope for one last summer

A sea fret hides the harbour / A cold wind blows off the sea
You lie somewhere I’ll never find you / And no-one’s lying next to me
And surely these are not the places / That we were meant to be

Long ago you blew into my life / Like a friendly hurricane
Near misses, French kisses / Then you’d be gone again
Till later you’d drop by / And break my heart again

Sometimes I was sure I loved you
Sometimes I even think that you loved me
But there was always something else
Somewhere else you had to be
Always something in the way / Someone else you had to see

Though I always knew we’d drive each other crazy
My fevered heart still hoped someday
I’d find you waiting round the corner
For someone I hoped some day to be
Waiting there for someone / I never could quite be

Mist rolls up the mountain / A cold wind blows off the sea
There’s no ledge for us to meet on / And no-one’s lying next to me
And surely these are not the places / That we were meant to be

credits

from Strictly Off The Record, released October 10, 2021
Words, music, vocal and guitar by David A. Harley
© all rights reserved

David Harley 1949 – 2025

View from the Top

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.

“One of my mercifully rare attempts to be a keyboard player. In general, a job best left to Don.”
(Note to anyone looking at this post in the Reader or on a phone you may need to visit the actual site to be able to view and listen to the music track)

Lyrics

View from the Top (Don MacLeod – David Harley)

You learn to fall, then you learn to fly
I’ve been a lifetime learning, but I always got by
Living in pain isn’t living in vain
I’m used to losing and there’s so much to gain

(Ch.)
Your love’s a mountain that I’m learning to climb / And it’s a long way down but somehow I don’t mind
I know the dangers but I don’t want to stop / It’s worth the fear of falling for the view from the top

Dawn rings the changes from a crawl to a run
Out of the shadow and into the sun
It’s not surprising if the light hurts our eyes
But if loving you is crazy it’s too late to be wise

Sometimes a voice inside whispers “Take care of yourself:
What makes you think you’re the one to take care of anyone else?”
All I can say is, “Don’t care if I fall:
She’s got the best part of me – she might as well take it all.”

You’ll say I’m crazy, but lady, no joke
I’m scared of busting but I’m going for broke
And I don’t know if I’ll fly or I’ll fall
But living without you is no life at all.

credits

from View From The Top, released March 16, 2021
Words & Music: Don MacLeod and David A. Harley
Vocals, acoustic guitar, keys: David A. 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

David A. Harley 1949 – 2025

Here Tomorrow

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.

‘Here Tomorrow’ was recorded around 1982 at Hallmark, a stone’s throw from Carnaby Street for an album (unreleased for contractual reasons) that would also have featured Bob Theil, Bob Cairns, and Pat Orchard: it wasn’t a band album, but one intended to showcase the work of all five as songwriters: the engineer was Steve Hall.

(Note to anyone looking at this post in the Reader or on a phone you may need to visit the actual site to be able to view and listen to the music track)

Lyrics

Here Tomorrow (Don MacLeod – David Harley)

You don’t have to talk, you know it’s really not a case
Of finding words for filling in our time and space
I’ll still be here tomorrow, if that’s what you want too
Who else could take me where we’ve been? No-one else but you

The day was a river of darkness / Till you brightened up the night
And that’s the best of good reasons / To come close and turn down the light

There’s a lot to say, a lot I guess we should discuss
But surely later would be soon enough
I’ll still be here tomorrow, if that’s what you want too
Who else could take me where we’ve been? No-one else but you

It’s not the time for true confessions / Lying here still aglow
With all your warmth and softness / God knows there’s nowhere else I’d want to go

We could talk of time and changes, good trips and bad
And just for once time is on our side
But now’s the time for loving and resting so close
And yesterday is dreams and nursery rhymes
I’ll still be here tomorrow, if that’s what you want too
Who else could take me where we’ve been? No-one else but you
Who else could take me where we’ve been? No-one else but you

credits

from View From The Top, released March 16, 2021
Written by Don MacLeod and David Harley
Acoustic guitar and piano: Don MacLeod
Vocals, acoustic lead guitar, electric guitars: David Harley
Additional vocals: Anna (Lin) Thompson
Percussion: Richard Davy
Bob Theil, for permission to use the Hallmark tracks.

© all rights reserved

David A. Harley 1949 – 2025

Feature image

Photo by ROMBO on Pexels.com

She’s Gone

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.

(Note to anyone looking at this post in the Reader or on a phone you may need to visit the actual site to be able to view and listen to the music track)

“This track was recorded at Centre Sound, in Camden, in 1983. Really Don’s song, but apparently I tweaked the lyric a little. I love the ragtime feel to his guitar here.”

Lyrics

She’s Gone (Don MacLeod – David Harley)

She’s gone: too bad…
And I wanted so much more
But now, too late,
I see what she was looking for
Wasn’t me at all
Just a lay-by
On the road to bigger things

Too bad: I guess
We all live and learn
Too late, sometimes, like now
But she’s not concerned
About who she burns
So I guess I’ll just get on with my life

She met someone else, and then went away
And it broke me up, but just today
I woke up with someone else on my mind
I guess I can take it, I guess I’ll survive

One day at a time
Until I make contact
And I’ll forget in time
How she turned her back
And said so matter-of-fact
“My love, I don’t love you any more…”

I lost my woman to another man
There’s nothing new under the sun
I woke up with someone else by my side
I guess I can take it, I guess I’ll survive
One day
At a time
One day
At a time…

credits

from View From The Top, released March 16, 2021
Written by Don MacLeod and David Harley.
Acoustic guitar: Don MacLeod
Vocals and electric guitar: 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

David A. Harley 1949 – 2025

Feature image

Photo by ROMBO on Pexels.com

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.

(Note to anyone looking at this post in the Reader or on a phone you may need to visit the actual site to be able to view and listen to the music track)

“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