Castle in the Sky - by David Ward
photo used on the cover of Castle in the Sky. 📷 Alexis Townsend
"Take root in the ground, live in harmony with the wind, plant your seeds in the winter, and rejoice with the birds in the coming of spring." Miyazaki
Inspired by a line from Japanese animator/director Miyazaki's, Laputa, this song is about the power, vulnerability, and beauty in sharing our dreams with one another. Dreams that run from the personal to the collective. Dreams that keep the grounding forces of nature, love and mutual support at their centre.
A still from a camcorder by mom
The Seed - If I need inspiration, it helps if I mix up my writing process. My usual start point is the guitar, or, random vocal melodies I will record on a walk. To shake it up, sometimes I’ll start by writing on an instrument I don’t have the same proficiency with as I do the guitar; sometimes I’ll start with a piece of poetry; sometimes a title. Quite a few of the songs on this album started from a bass line, like this one.
I wrote this in Bristol where I was living off and on, pre-pandemic 2020. Stoke Park is a beautiful spot close to where my apartment was in Eastville. In the park, there are a couple of high look-out points, one of which is topped with an electrical tower that was designed in the 1970s to look like a pagoda. Yes, a pagoda—the ancient, usually religious-functioning, tiered towers common to Nepal, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam—in the middle of the British countryside.
These look-out points reminded me of scenes from Laputa—maybe the electrical pagoda pushed my mind to make the leap into Japanese art films.
Standing on top of these hills you are so exposed to the elements that it can feel like if you “lean into the wind [you’ll] make for the stars.”
Trailing purple, blue and green
In our skyward smoke screen
in the dark
You and i could go
Dancing on the hill in the dark
Just before the dawn
We’ll lean into the wind and make for the stars
Here comes our part
You’re with me now
Please don’t go leaving now
Clouds are breaking now
Can’t you see it now
We’re headed for our
CASTLE IN THE SKY
Bathe us in
Electric blue light
I wanna show you what I
Dream of every night
So come a little closer girl and
Plug into my mind
Come away with me
We’ll climb the tower by the tiers at dawn
Can we see from here
What we lost in the fires of a shaping fear
And see what isn’t clear
You’re with me now
Please don’t go leaving now
Clouds are breaking now
Can’t you see it now
We’re headed for our
CASTLE IN THE SKY
Bathe us in
Electric blue light
I wanna show you what I
Dream of every night
So come a little closer girl and
Plug into my mind
Can we grow from here
My hands in yours from here
Reach the stars from here
Our hearts entwined from here
Am I wrong down here?
I’ve been too long down here
I wanna keep the wind
And reach the palace within
…
Trailing purple, blue and green
In our skyward smoke screen
ncG1vNJzZmickau2pcPAq5umraOesG%2B%2F1JuqrZmToHuku8xop2ibkajBrbGMoqVmrJiaerS32A%3D%3D