This is my view of a well-known event i.e. The chain saw felling of the Sycamore Gap Tree in Sept 2023, along Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland. A place I know well, having walked the wall.
As the most photographed tree in the UK, its solitary picturesque silhouette, had become a cultural symbol across the world, appearing in films like Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
It was also the last place I spent some time with a good friend from University, who sadly died soon after. The tree was a place of pilgrimage and natural wonder.
Daniel Graham and Adam Cruthers were each sentenced to 4 years in prison, for causing criminal damage.
The public reaction was one of profound shock and anger. It was an act of mindless vandalism, that made no sense to anyone.
Even now the world is still in mourning and I continue to mourn my friend
The story of the song starts with one of the defendants claim that ‘it was just another tree'. There was ‘no warning in the breeze’. It was a ‘moronic mission, a savage, senseless act’.
The ‘sense of loss’ from a tree ‘cut down in disbelief’, left ‘the world numbed by grief’’
A ‘gaping hole to the eye’ is a symbol to ‘the two traitors’ who felled the tree.The song demands ,’ Cross out the wrong words. Say sorry, say sorry’ and ‘shout it out from the roof tops’. It goes on to say ‘People like us, should make a stand’
I suppose in the end; we all lost a bit of faith in humanity. I know I did. The Sycamore tree was ,’A cherished part of history, Loved and so admired’
Simplicity, with clear lyrics to explain the emotions in the aftermath of the tree being felled.
No mention of who or why or how it was felled. I don’t care to know the reason why, or how the operation was carried out.
The song was composed in the Folk genre, as almost a lament to past times and the end of an era.
I used a lone female voice with a lone acoustic guitar, with a sad, almost haunting feel to it. I don’t think any song would be worthy of describing the shock that resonated around the world.
In the lyric video ,I used one image of a young girl leaning on a felled tree, almost talking her way through the song. Almost like a poem.
She sings ‘it breaks my heart’
A ‘wedge as a trophy’ I suppose is the last symbol I used to try and fail, to make sense of this event.
‘Left only with photos’ is also a nod to my much-loved friend
