From the recording Ballads

Be Still This Father’s Heart
©2025 Jonathan Richardson, Sammy Horner, Jeff Carson

Sammy Horner vocals, bass, 6 & 12 string acoustic guitars
Kylie Horner bgv, accordion, whistle
Time Cotterell fiddle
Hilda Browne harp
David Lyon piano

Mercyland brought us this. A song about how quickly our children grow and how those years can slip aways more swiftly than we realise. Jonathan Richardson brought the main idea, Jeff Carson and Sammy helped sculpt it into what you’ll hear here.

Lyrics

I never knew that this would be the last time
Slipped right through my fingers in the night
The final new born cry, the final sleepy sigh
Be still, be still this father’s heart

I never knew that this was the last story
That we would ever read before you sleep
The final ‘good night moon’
And those saturday cartoons
Be still be still this father’s heart

If I’d had known that they would fade
I’d have held you longer in those days
I’d have kissed your curls and tried to slow the pace.

I hear your voice like it was only last night
The sound still carries me back there again
I’d give anything to see
The way you looked at me
Be still, be still this father’s heart