When I saw the #Ukraine challenge posted (but ignoring the political posts), I knew I wanted to write a song, but struggled to find the right story until I saw the short video clip (that millions have seen now) of the young Ukraine man saying goodbye to his daughter in a pink coat. There was no info on who they were, but the story was obvious, and that’s where the lyrics came from.
I actually had most of the music figured out before the lyrics, a rare thing for me. I pulled out my old Fender acoustic and downtuned it to an alternate tuning I’ve never tried before, Dminor (D A D F A D).
A Wish For You (My Dear Sophia) copyright 2022 Michael J Birch
Our tears
Stream down our faces
Our arms
Hug each other tight
Our eyes
Get in one last gaze
Our lives
Changed forever tonight
A wish for you, my dear Sophia
That you live to grow old
That love will fill your life
And pain won’t darken your soul
A wish for you, my dear Sophia
It’s a wish for me too
That one day we’ll be together
My dear Sophia, a wish for you
Our homes
May be destroyed
Our freedom
Is why we must fight
This war
We cannot avoid
Our country
And our human rights
A wish for you, my dear Sophia
That you live to grow old
That love will fill your life
And pain won’t darken your soul
A wish for you, my dear Sophia
It’s a wish for me too
That one day we’ll be together
My dear Sophia, a wish for you
A wish for you
@lyricslinger Mar 2022
Glad I discovered this song. I really like the tone, very distinctive and I think helps to support the emotions conveyed by the lyrics.
@chrisshepard Mar 2022
I was enjoying the guitar and then heard the piano and thought, "nice" and then those strings came in! Very nice and moody! Sad...sad situation...
@tukayandryan Mar 2022
Beautiful and emotive. Such poignant lyrics. Real vulnerability in your vocal. The strings really add to the emotive nature of the subject matter. Really sympathetic write.
@jeff9 Mar 2022
My comments vaporized in mid-typing for some reason. I was complimenting your restrained grace on the vocal that allowed the emotion of the lyrics to come alive perfectly. The music sets an appropriate mood and the strings were a nice touch.
@edward9thstreet Feb 2022
Expressive, and attention getting title. Love the bass riff on the 12 string(?). An original take on the theme and effective mood, nice Job, Mike!
@leslie333 Feb 2022
This is lovely, heartfelt and sad.
@panch Feb 2022
A heartbreaking story, you've covered it very sympathetically.
@liz561 Feb 2022
That same clip prompted me to write some lyrics. Very powerful and I love that you personalized it with a name. Too bad we have to write songs like this....
@pvk2020 Feb 2022
Thanks. Sad but good to write songs about what's going on. Lovely
@tamsnumber4 Feb 2022
Beautifully sad in every way.
@bethdesombre Feb 2022
I lovely wish and song; the tuning works well. I like the difference between the short declarative phrases in the verses and the longer more sentimental lines in the chorus (and also that "it's a wish for me too.")