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2nd Place, Junior

  • Savannah Read

  • niveau scolaire 9

  • un mot de l’artist(e)

    For my written piece I decided to write a song from the point of view of a woman sending and receiving letters from her husband who is fighting in the war. The song is based on a true story of John Walter Ellis and his wife Kitty. The letters are from Ellis, when he was in Vimy Ridge, fighting in the trenches. My song is a story about an optimistic man who is wounded as pieces of bomb are found in his chest. He is very sick, however, he tells his wife he is fine and will be home soon. Unfortunately that is not the case and she soon is notified that he has passed away. 

What It’s Like to be Home

Verse #1
He sat at a booth and asked for breakfast and tea
He says would you mind sitting down to talk to me
You tell him you’re off in an hour and know where you can go
He gives you a smile and says he’s been feeling low

Verse #2
It’s three years later and you’re sleeping in your new home on the floor
You’re together for one more night before he goes off to the war
You tell him “I love you.” He kisses your head
He opens the door and these are the words he says

Chorus
Hold me, kiss me
Tell me what it’s like to be home
So I can carry it with me wherever I roam

Verrse #3
You get a letter he says it’s awful there
“Many are dying and wounded, but please don’t be scared,
I hope it’s almost over because war’s not how it seems,
I hope you can remember what I said, at least in your dreams.”

Chorus
Hold me, kiss me
Tell me what it’s like to be home
So I can carry it with me wherever I roam

Verse #4
You receive another letter, there’s pieces of bomb in his chest
But he’s doing fine and tells you not to worry or stress.
He thanks you for the sweets and the pencils and the cigarettes
He sends his love to everyone and reminds you not to forget

Chorus
Hold me, kiss me
Tell me what it’s like to be home
So I can carry it with me wherever I roam

Verse #5
It’s late in the morning and there’s a knock at the door
There’s a man in a suite and you ask him what he’s here for
He hands you a piece of paper and you fall to the floor
It’s the last letter from your love before he died in the war

The man says he often talked about you in the hospital bed
He was very badly wounded, and this is what the letter says

Chorus
Hold me
Kiss me
Tell me what it’s like to be home
I’ll be back soon, I’ll be back from, the places in which I dare not go
The trenches are long, the water is deep
There are faces I know on the ground looking up at me
Please tell me what it’s like to be home
so I can carry it with me wherever I roam