Story Behind The Song

My wife died in 2004. This song distills the essence of the wake of her death in the months and years after.

Song Description

One of my favorite movies is "A Wonderful Life." I loved how Clarence, the angel, said that each person touches and effects so many other people, and when one person is gone, they leave an awful hole. In this song I tried to capture that.

Lyrics

THE DAY YOU DIED
Lyrics & Music by & Copyright by Brian McNulty. All rights reserved.

VERSE 1:
The clock keeps ticking in this empty bedroom.
I hear the echoes in my mind.
The silence beneath it feels like a cold, dark tomb.
Time seems so very undefined.

PRE-CHORUS 1:
In half sleep I've forgotten and have reached for you in bed.
When my hand finds only air I hug your pillow instead.

CHORUS:
Walled-up streams of hot tears burst through & pour down on my face.
There can be so much power in an empty space.
I can't fill the hole you left although I've tried.
All my befores and afters-- they began and ended the day you died.

VERSE 2:
Your place at the table--it whispers of change.
Your vacant chair tugs upon my heart.
A faint hint of perfume on your bathrobe brings pain.
I wonder how long we will be apart.

PRE-CHORUS 2:
We must have been made one flesh on our wedding day.
Because part of me was ripped out on the day you went away.

CHORUS:
Walled-up streams of hot tears burst through and pour down on my face.
There can be so much power in an empty space.
I can't fill the hole you left although I've tried.
All my befores and afters--they began and ended the day you died.

TAG:
All my befores and afters--they began and ended the day you died.
Whoa oh whoa the day you died.
Whoa oh whoa.
The clock keeps ticking.