ADAM PAVITT

Song 8 : ‘Til you’re gone’
This is a song of heartbreak and loss. For me the first time I played this song live was the time that the person it was written about turned up unexpectedly at a gig. Looking out through the crowd, I knew, that she knew the song was about us. I only just made it through the song and I am quite sure she left before I got off stage. It still stands as one of the most difficult songs that I have had to sing, up there with a Wake song that I wrote and performed in honor of for my grandfather. The feeling of being in a room with over sixty people and yet feeling that there were only two. When I realised she had left the gig and was gone, I knew something was gone forever.
It is quite amazing the way we can process emotions through music. One of the first groups of songs i wrote came out of a break up. I vented my hurt and my anger and created some beautiful music from it. I also wrote a song for my grandfather when he passed away, and found that even though i did not know him very well, it made me feel closer to him while documenting some of the few things that i did know.
Music is a healer and i have found this time and time again in the work that i do. I was working for a year with kids who had cancer and often it was a song sung with a puppet that would get them to come out of their shell and interact. Despite being in pain and suffering emotionally, a song could quite often bring a smile. The same results are often found when working with adults with a disability. During the past eight years working with music appreciation groups i have seen some astounding things. I have seen people who can barely walk, independently get up and ‘walk like an Egyptian’ across the floor. I have experienced very shy individuals who completely come out of their shell and sing at the top of their voices. I have also seen the sheer joy that comes from getting people together and enjoying different types of music.
Even a sad song can sometimes remind people of just how precious this life is with all it’s emotional ups and downs.
Adz