GENTLE WORDS

"When gentle words go missing, the emotions they carry can slip away as well. Singer and songwriter, Ned Stranger, has a talent for finding words for these moments. With smart lyrics and signature vocals, his work is a sort of therapy for the relationship we have with ourselves and others."

Allié McGuire
Co-Founder of Awareness Ties

THE SONG

THE LYRICS

You never had to ask
I never had to try
We never had to work too hard, or wonder why
My touch is not a currency
Nor a finite part of me
I don't lose strength in giving it away
Where are all my gentle words?
Telltale signs I put you first
When I speak, you fear the worst
Cuz I've been treading time
I've been holding back
I've been missing holds on all the walls I'm staring at
And I know you know
I taught you how to sing
You taught me how to climb
I taught you how to live your dreams, and conquer anything
Now I see a problem every time
Effort is a dirty word and I'm
Already somewhere else
Where are all my gentle words?
Broken on the rocks below
Higher than my time is worth
But I've been treading time
I've been holding back
I've been missing holds on all the walls…

THE ARTIST

NED STRANGER is really two people trapped in one body. On the one side, he’s an adventure-loving idealist, crafting poetic indie-folk songs in sparkling guitar and synth arrangements that draw on his classical music training and indie-rock and electro-pop influences. On the other, he’s a closet nerd and intellectual – a logical, multilingual, book-loving, Cambridge law graduate who relaxes between songwriting sessions by doing the Guardian cryptic crossword. And yet the two aren’t a world apart. His love of words and their myriad meanings seeps into his lyrics. And he draws much of his inspiration from his voracious reading, just as comfortable exploring the worlds of others as he does hunting for ideas in his own life. A scene from Virgil’s Aeneid inspired his upcoming single ‘Here In The Cave’, whereas ‘Spiral’ is the tragic story of 18th century French mathematician Evariste Galois (Ned’s favourite mathematician) who died aged 20 in a duel defending a lady’s honour. ‘Gentle Words’ is about Marshall Rosenberg’s “Nonviolent Communication” whilst Eckhart Tolle’s “The Power of Now” inspired ‘Forever Lost’. But at the heart of all of his songs, whatever the source, lies Ned’s attempts to reconcile his own inner tensions and insecurities.