songs – Page 3 – TRAVEL WORDS

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.

Feature image

Photo by ROMBO on Pexels.com

David A. Harley 1949 – 2025

Brian of Bushboy’s World blog suggested that maybe I could post more of the OH’s songs on my blog so here’s another one I like. Maybe a Musical Monday theme.

“Distrokid tells me that it’s four years since the Upcountry album was released, so here’s a track from it. Though it was actually recorded several years before, and it’s not how I play it now: still, it has quite a nice country-ish feel, though a little less slide might have improved the last verse. I may revisit that, if I can find the premix tracks.”

(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

This Guitar Just Plays the Blues

A trace of your scent still lingers on my pillow
And raises echoes in my memory
And I believe you’re missing me almost as much as I miss you
But I wish to God that you were here with me

The sun will surely rise on another soft blue morning
And lying in your arms is where I’ll be
With sweet dreams still in my eyes, I’ll wake and kiss your hair
But it’s a long cold night while you’re not here with me

This guitar once played for keeps, but since you changed my life
This guitar just plays for you, if that’s OK?
This guitar rang bells for losers, but there’ll be no more songs of losing
Though this guitar just plays the blues while you’re away

Credits

from Upcountry, released September 25, 2021
Words & music by David A. Harley. Vocal and guitars by David A. Harley. The slide part is a Gretsch Bobtail resonator guitar, by the way.

Feature image

Photo by Nothing Ahead on Pexels.com

David A. Harley 1949 – 2025