Song of the Year – The Cauldron Born

I recently received a lovely message from the people who run International Pagan Radio and The Cauldron Radio. They surveyed their listeners asking them to vote for their Song of the Year, and my song The Cauldron Born won the award. So firstly thank you to all of the IPR and The Cauldron Radio listeners who voted, and to the people who run the stations for your constant support of us Pagan musicians – it really means a great deal to me – to all of us.

This song has had an exciting life since its birth back in 2008. It’s constantly my most-played song on all streaming platforms, and some years back won another prize for Best Pagan Song.

It was one of those songs that was months in the Cauldron, cooking away, before it all came together. I had the chorus tune, and I knew that the title of the next album was going to be The Cauldron Born, but no words were coming for the title track. Then one day I just decided to sit at my desk and free-write a song, not really knowing at all where it was going to lead, and the words for The Cauldron Born just flowed onto the page. I remember that I didn’t have a tune for the verse, so picked up the guitar and, again, the tune and melody of the verse just happened. When the song finally came together it was a very magical process and felt like the song literally wanted to be written. That does happen, and many of you songwriters reading this will probably be nodding your heads in agreement, but it’s nothing to ever take for granted. Sometimes you step into the flow of Awen and it just stops – other times you can almost get washed away downstream!

It’s a song about being a Pagan. Of discovering a different way of seeing the world, of feeling alone in that discovery, maybe feeling a little bit weird, then realising that there are so many more people who feel the same way. A song of celebration for our Pagan Ways. Of seeing the magic that is everywhere, of feeling the pull of the Web, of sensing the Spirits that move within all life, all places of the land, sea and sky. Not everyone feels that way, but those of us who do know each other, and dance together in the Eye of the Storm.

I remember when I first played the song live. The album had been released but I thought it was such a big anthemic song I’d never be able to do it justice with just my acoustic guitar and voice. Then I found myself playing at an Artemis Gathering many years ago and the song was being requested. Not just requested, but demanded by the audience. I was playing in a Scout Hut on the camp. They would not let me leave without playing the song. So I made an agreement. We closed the door of the hut. This was a one-off performance of the song, and I couldn’t promise it would be any good, so it was strictly between us, in that moment.

The door was shut, and I began to play.

And for the first time, I felt the magic of that song live. I saw the way it brought the community together in that moment, and it became a fixture in most of my live shows from then on. So thank you to all of those people in that Scout Hut for pushing me out of my comfort zone that day.

My live in-person shows begin in a couple of weeks and I will be playing The Cauldron Born and revelling in our community once more.

Lady stir your Cauldron well….