“After the Fire” by Cameron Douglas - A Song Feature

     In skilled hands, music possesses the power to pull a person inwardly through the concentric rings of emotional understanding of the condition of others. A song can draw a listener from the outermost ring of mere awareness toward a center that represents empathy and shared sensibilities. Cameron Douglas’s “After the Fire” carried us closer to the center during each repeated play of the song motivated by a London fire that caused 72 deaths in June 2017. He explains:

  “I was asked to write a song by Flying Elephant Productions for their film ‘After the Fire,’ which tells the story of a London taxi driver who tragically loses his daughter in the Grenfell Fire. How can you even begin to do justice to something so tragic? All I can say is that I have tried…”

     And succeeded. On the macro level, the acoustic guitar carries an intimacy and sense of purpose. On a micro level, we admire the use of the piano during most of the occurrences of the line “I’m lost without you,” particularly the descending three notes during “you,” creating a sense of finality. But our favorite feature of “After the Fire” is the quicker tempo vocals that end abruptly after “Look here man we’ll hold your hand, you can have all of our sympathy but…” But the reality is stated only a few lines earlier, “My pain is one that no one, oh no one can ever know.”

     Cameron Douglas is a vocalist/songwriter from Hong Kong, although he is currently pursuing his musical aspirations in London. He was born into musical pedigree that saw him trained as a classical pianist and violinist, performing with his brother and father in the family band, before taking up guitar at 15.

     “After the Fire” by Cameron Douglas

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/camerondouglasmusic/

Website: https://www.camerondouglasmusic.com/

Lyrics of “After the Fire” by Cameron Douglas

Oh, was it really just last night,

Sitting at my table side,

Oh, we had all the time,

Colours blazing red blue white,

Forever seared in my mind,

Oh, how things change in the night,

Oooooo, I’m lost without you x2

I’m alone, so alone,

And as these threads come undone,

When you’ve lost all you’ve won and you dig deep,

But still I sit and weep.

And your name is etched on stone,

My pain is one that no one, oh no one can ever know,

These lamp lit streets, granite beasts,

Are strangers in this city, pushing paper, showing pity,

Look here man we’ll hold your hand,

You can have all of our sympathy but

I won’t crack,

Oh, I’ll push back,

Yes, I’ll push back.

Oooooo, I’m lost without you x4