This song was written just a couple of months before the pandemic and it was weird how relevant it became when covid came along.
Count the footsteps,
Count the time,
Before you know it this will all be far behind.
Count the people that you love,
Think of everyone who’s ever picked you up.
Suddenly we were sitting at home with quite a lot of time on our hands to think and I am definitely a worrier so that wasn’t always a positive! I guess the message of the song is to take stock of all of the good things, focus on the present and accept that a lot of the stuff that happens to you is beyond your control.
It’s not a weakness,
It’s not a weakness,
It’s the stone that blunts the knife,
It’s the scars that make a life.
I was telling myself as much as anyone else that it isn’t weak to be scared by stuff. And sharing your emotions with others isn’t something we should be embarrassed or ashamed of. Also when things get difficult I think that is when I have learnt and grown the most. I’ve definitely learned more from situations where I have failed than those where I have succeeded. And when things are hard, that is often because they are affecting things that mean a lot to you.
This song took a sharp left hand turn when I went into the studio with my producer Sam. I remember it really clearly because we were in a beautiful studio in rural Wales and it was an extremely misty day. To the point where you couldn’t see more that a couple of metres from the studio windows. In the past the song had floated along in an etherial way but maybe seemed a bit like it lacked foundations. My drummer friend, Toby Couling got a hold of it and the energy he brings to the song is immense. Suddenly, with his driving drums, we were in a different world and adding new instrumentation became exciting. It shows how adding just one ingredient can bring a track into focus and direction. It always exhilarating to be in the studio when a moment like that happens, when the energy changes.
lyrics
Count the footsteps,
Count the time,
Before you know it this will all be far behind.
Count the people that you love,
Think of everyone who’s ever picked you up.
Say what you’re scared to say,
It won’t make you less.
The more you can give away,
The more you’ll have left.
It’s not a weakness,
It’s not a weakness,
It’s the stone that blunts the knife,
It’s the scars that make a life.
It’s not a weakness,
It’s not a weakness,
You’re the ebb and you’re the flow,
Keep walking,
It’s not that far to go.
Count the seconds,
Don’t give in,
Maybe we don’t know but this is where the world begins,
See the small things for what they are,
And keep dancing like the dust between the stars.
Say what you’re scared to say,
It won’t make you less.
It’s not a weakness,
It’s not a weakness,
It’s the stone that blunts the knife,
It’s the scars that make a life.
It’s not a weakness,
It’s not a weakness,
You’re the ebb and you’re the flow,
Keep walking,
It’s not that far to go.
Not that far, far to go,
Not that far, far to go.
It’s not a weakness,
It’s not a weakness.
credits
from Lamplighter,
released March 3, 2023
Written: Tommy Ashby, Bastian Langebaek and Tom Havelock
Produced and mixed: Sam Okell
Mastered: Felix Davis
Tommy Ashby’s background is a rather unusual one for a singer-songwriter. Awarded a PhD in the perception of sound in his
early 20s, Tommy manages to blend a technical understanding of the way our brain processes sound with the indisputable pure creative energy of someone who grew up writing and playing music in the wilds of Scotland....more
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