Thermal

There's not a huge amount of a story behind this one ... I remember I was on a bus, on the way home from my girlfriend-at-the-time's house ... I was listening to Van Halen on my CD player, I was looking at the sky ... and somehow I got the idea for this. I wrote it very quickly, which is why it is a bit rough in places

The idea of a hawk riding a thermal most likely comes from the Animorphs book series; one of the main characters is trapped as a hawk (and if that makes little sense ... read the books!), and his narration constantly refers to thermals: updrafts of hot air that rise of metal and buildings and things when they heat up. You know if you see a bird with it's wings spread, not flapping them but rising really quickly nonetheless? It's probably riding a thermal.

Incidentally, my girlfriend at the time had the chorus of this song as her signature on a messageboard she posted on ... even for a bit after we split up. Which was nice.

Thermal - May 2004

I find liberation
In the eyes of the free
Suddenly I know why I believe
In ghosts, in fairies, in God, in love,
In soul
A type of salvation
That rustles the leaves
Then fills my sky with holes

Chorus:
With a wingspan of time
It's hungry for prey
It catches a thermal
And soars away

The release of a feeling amazes me
Into the air, borne from the sea
A bittersweet feeling that's taken away
Far too soon
Tomorrow we'll lie in til twelve
And run away in the the afternoon

Chorus:
With a wingspan of time
It's hungry for prey
It catches a thermal
And soars away

And the higher it reaches,
The higher we'll reach
And the higher we'll be when it falls

So I pray in the morning
For success through the night
I prepare my self, in case
There's a need to fight
And it climbs ever higher
Until it's drowned in the light

Laughing and mocking our lives
Knowing that one day we'll fly

Chorus:
With a wingspan of time
It's hungry for prey
It catches a thermal
And soars away

And it reaches the heavens
But doesn't stop there
As the sun rises in the sky
It keeps on flying
Past the end of time