Didn’t intend this to be the third post in what has turned out to be a trilogy, but still in shock over the tragic loss of my friend’s daughter, and on Friday the funeral took place in a church right in the centre of our town. An emotional event as expected, which threw our highly efficient local undertakers into a spin, as they’d never before had to try and seat so many people at one service. It was standing room only, which again makes me question what on earth we are doing to our young people. How is it they can feel just so alone, yet have so many people who care about them? Far too complex an issue to go into here but it has left many of us fearful for our own brood.
After a heartfelt poem written by and read out by a family friend, a reading by her sister, and the eulogy covering all the amazing achievements racked up during her brief 18 years, it was time for Holly’s wicker coffin to leave the church. Once outside, the town’s pipe band of which she had been a member, marched in front of the hearse to the cemetery for a private burial. People who didn’t know her or her family came out of their homes and shops to pay respect to this local girl who’d had just far too short a time on the planet. None of us noticed it at the time, but because of the rain that was falling, a rainbow had formed in the sky.
But as I always say around here this is a music blog and amongst all this sadness I have made a new musical discovery. I have been tardy as ever, but Gerry Cinnamon, a Scottish singer-songwriter and acoustic guitarist, has been slowly building up a following over the last few years and tickets for his latest stadium concert apparently sold out on Friday in three minutes. Like The Proclaimers before him, he sings using his local accent and has come to prominence purely on the back of word of mouth and social media, his first album “Erratic Cinematic” funded via the PledgeMusic platform.
My friend’s daughter and her buddies were fans of Mr Cinnamon and I have no doubt, had things turned out differently, they would all have been heading to Hampden next summer to see him. For this reason, his song Belter was the one her family chose to accompany that wicker coffin leaving the church. A moment of levity amongst all the sadness. The song was apparently written about that moment at the start of a relationship when things can go either way, trying-to-be-cool and not wanting to let your guard down for fear of rejection, but your heart doing exactly what it wants to do. A realistic, tongue-in-cheek love song.
Belter by Gerry Cinnamon:
Sorry to have written yet another really sad post around here but this is the place where I can share my thoughts anonymously without the real world getting involved or having an opinion, so a great outlet really. As for Mr Cinnamon, he is very unhappy at how those tickets got sold to “corporate goons” just so quickly and are now appearing online at highly inflated prices. He also however realises that if the biggest bands in the world can’t stop it happening or do anything about it, he is likewise stymied.
I hope my friend and her family will be able to come to terms with what has happened in time, but it’s not going to be easy. Listening to the song shared here will never be the same again, that’s for sure, but it will certainly always hold a special place in their hearts.
Until next time….
Belter Lyrics
(Song by Gerry Cinnamon)
She is a belter, different from the rest
Diamonds oan’ her finger and she always looks her best
She is a gangster, with a hundred-mile stare
When she walks her feet don’t touch the flare
She is a belter
She plays wae’ lightning
I’m a hundred miles high
Dishing out the thunder like a god inside the sky
She is a dancer and she dances in my dreams
Reminds me that the world is not as evil as it seems
She is a belter
No happy endings; unless fairytales come true
But she looks like a princess and there’s not much else to do
I think I love her
She gets underneath my skin
But I’ve been stung a few times, so I don’t let no one in
No even belters!
She is a belter
She is a belter
She is a belter
How can she reach me when I’m high above the shelf?
Lost inside a smoke ring
While I ponder tae’ myself
Is she the answer, to the question in my mind?
Is happiness an option, or has love just turned me blind?
Is she a belter?
No happy endings; unless fairytales come true
But she looks like a princess and there’s not much else to do
I think I love her
She gets underneath my skin
But I’ve been stung a few times, so I don’t let no one in
No even belters
She is a belter
She is a belter
She is a belter
What's It All About? 
That’s a very good song. Sorry that we had to discover it under such tragic circumstances.
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It’s a fabulous Scottish song but as you say, for us it will now it always be associated with a great sadness.
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I haven’t had a chance until now to pass along my sympathies to you, your friend & her family. There are no adequate words so just know that you’re all receiving so much love & sympathy from all over the world. I’ve said to friends numerous times over recent years how difficult it must be for young people in this age of social media. It’s the only world they know and it seems like much of the negativity that comes along with it is focused on this generation. For the most part us older folks can separate ourselves from the virtual world but kids don’t know how to do it. I hope something changes in the near future. If nothing else, music is always a great outlet for people of all ages, so hopefully young musicians will be part of the solution.
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Thanks for dropping by – You now see what I meant by a “whole lot of awful”. No adequate words as you say and I hate what is happening to young people as a result of social media and the need/necessity to be online 24/7. Tough for us sometimes so nigh impossible for them. Music has always been a great vehicle for getting a message across so perhaps some of the current crop will be able to do that. The politicians can do nothing so it seems to be down to the musicians.
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Sorry for your loss Alyson. Thanks for introducing me to Mr Cinnamon
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Thanks Chris – The loss is not mine but a loss for our whole community. She could have gone far in both sport and music but all now a terrible waste. As for Mr Cinnamon, a welcome introduction for both of us.
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So much sadness, so hard to comprehend. I am just glad to know that in spite of such harrowing grief the funeral could be so full of love.
I enjoyed hearing Mr Cinnamon – what a lovely song to choose. Also a fab name for a start and I do love that accent and his use of language. ‘Belter’ is not a word we hear much round here and it certainly sounds much better in Scottish! I’ll be looking out for his name now, thanks Alyson.
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So hard to comprehend how someone who was known by so many and loved so much felt so alone, but having had a heart to heart with DD over the weekend (she came home which was lovely) I now feel as if I understand what can go on inside an 18-year-old’s head a bit more – Sadly the signs just aren’t there and we are powerless in being able to help.
Young Scots are great fans of Gerry Cinnamon and somehow that song was just right for the funeral. His accent is very much South of Scotland and not how we talk up here but the sentiment in the song remains the same wherever you live. Belter is a great word though.
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A good song for such a sad occasion
Mrs CC was not aware of the phenomenon that is Gerry Cinnamon and we had some fun catching up on his stuff in our East Kilbride hotel room.
Selling out Hampden in minutes is no mean feat with or without touts..
That song will always now bring mixed feelings for you all but hopefully there will be some smiles along the way
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It was definitely right for this occasion and yes, to sell out Hampden is no mean feat.
Thanks for sharing what you and Mrs CC get up to in your East Kilbride hotel room! Hopefully the new bathroom is now securely in place.
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it’s getting there – slowly!
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With some passage of time I can now tell you how much I enjoyed the clip that accompanied your last post. I have watched that scene at the mall several times. It brings a tear to my eye in the first few minutes, but it brings a smile too when they go down the escalator one at a time without missing a beat. I hope the days get easier for all of you.
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As you can imagine I have been a bit torn about writing these last three posts but as no-one locally knows about this place, it seemed ok to share with a wider audience, it in effect being an anonymised story that will resonate with so many. That clip you speak of makes for tough viewing and like you I find it impossible not to shed a tear. Hadn’t spotted that about the escalator but you are right, they barely miss a beat. We have a massive problem here in the Highlands with young people taking their own lives – My neighbour’s son did so about 10 years ago, yet when I was speaking with him the day before, nothing seemed untoward at all so impossible to spot the signs. I hope we learn from this particular tragedy but an incredibly difficult thing to combat.
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Such a perfect song to end such a short life. I’m getting quite teary writing this and I didn’t even know her…
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If you are a parent, it really affects you. A story that is repeating itself as we speak in every corner of our troubled land. Something has gone horribly wrong along the way.
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I don’t mean to be rude but can I ask what had happened to her because my friend had passed shortly after u made this and this was his favorite song that he played all the time.
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Really sorry to hear about your friend Jack. Not sure if he was Scottish but it seems a lot of young people are fans of Gerry Cinnamon and would have been looking forward to going to watch him live in 2020 had the pandemic not come along.
This was the third post in a set of three so you should be able to work back to see the story. A tragic loss of a young life and all too common nowadays it seems.
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