McWilliams was born in the Cregagh area of Belfast and moved to Ballymena at the age of three.[1] He began playing guitar and writing songs in his early teens. After leaving Ballymena Technical College in 1963, he started an apprenticeship at the Shorts missile factory in Antrim, and also started a local dance band, the Coral Showband.[1][2][3] He was a well-respected football player, and had a trial with Linfield as a goalkeeper.[2][4]
He recorded a demo of some of his own songs, which was heard by music industry entrepreneur Phil Solomon, who had previously managed The Bachelors and Van Morrison's band Them and also had close business ties with Ronan O'Rahilly's pirate radio station Radio Caroline.[1][5] Solomon convinced close friend and well established songwriter Dominic Behan to take McWilliams under his wing to the point that McWilliams moved into the Behan family home in West London, an environment within which he was able to focus on songwriting; the impact of Behan's influence is difficult to determine but, it can be seen that McWilliams' live performances became much more self-assured, a key to future success. Following a period of five months in Behan's household, Solomon was able to negotiate a contract with CBS Records, which released his first unsuccessful single "God and My Country" in 1966, before signing McWilliams to his own new Major Minor label. McWilliams and Behan were to remain close friends until the death of Dominic Behan in 1989.
McWilliams' first album, David McWilliams Singing Songs by David McWilliams, was produced and arranged by Mike Leander, and reached number 38 on the UK Albums Chart. He quickly recorded a second album, David McWilliams, which reached number 23 in the same album chart and featured the single "Days of Pearly Spencer".[3] This was a song about a homeless man McWilliams had encountered in Ballymena, and featured a sweeping orchestral arrangement by Leander and a chorus sung as if through a megaphone.[1] This low-tech effect was actually achieved by recording the vocals from a phone box near the studio. Exposure on Radio Caroline and through advertisements in the UK music press in the summer of 1967 helped generate interest and sales in continental Europe, and the record topped the charts in numerous countries including France and the Netherlands, selling a million copies worldwide.[2] However, although it became well known in the UK, "Days of Pearly Spencer" failed to make the UK Singles Chart, perhaps because the BBC refused to play it owing to Solomon's links with pirate radio, and through mismanagement McWilliams never profited from the song's success.[3] In Italy, the song was covered in 1968 by Caterina Caselli as "Il Volto Della Vita". A Spanish version called "Vuelo blanco de gaviota" was recorded in 1979 by Ana Belén. Successful later versions of the song included a disco version which reached number 1 in Belgium in the 1980s,[2] and a cover version in 1988 by the French psychedelic band The Vietnam Veterans and their album The Days of Pearly Spencer. A recording by Marc Almond, with an additional verse written by Almond giving the song a more optimistic tone, reached number 4 in the UK Singles Chart in 1992, and also made number 8 in Ireland.
McWilliams released another album, David McWilliams III, and several further singles for Major Minor, and toured widely in Europe, on some occasions with The Dubliners and the Kerries.[3] His 1968 song, "Can I Get There By Candlelight?" was used for the theme of a Dutch radio programme, Candlelight with Jan van Veen. He became popular in Germany and Italy, as well as in France and the Netherlands, and re-recorded some songs in Italian.[1][6] Reportedly, David Bowie once named McWilliams as his favourite songwriter.[4] An album, Days of Pearly Spencer, comprising tracks from his three albums, was issued by Kapp Records in the US in 1968.[6] He moved to London, and released further albums and singles on the Parlophone and Dawn labels in the 1970s, but these were unsuccessful.[3]
McWilliams moved back to Northern Ireland in 1978. He performed infrequently after that, mostly in local bars, although he also headlined a concert in aid of striking miners in 1984 and occasionally appeared at the Ballycastle Northern Lights Festival.[7] A compilation album, The Days of David McWilliams, was issued by RPM Records in 2001.[5]
On 8 January 2002, McWilliams died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Ballycastle, County Antrim, at the age of 56. He was married twice and had eight children.[3]
Carry Me Home
David McWilliams Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When I heard the voices calling, they were calling take me home
All the long forgotten follies, written in the hollow eyes
Buried deep within the shadows, were the sad and lonely lies
Carry me home, carry me home, hey won't you carry me home
Carry carry me home.
Rusty cans and broken bottles, only friends here that I've known
Cold within my winter raincoat, where the soft light never shines
Be my comfort and my cradle, ease a poor boy's troubled mind
Carry me home, hey won't you carry me home,
Will you carry me home, hey won't you carry me home
hey won't you carry me home, carry carry me home
carry carry me home, carry me home, hey won't you carry me home
carry me home .....
In David McWilliams's song "Carry Me Home," the singer is standing alone in a streetlight feeling exposed and vulnerable. He hears voices calling out to him, asking to be taken home. The song discusses all the mistakes and secrets that the character has hidden within himself, as he gets lost wandering the streets at night. He is disheartened to find that the only friends he has present around him are rusty cans and broken bottles, leaving him feeling empty and alone. In the end, the singer seeks comfort and asks to be carried home to ease his troubled mind.
The song is a powerful representation of how people often feel lost, lonely, and in need of comfort in the face of their own struggles, secrets and insecurities. It highlights the importance of seeking help and comfort from others to overcome personal troubles and to find a sense of belonging in the world.
Line by Line Meaning
I was standing in the streetlight, feeling naked and alone
I was vulnerable and exposed to the world, and I felt disconnected from others.
When I heard the voices calling, they were calling take me home
I heard a longing in my own heart for a place that felt like home.
All the long forgotten follies, written in the hollow eyes
I saw the hidden pain and regrets in the eyes of those around me.
Buried deep within the shadows, were the sad and lonely lies
There were secrets and sorrows kept hidden away from others in the darkness.
Carry me home, carry me home, hey won't you carry me home
I'm asking for help and support from someone who can help me find my way back to a place of safety and belonging.
And I walked the street in silence, as the darkness round me grows
I felt lost and alone as the world around me became more uncertain and scary.
Rusty cans and broken bottles, only friends here that I've known
My only companions were the discarded objects that littered the streets around me.
Cold within my winter raincoat, where the soft light never shines
I felt alone and isolated, as if I was living in a world without any warmth or kindness.
Be my comfort and my cradle, ease a poor boy's troubled mind
I'm asking for someone to provide me with a sense of safety and security, to help me feel at ease and free from my worries.
Carry me home, hey won't you carry me home,
I continue to plead for someone to help me find a way out of my isolation and into a place of comfort.
Will you carry me home, hey won't you carry me home
I'm hoping that someone will be there for me, helping me find my way home and back to a place of emotional safety.
hey won't you carry me home, carry carry me home
I'm repeating my request for help, indicating just how desperate I am for someone to come to my aid.
carry carry me home, carry me home, hey won't you carry me home
My plea for help continues, with me repeating my request for someone to carry me back to a place of comfort and belonging.
carry me home .....
My request for help fades away, indicating that I'm hopeful that someone will come to my aid, but also uncertain as to whether or not that will actually happen.
Contributed by Luke A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.