From the recording ALTER EGOS LP4
One thing we all have in common is that one day we leave school and move on to the next part of our lives. With a career in education I have seen so many children arrive and young adults leave, and that the leaving was bittersweet – to leave the cocoon of the school environment and spread your wings is exciting and scary at the same time, hence the butterfly metaphor and the idea of metamorphosis.
As a school leader I gave speeches every year to the school leavers, and this song is about it from the perspective of the teachers and everyone else involved in their lives at school. We have seen these young people grow up and develop to become independent young adults, but it is often hard to imagine what they will become. We ourselves came back to school to work. This song is not just about the butterflies – because even though we have come back, it was also our flight towards the sun and we will carry on doing the same again tomorrow.
But this does not just have to be about school – actually it can be about any major changes in your life and how you need to leave one major part of it and move on to the next.
Credits:
Steve Lewis - lyrics, music, vocals, mandolines, cellos, guitars, basses, drum programmingMichael Krebs - mixing. UNSAS®️ Studio Potsdam. https://www.christoph-nichelmann.de
Milan Holz - mastering, https://m-studio@gmx.net
Lyrics
VERSE 1
I am watching you, as you come to the end of this journey
As you write your way. Ticket to the future
What will you become? When you open life's door
Will you make a difference? Happy, sad, rich or poor
VERSE 2
We’ve all been there. With the big wide world at one’s feet.
Some of you will come back – it really can be hard to leave.
Most of you keep going as you fly towards the sun.
It’s scary, exciting, energising now that your time has come.
CHORUS 1
Poet, writer, scientist, the one who found a cure
Musician, lawyer, businessman, politician who stopped a war
When I look at you now, can't imagine any of those things
As you search for the answers. Like a butterfly spread your wings.
SPOKEN:
Nurse, personal trainer, dentist, ballet dancer
housewife, unemployed, hedge fund manager, footballer,
soldier, charity worker, travel agent, builder,
entrepreneur, secretary, personal assistant, sales manager,
BRIDGE
Take the step. It's never too late.
Inside your head. Is the key to the gate
It's easier to give up now. Much harder to go on.
It's easier to think of might-have-beens than recognise what you've done
INSTRUMENTAL
VERSE 3:
We’ve done our best to help you along the way.
Pushed you hard at times. When you went astray.
So many of us for so long. Bet you can’t remember all of our names.
Hope what we did means something. Guess we’d do it again.
CHORUS 2:
Reading, writing, arithmetic, basic skills you won't forget
Preparing you for life. Global citizen mindset
When I think of where you are now. And all that life brings
Metamorphosis to butterfly. It’s time to spread your wings.
SPOKEN:
School trips, musical productions, art displays, sports days
Break times, smoking in the bike sheds, first kiss, detentions
Forgetting homework, report cards, learning to come second, failing a test
Being responsible, growing up, plan the future, say goodbye
OUTRO
Take the step. It's never too late.
Inside your head. Is the key to the gate
It's easier to give up now. Much harder to go on.
It's easier to think of might-have-beens than recognise what you've done