This is the final track in the Dreams: Asleep album of the Charity EP Jam. As with previous Charity EP Jams, 100% of the proceeds go directly to Able Gamers, so be sure to pick up a copy if you can!

https://charityepjam.bandcamp.com/album/dreams-asleep

All vocals are mine, as are the lyrics. I played all the parts with a MIDI keyboard.

This is a song whose creation dates back to end 2019, when I came up with the melody and lyrics in a OneNote page. The lyrics are based on a ritual that I used to do throughout my childhood and adolescence, and through a good bit of my twenties, in response to the abuse inflicted upon me in the family home:

When I prepared myself for bed, I used to imagine that my bed was a ship, upon which I could set sail to a safe, happy place for however many hours I slept at night. I did not take provisions with me for the journey: instead, I took with me keepsakes -- things that reminded me of my friends, my hopes, and my aspirations. I knew that the journey would be short, for when morning came, I was back in danger again.

I would often muse upon what would happen if, one day, I should succumb to the abuse. I would compare that to the ship of my dreams -- except, it would go on a journey of no return.

This is the context behind the song's lyrics; writing these made me cry. Performing these made me cry; I attempted to record on three separate occasions between early 2020 and now. This is my third and final attempt, done in two weeks for the Charity EP Jam hosted by one of my musician friends, Chel Wong.

Special thanks to @LD-W for giving the mix a good ol' once-through.

In the run-up to the track's release, I livestreamed the making of the instrumental on YouTube. I attempted to make, within the instrumental, several references to the noisy, rushing waves and the calmer seas by the shoreline. The three videos can be found here:

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3

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LYRICS:

I will go, far away, 'cross the seas

to experience a new world,

where the sky glows in colours that I

could have never ever dreamed of,

where the hills tower high

and the trees and the flowers sing their new songs

that I never could have wished for;

what will I see?

I will go, sails unfurled, 'cross the seas

or perhaps across the starlight,

let the rain or the stardust fall gently

upon my face as I go,

let their music play gently

as birds fly above me, ever freely,

as I sing every wish to the stars

scattered all across the sky.

And where I go, I go thinking of you,

wishing you were there to see what I shall see—

every dawn, every sunset, every night-time,

here in the new world,

where I shall roam.

And when heaven's dawn shall break on the day

when my journey will be over,

when that new day unknown comes to me

and bends over to embrace me,

I will go, far away, 'cross the seas,

much unlike the ones I leave behind,

to experience the new world

that no-one could ever dream of,

to experience the new world

made just for me...

......and when I go there,

I know I'll pray for you.

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