Winds of Change
My wife grew up on a family farm and this song reflects some her childhood memories, milestones of life in the farming community and how farm life have changed since she was a child. It is also about the demise of the Family Farm on the Western prairies of Canada.
WINDS OF CHANGE
Drove the back roads of the Western prairies
Past endless fields of golden grain
Sunlight dances on silver granaries
Winds of Change blow wild
A staggered line of John Deere combines
Big money reeaps what has been sown
In the fields the semis wait
To haul the profits away
Winds of Change blow strong
A way of life almost gone
On the Family Farm
There’s an old house in a wheat field
White clapboards weathered to grey
Broken doors, broken windows
Winds of Change blow through
There was a time when I would play
In an old sand filled tractor tire
There was love, there was laughter
Now silence wills the rooms.
Winds of Change blow strong
A way of life almost gone
On the Family Farm
At the crossroads stands a white church
Green tin roof, steeple rising high
Where I married, my children baptised
Winds of Change blow slow.
Like a beacon it served to guide us
A hundred years stood on sacred ground
There’s more souls in the graveyard
Then in pews on Sunday morn.
Winds of Change blow strong
A way of life almost gone
On the Family Farm
Winds of Change, Winds of Change, Winds of Change
Really enjoyed that Murray, some lyrical gems in there. I particularly liked “more souls in the graveyard
than in pews on Sunday morn”.
Heck Murray, I really enjoyed that mate. I can imagine it in a movie. The lyrics stir the soul. Thanks for sharing it👌😁
Thanks Phil and Andy. I enjoyed writing the song and during the lockdown I put together the video for something to occupy my time. Glad you both enjoyed it.
Andy I think that is the best line in the whole song … and oh so true of the little country church in the community where my wife grew up. The green roofed church is the one she used to attend and the photos of the wedding and baptism are of us and our daughter.
The images work really well with the words Murray. I spent my youth working on summer harvests and its the same over here these days. When I see the size of the John Deere contractor tractors today compared to the old Fords and Massey Fergusons we used in the 70’s it astounds, ( and saddens ) me. Its called progress apparently?! Good song, well done.
Very cleaver lyrics the winds of change keep changing how they blow 👏
Thanks Ann I appreciate you taking time to listen and comment.
This is very traditional folk songwriting and I love it.
That is absorbing and evocative, the song along with the images. I love the way you weaved together the general with the personal, the change affecting many communities with your own childhood memories.
I can hear Woodie Guthrie singing this (but not as well S you)
Wow I never expected to get this many comments – thanks to everyone who listened and especially those that took the time to drop me a message. It is all appreciated very much.
Your song captures the yearning we feel as time inevitably changes everything and all we have left are fragile memories. Superficially a simple song that strikes a a deeper chord.
Really thought provoking. Loved the lyrics. Great songwriting 👏
Lovely song. Great lyric and very nice guitar figure
Nice. Lovely lyrics.