Wildflower

Album

Skylark

Label

Capitol Records

Genre

Blue-eyed soul

Composer(s)

David Richardson;Doug Edwards

Entered Chart

Feb 17, 1973

Peak Date

May 26, 1973

Released

February 1973

Recorded

1972

Catalog #

Capitol 3511

B-Side

The Writing's On The Wall

This is the very first song that Canadian-born producer David Foster played on in his band Skylark with Donny Gerrard. It is one of the most popular songs to come from Canada and has been covered by the O'Jays, the Neville Brothers and Color Me Badd (in a version produced by David Foster). Skylark released only two albums, but Foster went on to become a hugely successful songwriter and producer. Foster did not write this song - it was written by Doug Edwards and David Richardson. >> Dave Richardson was a Canadian police officer at the time he wrote the lyrics for this song. The words were originally a poem written for his girl friend, which he passed on to his close friend David Foster. Richardson explained his lyrical inspiration in an interview: "In 1970 I was dating a nurse, whom I would eventually marry in 1971 (it only lasted four years, though - we were both not ready for such a commitment). One night I went to pick her up at her apartment, as we had planned on going out. When she opened the door I saw that she was upset to the point of tears. She still had a housecoat on and had her hair wrapped in a towel after a shower. She told me that two elderly ladies she had been caring for in the hospital had died that day at work, and she felt terribly sad about it, as she had come to know them fairly well over a period of time. Anyway, she more or less vented her feelings and I just listened. After she was finished, she thanked me for listening, and said she would get ready for our date. She went into the bedroom and closed the door, and I sat and watched TV waiting for her to come out. When she didn't return, I knocked on the door but she didn't answer, so I went in to find her fast asleep on the bed, still in her housecoat and with the towel still wrapped around her head. I guess she was just exhausted after her emotional day. So, I put a blanket over her, being careful not to wake her, and went home and wrote the song in about fifteen minutes or so. It was absolutely inspired. I have always felt that all I did was hold the pen in my hand, and that God did the writing. The 'Be careful how you touch her, for she'll awaken' part, refers to when I put the blanket over her. 'The way she's always paying, for a debt she never owes…' - It wasn't her fault that the two ladies had died, and yet she felt so badly for them that she was crying." ( Source Davidfoster.net)

She's faced the hardest times, you could imagine
And many times her eyes fought back the tears
And when her youthful world, was about to fall in
Each time her slender shoulders
Bore the weight of all her fears
And a sorrow no one hears
Still rings in midnight silence, in her ears

Let her cry, for she's a lady (she's a lady)
Let her dream, for she's a child (child)
Let the rain fall down upon her
She's a free and gentle flower, growing wild

And if by chance I should hold her (if by chance that I should hold her)
Let me hold her for a time (let me hold her for a time)
But if allowed just one possession
I would pick her from the garden, to be mine
(I would pick her from the garden, to be mine)

Be careful how you touch her, for she'll awaken
And sleep's the only freedom that she knows
And when you walk into her eyes, you won't believe
The way she's always paying
For a debt she never owes
And a silent wind still blows
That only she can hear and so she goes

Let her cry, for she's a lady
Let her dream, for she's a child
Let the rain fall down upon her
She's a free and gentle flower, growing wild

Let her cry, for she's a lady (she's a lady)
Let her dream, for she's a child
Let the rain fall down upon her
She's a free and gentle flower, growing wild
She's a flower growing wild