Song of the week #21

So Long, My Old Friend

My ginger cat Tikka was with me for seventeen years. Back in 2003 I answered an advertisement offering kittens free to a good home and on arriving at the address in the Meon Valley I was shown three litters of kittens on a cat bed; the owners said that three of their cats had become pregnant at the same time. I put my hand down to the writhing mass of kittens and only one sat up on its haunches and sniffed my hand. That was Tikka, bold and inquisitive from day one. I didn't choose him; he chose me!

When I had to live on my own from 2013 onwards he stayed with me and was my sole companion for the next seven years. Of all the cats I have ever owned he was the most forthright with an indomitable character. He had an unnerving way of jumping up on the armchair in which you were sitting and staring at you hypnotically wide-eyed - especially at meal times.

In later life he developed thyroid problems compounded with diabetes. and needed medication and injections daily. These he bore uncomplainingly, typically indomitable throughout it all. Finally, though, despite the local vet's best ministrations the time came when it was painfully obvious that there was only one possible course of action. 

It was during the first COVID lockdown and I drove through the deserted streets of Petersfield to be met by the vet in their car park. She confirmed my suspicions and after signing the necessary paperwork I asked if I could hold him while he was given the injection. Then  I asked how long it would take and she got out her stethoscope and said “He's gone!”. There are no more final words than those.

I felt it would be fitting to write a song in his memory. The words came easily and I knew from the start that the arrangement would be just me and my guitar accompanied by a string quartet. I now think that this song contains the best string arrangement I have ever written.

The video is extremely simple - just me singing to the accompaniment, interspersed with some carefully chosen shots of solo violinists and cellists and pictures of Tikka taken throughout his long life. At the end of the video I have given his dates as 2004-2020 although my daughters have since told me that it was in 2003 that he chose me. Seventeen years is a very good age for a cat.

Click on the link below to play the YouTube video:
 

So Long, My Old Friend

So long, my old friend
You were such a brave companion
To the end
And your fire it burned so brightly
Till the parting of our ways        

So long, my old friend
You brought meaning to a life
So near its end
You were fierce as any tiger
But as gentle as a lamb
My old friend

You were there 
Every step along the way
Every heartbreak you were there with me
You were a part of it
Right at the heart of it all

And you bore your burden lightly
Facing time’s impassive tread

So long, my old friend
How you loved those drowsy days
That summer sends
Now you lie beneath the sunshine
In a sleep that has no end
My old friend
My old friend
My old friend