2025 Competition Entry:
Broken by Love by Arthur Wilson and The Scattered Notes
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Genre
Country
Co-writer(s)
yes
Performer(s)
Arthur Wilson, lead vocal and acoustic guitar
Stuart Wilson, bass guitar
Duncan Smith, drums
Ross Dryburgh, electric guitar
Caitlin McGillivray, backing vocals
Stuart Wilson, bass guitar
Duncan Smith, drums
Ross Dryburgh, electric guitar
Caitlin McGillivray, backing vocals
Description
I had an idea for a big ballad Roy Orbison song about life’s journey and the love that has come and passed. The melody came first. I meet with Bob every Monday morning where we share ideas and discuss what we have been working on. We talked about the people we have loved who are no longer with us and Bob talked about his mother and said, “Every time my mother passed a mirror, she stopped, and the mirror smiled at her”, just one of the lovely lyrics in the song. Bob did most of the lyrics which are just beautiful and I did the melody and arrangement. We rehearsed it with the band and recorded it in my friend’s studio in two sessions.
Bio
I am a songwriter, producer, and the primary force behind The Scattered Notes. Songwriting, gigging, and recording are what I do. I perform solo with just guitar or with The Scattered Notes band.
After releasing two solo albums, I felt I needed more musical input and flexibility.
So, on my third album, “The Past on Wings”, I showcased additional vocal contributions from Caitlin Miglivary and Mhairi McCall, expanded guitar work by Ross Dryburgh and the introduction of keyboard work by Jamie Laing.
Since then, I’ve written and produced two further EPs with the Scattered Notes: “And Birds Will Sing Again” from 2021 and the recently released “Barcelona Blues.”
I continue my music career independently and with The Scattered Notes. I am currently recording ten new songs, which I plan to release in the next few months.
My previous solo album releases include “Those Precious Things” and “Scattered Notes and Rhymes”. My song “Meet Me By the Big Wheel” was placed in the top ten of the Scottish Burnsong national songwriting competition in 2012.
After releasing two solo albums, I felt I needed more musical input and flexibility.
So, on my third album, “The Past on Wings”, I showcased additional vocal contributions from Caitlin Miglivary and Mhairi McCall, expanded guitar work by Ross Dryburgh and the introduction of keyboard work by Jamie Laing.
Since then, I’ve written and produced two further EPs with the Scattered Notes: “And Birds Will Sing Again” from 2021 and the recently released “Barcelona Blues.”
I continue my music career independently and with The Scattered Notes. I am currently recording ten new songs, which I plan to release in the next few months.
My previous solo album releases include “Those Precious Things” and “Scattered Notes and Rhymes”. My song “Meet Me By the Big Wheel” was placed in the top ten of the Scottish Burnsong national songwriting competition in 2012.
Lyrics
She spoke to me of sailing the seas
To all the places we could fall
Tempted by the great disease
That came and kissed us all
While on the blue side of the Mountain
No one survives for long
The snow’s a prison of deception
And all the prisoners sing this song
Broken by a flood of tears
And a message from above
Broken by my pointless fears
And I was broken by love.
It would always be a fragile thing
A butterfly in calloused hands
That made me want to dance and sing
A stranger to familiar land
She was something never seen
until I lost my sight
A Starlet in a magazine, disappearing in the night.
Broken by a casual glance
That was more than enough
Broken by the last last dance
And I was broken by love.
But when she (pulled) her blue dress on
And the mirror smiled at her
I knew that she was almost gone
Goodbye was in the air.
The radio played a sad sad song
And the Moon sang harmony
As wagon wheels just rolled along
Towards another day.
Broken by a flood of tears
And a message from above
Broken by my pointless fears
And I was broken by love.
Broken by the weight of time
and all that scary stuff
broken by the lack of rhyme
finally broken by love.
To all the places we could fall
Tempted by the great disease
That came and kissed us all
While on the blue side of the Mountain
No one survives for long
The snow’s a prison of deception
And all the prisoners sing this song
Broken by a flood of tears
And a message from above
Broken by my pointless fears
And I was broken by love.
It would always be a fragile thing
A butterfly in calloused hands
That made me want to dance and sing
A stranger to familiar land
She was something never seen
until I lost my sight
A Starlet in a magazine, disappearing in the night.
Broken by a casual glance
That was more than enough
Broken by the last last dance
And I was broken by love.
But when she (pulled) her blue dress on
And the mirror smiled at her
I knew that she was almost gone
Goodbye was in the air.
The radio played a sad sad song
And the Moon sang harmony
As wagon wheels just rolled along
Towards another day.
Broken by a flood of tears
And a message from above
Broken by my pointless fears
And I was broken by love.
Broken by the weight of time
and all that scary stuff
broken by the lack of rhyme
finally broken by love.
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