Forgive and Forget at Christmas
“This song has been an amazing journey for me” says The Cides founder and lead vocalist Paul Hayward.
We were towards the end of a week’s recording session in Copenhagen in late November 2018. A special 'Christmas' beer had just been put on tap at the local bar. As we were drinking it I remarked “so nice to have this brew, shame that we have to put up with the same old crap Christmas songs…”
Jack G-H, our then drummer, quipped “I bet you a night of free beers that you couldn't write one!” It was written that night and recorded the next day. A record for me. Then it was forgotten about.
I accidentally came across it in November 2021, when looking for a backup of another song and thought “Hey, this should be made public, I'll finish it for release this Christmas” choosing the 10th December, World Human Rights Day, as the release date.
So how did a song about a guy forgiving a girl for walking out on him evolve into a message about child abuse?I was researching 'forgiveness', what it means, and found that most definitions have a religious background. Then I discovered the scale of the horrific child abuse in the Catholic Church. How the Vatican is above the law and not answerable before any Court. How the Pope can say he 'forgives' the priests, bishops and cardinals for their abuse of children and that makes it all ok, it’s business as usual.
Well, it’s not ok. Only God forgives and only at the request of the victim.
It was too late for me to rewrite and re-record the 'happy, jolly la, la' Forgive and Forget song to reflect my sorrow and anger at discovering the plight of the abused kids.
How could I show support and make an impact?
We vowed the first £1,000 earned from this track would be donated to HAVOCA, they will receive 50% of all earnings thereafter. To date we have donated over £2,300, so please keep buying the track. Together we’re making a difference. Havaca have written a blog post about the word Forgiveness and what it means to a survivor. You can read it here.
“This song has been an amazing journey for me” says The Cides founder and lead vocalist Paul Hayward.
We were towards the end of a week’s recording session in Copenhagen in late November 2018. A special 'Christmas' beer had just been put on tap at the local bar. As we were drinking it I remarked “so nice to have this brew, shame that we have to put up with the same old crap Christmas songs…”
Jack G-H, our then drummer, quipped “I bet you a night of free beers that you couldn't write one!” It was written that night and recorded the next day. A record for me. Then it was forgotten about.
I accidentally came across it in November 2021, when looking for a backup of another song and thought “Hey, this should be made public, I'll finish it for release this Christmas” choosing the 10th December, World Human Rights Day, as the release date.
So how did a song about a guy forgiving a girl for walking out on him evolve into a message about child abuse?I was researching 'forgiveness', what it means, and found that most definitions have a religious background. Then I discovered the scale of the horrific child abuse in the Catholic Church. How the Vatican is above the law and not answerable before any Court. How the Pope can say he 'forgives' the priests, bishops and cardinals for their abuse of children and that makes it all ok, it’s business as usual.
Well, it’s not ok. Only God forgives and only at the request of the victim.
It was too late for me to rewrite and re-record the 'happy, jolly la, la' Forgive and Forget song to reflect my sorrow and anger at discovering the plight of the abused kids.
How could I show support and make an impact?
We vowed the first £1,000 earned from this track would be donated to HAVOCA, they will receive 50% of all earnings thereafter. To date we have donated over £2,300, so please keep buying the track. Together we’re making a difference. Havaca have written a blog post about the word Forgiveness and what it means to a survivor. You can read it here.
“This song has been an amazing journey for me” says The Cides founder and lead vocalist Paul Hayward.
We were towards the end of a week’s recording session in Copenhagen in late November 2018. A special 'Christmas' beer had just been put on tap at the local bar. As we were drinking it I remarked “so nice to have this brew, shame that we have to put up with the same old crap Christmas songs…”
Jack G-H, our then drummer, quipped “I bet you a night of free beers that you couldn't write one!” It was written that night and recorded the next day. A record for me. Then it was forgotten about.
I accidentally came across it in November 2021, when looking for a backup of another song and thought “Hey, this should be made public, I'll finish it for release this Christmas” choosing the 10th December, World Human Rights Day, as the release date.
So how did a song about a guy forgiving a girl for walking out on him evolve into a message about child abuse?I was researching 'forgiveness', what it means, and found that most definitions have a religious background. Then I discovered the scale of the horrific child abuse in the Catholic Church. How the Vatican is above the law and not answerable before any Court. How the Pope can say he 'forgives' the priests, bishops and cardinals for their abuse of children and that makes it all ok, it’s business as usual.
Well, it’s not ok. Only God forgives and only at the request of the victim.
It was too late for me to rewrite and re-record the 'happy, jolly la, la' Forgive and Forget song to reflect my sorrow and anger at discovering the plight of the abused kids.
How could I show support and make an impact?
We vowed the first £1,000 earned from this track would be donated to HAVOCA, they will receive 50% of all earnings thereafter. To date we have donated over £2,300, so please keep buying the track. Together we’re making a difference. Havaca have written a blog post about the word Forgiveness and what it means to a survivor. You can read it here.