JONATHAN

Circles in the sky
White as paper fly
Sound of seagulls crying fills the air
High above the lonely one is there
Jonathan he cares
To feel better


Like the passing wind
Swooping down again
Waiting for the sun to turn to night
Find him miles away in endless flight
Longing to be free
Telling you and me


Give me wings to fly
Tell me why, tell me why
The answer must be heard
And from a lonely bird
He's given us a reason to believe


See the painted silver sunlight on his wing
As he sails upon the wind and slowly skyward
Flying as to music you can hear him sing
Like the windsong on the breeze he seems to sigh



Jonathan by Barclay James Harvest



Inspired by the novel Jonathan Livingstone Seagull by Richard Bach. The book, first published in Britain in 1972, was a kind of modern-day fable about self-imposed limitations, and used the allegory of a seagull breaking free from physical constraints to make its point. Regrettably, for the film of the book, the soundtrack was commissioned not from BJH but from Neil Diamond! BJH's original idea was for the 1972 Windsong film soundtrack, which was never produced. It was to have been a film featuring a fictional rock group, with BJH playing the band, and the line "like the windsong on the breeze he seems to sigh" came from that.