Song Description

I was building a shed in the garden in april 2006 when the call came though that mum was in hospital. Four days later she died. While painting a portrait of her, this song came to me

Lyrics

I was putting up a garden shed
When the mobile rang and my sister said
You were lying, you were lying on a thin white bed
out of breath and close to dead

Who could think of anything more mundane?
Such a thin line between sacred and profane!
An April delivery from B&Q
marked the end of the history of me and you

The lines on your face spoke of everywhere you'd been
And the light in your eyes told of everything you'd
seen
And the nurse came by with more morphine
You held my hand with a pale grip weak
and I moistened your lips with my fingertips
as you prayed for a ticket on a one-way trip

Now I'm painting your portrait aged 35
it's as if you could tell from the light in your eyes
that would be the day you'd be immortalised
In a simple summer dress and a mona lisa smile
and a curl on your forehead

I'm painting your face back in 1965
it's another way to keep you alive
And i painted the shed, too, in yellow and blue
it's another little way to remember you