Singer Carrie Haskins has released a single of her song ‘Love Will Never Die’ inspired by the recent death of both her parents, with proceeds going to IHF.
The last two years brought a wave of grief to Carrie and her family. The songwriter was celebrating the birth of her second born, Charlotte, when her mother Frances died suddenly after catching COVID in early February 2021. Shortly after, Carrie’s dad and gigging partner, John, was diagnosed with prostate cancer. In February 2022, he sadly died, just two months after Carrie gave birth to her third child, Joshua.
“Music has always been a form of expression. After losing my mam and becoming my dad’s carer, I went into a dark depression. Music and my children were all that pulled me from it.”
After her dad’s death, Carrie made him a promise that she would never give up and would continue to follow in his footsteps and create music, no matter how painful it was.
“As I stood at my dad’s grave, I realised just how short life is and that we only get to live for today. I had a new found appreciation of life and I wanted to be the best parent I could be for my children and to show them that no matter what happens in life, you have to continue to live and to never give up on your dreams, something my mam and dad would have wanted for me in my life.”
Carrie heard an instrumental piece written by Colin Henry and immediately knew that a vocal could go over this to create something beautiful. She used time in the car alone to record voice memos of thoughts and feelings after her mother’s death. The bare bones of the song quickly came together after a couple of car journeys.
“The first line I remember writing was: ‘The love that we had will never die.’ This idea kept floating around, the idea that the person we loved was gone but that the love we had for each other lived on inside of us. It is a song about hope, that even in your darkest days you can carry on and be strong, and that the ones we love are always with us in our hearts.”
Carrie had set up a bereavement group in memory of her mother for families who had suffered a similar loss. Now she wanted to honour her dad and what better way than to release a song on his birthday.
“I felt I did so much to keep my mother’s memory alive, that now I wanted to do something for my dad. Since music was our passion, I knew I had to go back to that one song and tell the world how I felt after I had lost the two most important influences in my life.”
All proceeds from downloads will go to Irish Hospice Foundation as a way of thanking and supporting the hospice when Carrie’s dad was in his final weeks.
“The hospice allowed us to spend quality time with my dad. I was able to spend nights with him and feel like we were just at home watching TV. His grandchildren spent hours with him while my newborn slept beside him in the bed. We captured some great memories and they helped ease our heartbreak. In the final moments, we were all allowed to be with him unlike the hospitals that were still restricting people. For that, I am forever grateful.”
‘Love will never die’ can be downloaded on Bandcamp and costs €4.99. Read more about Carrie on her Facebook page
