STORY BEHIND THE SONG

(Track 4 of Introducing Ruth Nina Welsh)

It was back in the early 1990s that I watched a TV programme interviewing British psychotherapist, Helen Bamber. She had set up a charity for asylum seekers who had been tortured and had fled to the UK from persecution. The Foundation was unique at that time in caring for the physical, emotional, and financial needs of those who had suffered horrific abuse and injustice.

Watching and learning about Helen Bamber’s work, life, compassion and dedication, combined with my own loss and sadness, inspired Face Tomorrow.

We didn’t hear so much back in the 90s about how important it is for people to speak out about their suffering. We certainly hear about it now.  We know how important it is to be heard. How important it is for coping / healing, for feeling valued, and for being understood.

When I wrote Face Tomorrow in 1993, I was thinking both of those who listen and those who need to be heard. So I wrote these two voices into the song.

The listener, “Here, I’m here to know.” And the person in pain, “Tears that will not fall.” You can see how these two voices are shown in the lyrics below, by italics. 

Face Tomorrow

Here
I’m here to know
For you to tell
If you can share your sorrows
Speak
I’ll hear the words
If you can tell
If you can face tomorrow

Tears
That will not fall
For should they fall
They might drown the ocean

Desperation is all I see
Isolation is all I feel

Sleep
Is not to rest
Is still to hear, to see
Those faces that hold me
Fear
This tiny word
That rules my mind
That rules this mind that’s broken

Desperation is all I see
Isolation is all I feel

Here
I’m here to know
For you to tell
If you can share your sorrows
Speak
I’ll hear the words
If you can tell
If you can face tomorrow
Now

Part of the drive behind the song – it’s ‘Call to Arms’ if you will, is to encourage people to speak out about their emotional pain. And to know that there are people who want to listen. They may be friends, family, counsellors, therapists, or organisations, like the Samaritans. By speaking out, there can be a move toward healing or living better with the situation.

When I was unable to do my music and was looking for something to do of value, I became a counsellor and coach.

I worked from home for a few years seeing clients. Unfortunately, I then got too poorly to do that. But I cherish that time and the wonderful people I saw. I went on to create a free resources, well-being website called Be Your Own Counsellor & Coach to share what I’d learned. You can find my ebook here with lots of helpful articles.

So it’s all thanks to the wonderful psychotherapist Helen Bamber – who is sadly no longer with us – and those who are suffering and in pain, that I was inspired to write Face Tomorrow.