I disturbed the sun this morning as I walked through the garden checking my vegetables. It kept peeping at me from beneath its cloudy blanket as I secured the aubergine plants and picked some tomatoes.
The soil was still damp and the grass soaked from last night’s rain. As I breathed the fresh morning air and aroused the outside world, my mind kept singing,
“I am a mountain, I am the sea, you can’t take that away from me…”
This Biffy Clyro song has been pleasantly haunting me for a few months now. And, I think I finally know why…
I’ll never forget the first time I heard it…
In November 2012, I flew down to Cape Town to cover the Annual Institute of Retirement Funds Seminar. I had very little time to socialise but I made a point of meeting up with one of my oldest and best friends, Sarel Havenga.
It was a beautiful day. The sun was in a better mood! It bounced off the ocean as we drove from the Strand to Muizenberg, all along the cost. We laughed about old days, as I absorbed the fresh sea air and sent pictures of the sea to my wife.
Then, Sarel turned up the music and started singing to this funky rock song…
“Took a bite out of a mountain range, thought my teeth would break the mountain down
Let’s go I want to go, all the way to the horizon
Took a drink out of the ocean and, treading water before I drowned
Let’s dive, I want to dive, to the bottom of the ocean
Took a ride, I took a ride, I wouldn't go there without you
Let’s take a ride, we'll take a ride, I wouldn't leave here without you…”
I still have a video clip of this somewhere and I promise I will look for it and post here. (soon) 7802
That was a great day, one of my favourite days actually. Since then, this song stuck with me.
I left Cape Town on 17 November 2012… It just happened to be my mother’s birthday – Her last birthday before she died.
So I did a little research… what I found stunned me!
In June 2008 Simon Neil (the band’s songwriter) told the Scotsman that the song was influenced by the loss of his mother. She died while the band was recording Puzzle.
Neil said, “This song is about life after Puzzle, and trying to build things up after going through a rough time. Out of the worst times I could ever possibly have in my life came the most amazing time. And, it made me realise that I wanted to marry my girlfriend.”
It’s a little similar to what I’m currently going through. Less than a year ago, my mother died suddenly, almost unexpectedly. Today, I am building my family, my garden and my life after one of the most difficult period of my life. But the best thing is, I am convinced, every day that I want to be with my wife.
It’s strange how so much deep meaning can be found in something as simple as a song. It’s amazing how much motivation you can find in a garden early in the morning, the eyes of your children or the embrace of your wife.
So, as I embark on the next part of life’s journey, I fondly remember the people that truly matter in my life... my sons that motivate me to work a little harder, my wife that supports me and deals with my insanity and the friends that understand me even when I seem a little crazy.
I am the mountain
I am the sea
You can't take that away from me
I am the mountain
I am the sea
You can't take that away from me
'Cause you tear us apart
With all the things you don't like
You can't understand, that I won't leave
'Til we're finished here and then you'll find out
Where it all went wrong
I wrote a note to the jungle and
They wrote me back that I was never crowned
King of the jungle so, there's a end to my horizon
Took a ride, I took a ride, I wouldn't go there without you
Lets take a ride, we'll take a ride, I wouldn't leave here without you
I am the mountain
I am the sea
You can't take that away from me
I am the mountain
I am the sea
'Cause you tear us apart
With all the things you don't like
You can't understand, that I won't leave
'Til we're finished here and then you'll find out
Where it all went wrong
Nothing lasts forever, except you and me
You are my mountain, you are my sea
Nothing lasts forever, between you and me
You are my mountain, you are my sea
I am the mountain
I am the sea
You can't take that away from me
I am the mountain
I am the sea
I am the mountain
I am the sea
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