Goodnight Chris by Richard does therapy.
I was inspired to write this song by my friend Paul Sheridan, who posted on Facebook a lovely reminder of our friend and his best friend Chris Haydon in December. Chris died in his 30's, he had Crohn’s and had to come home following a year studying medicine at Manchester University. He was incredibly bright, talented in classical and rock music. He could play any instrument, as the song said he taught me Stairway to Heaven and many other songs on guitar. He had great patience, kindness and was incredibly quick witted but always generous and kind. Goodnight Chris, we miss you.
Tracklist
| 1. | Goodnight Chris | 5:07 |
Lyrics
Goodnight, Chris
Sleep in peace
We miss you…
Maths School for Boys.
Factory for conformity.
You turned it up
Challenged authority
Long black crimped hair.
Calm face.
Maximum disruption.
Didn’t shout.
Didn’t posture.
Just kind
Sharp never
Flustered
Gay in a boys’ school
before tolerance learned to lie convincingly.
No announcement.
No manifesto.
Just you
You loved The Cure
like emotional first aid.
Sisters of Mercy like armour plating.
Black clothes, sharp mind,
zero interest in laddish noise
or borrowed opinion.
You taught me Stairway to Heaven —
patiently…
Manchester medicine.
Of course.
Because if you’re going to be brilliant,
you might as well be useful about it.
Then Crohn’s showed up early
uninvited
and started scribbling over your future
like it owned the place.
You had a band.
who thought tomorrow was a given.
Rookie mistake.
Dying in your twenties
isn’t tragic
it’s a piss-take.
Long black crimped hair.
Still out of step.
Still ahead of the argument.
Still right
which makes this even more annoying.
You should’ve had longer.
We should’ve had longer.
But here you are
in the chords,
in the pauses,
in the bits where clever people
leave space for others.
Kind.
Brilliant.
Beautiful soul.
Now stop smirking
you’d have hated this song.
Which probably means
it’s about right.
Credits
Paul Sheridan, thank you for the inspiration and keeping Chris's memory alive.
Calvin Travers, Producer and Drums. All guitars and instrumentation Richard Pierce.
