Happy Birthday to "The Grown Ups": The Usher's Tale

As a way of celebrating the first birthday of my debut album, The Grown Ups, I thought I would write a little "behind the scenes" feature about each of the songs on the LP. You can listen, download or buy the album over at www.mickterry.co.uk

THE USHER’S TALE

Two of my close friends met and, subsequently, fell in love at university. There was, however, one small problem. He lived in Belfast and she in London. When college was over, they headed back to their respective parents homes and so began their long distance love affair. He took a job as a cinema usher and, in the slow periods, he began to write her a series of fantastic, long letters. When the letters arrived in London, she would read them and tell the family how great they were. As time went on, the rest of the family began to read the letters too. So much so, that, when the letters dropped through the letterbox, it was commonplace for them to be opened by whoever got to the front door first.

On hearing this tale of the letters, I immediately thought it would make a great storyline for a song. As I worked on the song, it became clear that there were similarities between their relationship and that of my wife and I. They too had traveled across Australia and even stayed in the same towns as we did. I’m not sure at what point the song actually began to incorporate elements from our relationship as well, but, I quite like the idea of the line between the two stories becoming blurred. The lyrics in the second verse were meant to be like postcards or snapshots capturing the lovers as they make their way across the landscape. The dance of love can be like a shooting star; bright, beautiful, but, gone too soon. If we are really lucky, it holds us forever in its sway.