Feather In The Wind

Album: Nature's Light (2021)

Songfacts®:

  • This song was born out of loss: in 2018, Ritchie Blackmore lost his brother; his wife and musical partner, Candice Night; lost her dad; and their cat, which they had for 16 years, passed away. The song, though, is upbeat, reflecting the joy that those they lost brought to their lives. In a Songfacts track by track for the Nature's Light album, Night, who wrote the lyric, explained:

    "It was a year of loss and it was very intense and very emotional. We have always been a believer in messages and signs from the other side.

    When I lost my dad, I felt that he had sent me a number of signs. One of them was seeing feathers in strange places. It could be in the house. It could be in my bedroom. I could be in the kitchen where I'd find a feather on the ?oor. They would show up in very, very strange places.

    I started to get the idea of his soul or his spirit or the people that we had lost being these feathers that would travel on the wind. And then by the end of the song, it really winds up being that not only was it symbolic of the people that we had lost, but basically all of our spirits and our souls wind up being these feathers that are carried on the wind to our ultimate destination."
  • Blackmore's Night make Renaissance music, a passion of Ritchie Blackmore, best known for his work in Deep Purple and Rainbow. Blackmore came up with the music on this tune while playing a mandola, a stringed instrument akin to a mandolin that is common in minstrel music.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Holly Knight ("The Best," "Love Is A Battlefield")

Holly Knight ("The Best," "Love Is A Battlefield")Songwriter Interviews

Holly Knight talks about some of the hit songs she wrote, including "The Warrior," "Never" and "The Best," and explains some songwriting philosophy, including how to think of a bridge.

Marc Campbell - "88 Lines About 44 Women"

Marc Campbell - "88 Lines About 44 Women"They're Playing My Song

The Nails lead singer Marc Campbell talks about those 44 women he sings about over a stock Casio keyboard track. He's married to one of them now - you might be surprised which.

Gentle Giant

Gentle GiantSongwriter Interviews

An interview with Ray and Derek Shulman of the progressive rock band Gentle Giant to discuss counterpoint, polyrhythms, and... Bon Jovi.

Paul Williams

Paul WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

He's a singer and an actor, but as a songwriter Paul helped make Kermit a cultured frog, turned a bank commercial into a huge hit and made love both "exciting and new" and "soft as an easy chair."

Al Kooper

Al KooperSongwriter Interviews

Kooper produced Lynyrd Skynyrd, played with Dylan and the Stones, and formed BS&T.

Edwin McCain

Edwin McCainSongwriter Interviews

"I'll Be" was what Edwin called his "Hail Mary" song. He says it proves "intention of the songwriter is 180 degrees from potential interpretation by an audience."