Sparrow | Jeff Jacobs Music

"He who binds to himself a joy does the winged life destroy; But he who kisses the joy as it flies lives in eternity's sun rise.”

- William Blake

The first time I heard this quote was around the time of my first breakup of my adult life.

I had been dating the sweetest person I'd ever known, but we were on different paths and I knew deep down we wouldn't work out long-term.

One morning, after trying to think of what to say to this person to help them understand, I woke up with a melody fluttering around in my head, which wouldn't go away. It was just two repeating notes. There was something mesmerizing about it. The notes continued to play in my head all day long, like a broken record. Later that evening, I sat down with my guitar and I wrote the entire song in one pass - it was the quickest I'd ever written a song. The two repeating notes I kept hearing would become the chorus lyric, “So long, sparrow”

It’s a song of comfort in the winters in between seasons of warmth, reminding us that beneath our sorrow, there's an abiding calm where growth is happening.

And that sometimes, rather than clinging to things, the best thing we can do is kiss that which brought us joy...

...And let it fly away...

SPARROW

LYRICS:

Verse 1

A winter flower never dies

Colors fade and petals hide

But take a look

There’s something there

Grasping every breath of air

Lonely minds and naked eyes

Darkest days and brightest nights

I’m begging you

Come out to play

Love can find us any day…

Chorus:

So long, sparrow

For all those nights I’ve trapped you in a cage

Snowfall, tomorrow

To give you back the love you gave to me...

I’ll let you fly away.

Verse 2:

A sparrow’s love can never stay

You get too close, she flies right by the other way

But have some faith

Love can find us any day

So afraid of letting go

Little child, now don’t you know

How beautiful

You’re meant to be

Keep her in your memory

Set her free…

Chorus:

So long, sparrow

For all those nights I’ve trapped you in a cage

Snowfall, tomorrow

To give you back the love you gave to me..

I’ll let you fly away

Chorus:

So long, sparrow

For all those nights I've trapped you in a cage

Snowfall, tomorrow

I'm going to give you back the love you gave to me

by letting you fly...

So long, my sparrow

For all those nights I've trapped you in a cage

Snowfall, tomorrow

To give you back the love you gave to me...

I let you fly away.

Credits:

Recorded & mixed by Rozhan Razman

Vocals, acoustic guitar: Jeff Jacobs

Bass: Rozhan Razman

Electric Guitar: Joe Young

Keyboards: Rie Tsuji

Shaker & percussion: RJ Rabin

Cello: Jon Preddice