Homelessness: "A bit of bad luck and it could be you"

Bognor Regis musician Chris Height highlights the plight of the homeless with a powerful new song Would You Care?
Chris HeightChris Height
Chris Height

The song is available from the usual download sites – all in aid of homelessness charity Stonepillow.

You can also enjoy the song on YouTube. Chris would encourage anyone listening to it to make a donation to the charity through his JustGiving page at www.justgiving.com/chris-heightChris, by day a pest controller in Chichester, said: “I do music as a hobby. I play the drums actually but I do try to play the guitar as well. I’ve always written songs but never really bothered to record them. It’s a time thing. I don’t know how many songs I have written that have just fallen by the wayside, but I’ve invested in some computer recording equipment and that has made a big difference.

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“The idea behind this particular song is to raise money for charity. I know somebody that’s really got into hot water very quickly, a young teenager who ended up sleeping rough on the streets with an abusive partner and then doing drugs. It all spiralled out of control very quickly but then Stonepillow saved this person in the sense that there was a warm and safe environment for her, to give her food and protection and help and also help with mental health issues and drug issues. She is good now. She is on the right track.

“That inspired me to write a song as well as there being a fairly close member of my family that suffers with mental illness. Luckily she has got the support of the family. If she hadn’t the support then she could well have ended up in a similar situation. I didn’t realise how connected homelessness and mental illness were. It plays such a big part. I think it is a kind of desperation and frustration for people that are suffering and if they don’t get somebody to help them or somebody that understands them, then they can run away or end up in trouble somehow. It’s a very difficult situation to get your head around.

“I wrote the song about three months ago. It is asking the question would you care? It’s asking yourself or asking somebody else. What this song is about is how do you feel when you see somebody that is the worse for wear on the streets who is perhaps homeless or begging. I have felt it before and I think you can feel uncomfortable about it before you actually understand it. You jump to conclusions. You think that if only the person would get off their backside and get themselves a job, they wouldn’t be in that state, but it only takes a couple of wrong decisions or just a bit of bad luck and that could be you.”

Chris is now wanting to use the song to raise money for the homeless: “If you buy it through the downloading platforms then the money will go to them or if you just listen to it on YouTube then I would encourage people to make a small donation through my JustGiving page.”

Facebook @chrisheight; Instagram @chrisheightmusic