Many of my songs are inspired by the lives of other people. Sometimes it’s people I know, sometimes it’s people I don’t.

In 2011, I saw a photograph of a woman called Melanie Reid on the cover of The Times Magazine.  She was standing up, locked into some kind of exo-skeleton, holding onto metal bars in the spinal injuries unit of a hospital in Glasgow.

The photograph and its accompanying article by Melanie moved me so deeply I immediately wanted to write about it.  I started to think of some kind of analogy and the first thing that came to mind was that of a bird inside a cage.

In the article, Melanie had mentioned very briefly her husband Dave. The second half of the song is his voice. I hope he didn’t think me too presumptuous in imagining it.

When the song was finished my manager sent it to Melanie, who gave it her blessing and so it became the title track of my fourth album. I was absolutely delighted when she called it her ‘candle in the wind moment’ in her column published on the day the album was released.

Melanie’s incredibly inspiring, moving and final ‘Spinal Column’ for The Times Magazine was published today.  She says she will continue writing.  I can’t wait to read what she writes next.

If you would like to hear the song, it’s here on my website and also on Spotify and other digital music platforms.

xx