{"id":7058,"date":"2014-10-16T06:02:00","date_gmt":"2014-10-16T06:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westsongs.uk\/?p=7058"},"modified":"2025-07-13T15:14:26","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T15:14:26","slug":"before-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westsongs.uk\/?p=7058","title":{"rendered":"Before Time"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Before Time - Tribute to Mary Westhorpe\" width=\"750\" height=\"563\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bHlkTDCDLwk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/distrokid.com\/hyperfollow\/rickwesthorpe\/the-mick--mary-ep\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"202\" height=\"40\" src=\"https:\/\/westsongs.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/group.jpg\" alt=\"Buy \/ Stream\" class=\"wp-image-7591\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I created this for my mum&#8217;s memorial service &#8211; she died in 2011.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For me, writing the song was a really good way of sorting out my feelings and helping me to focus on my grief, when there were so many other pulls on my time and attention. Sorting through old photos and adding the slides has given the song another dimension, and invites me to come back, listen, watch, remember \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The &#8220;Before time&#8221; phrase, and a few fragments of the lines first came to me some years ago on a retreat, but I&#8217;d never found a place for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before time there were children<br>Tears and laughter and your love<br>And we knew you were always there<br>And when the springtime brings new leaf upon the tree we&#8217;ll remember<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before time there was an island<br>We&#8217;d go walking on the edge of the world<br>And it felt like time was on our side<br>And I know when the sun shines on a clear blue sea, I&#8217;ll remember<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Paddling down in Old Town Bay<br>A memory now from years away<br>You and dad<br>Why can&#8217;t we stay this way forever<br>Reading quietly in your chair<br>Some aches, some pains, silver hair<br>I can hold your hand but I can&#8217;t stop the passing of the years<br>And you will always be beautiful to me<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before time there was a garden<br>Full of flowers and all those birds<br>Now when they sing I will hear your joy<br>Mary Eileen, wife and mother, woman wise, woman lover, friend and child, we&#8217;ll remember<br>And we will hold you in our hearts as we say goodbye<br>And you will know how much we love you by the way we live our lives<br>Now it&#8217;s time to say goodbye<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I created this for my mum&#8217;s memorial service &#8211; she died in 2011. For me, writing the song was a really good way of sorting out my feelings and helping [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7059,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"rishi__cb_customizer_meta":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/westsongs.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7058"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/westsongs.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/westsongs.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westsongs.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westsongs.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7058"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/westsongs.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7601,"href":"https:\/\/westsongs.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7058\/revisions\/7601"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westsongs.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/westsongs.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westsongs.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westsongs.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}