My Inspiration: Josef Waller – Take My Hand

Josef Waller is a Newcastle‑based singer‑songwriter crafting honest, heartfelt songs shaped by the people, places and moments that define his life, blending thoughtful storytelling with memorable melodies as well as building a reputation for authentic writing and engaging performances.

His latest single Take My Hand is a spacious, Americana‑tinged offering, its layered textures setting the scene for an impassioned, raspy vocal that carries a haunting chamber‑folk ambience.

Here, Josef shares the inspiration behind the song…

The main inspiration for this track is about as close to the heart as it gets for me. I’ll give you a bit of back story before I go a bit deeper into it though. My Dad got diagnosed with Alzheimer’s when I was 16 but had been showing symptoms of it for a couple years before so a lot of the song is written with those experiences in mind.

I had the introduction for it written for a while with no lyrics and no conclusion for a while and was just something I would pick out when warming up or bored before practicing a song. One day I was just doing it as my warm up and my Dad was in respite at the time and I was finding it quite hard to leave him. I was sitting with him in the care home and my mam rang my sister who was with me and him because she couldn’t make it up to visit him that day. The look in his face and watching his eyes light up in a way I couldn’t remember seeing since I was a child hit me quite hard and its that moment that really inspired the lyrics and whole song.

The songs really about those full circle moments where I’m now looking after the person who looked after me when I was growing up and kept me safe, living on that flip side of the coin. When you read or listen to the lyrics there’s a lot of references to memories and wishing that those memories weren’t just that. There’s a lot of personal refection in the song, and a lot of first hand experiences referenced in it. However sad the lyrics can be in a way I wanted to keep the song on a whole up beat. Because as painful as it is remembering those good times in the past or looking at someone and seeing glimpses of who they used to be when they have an illness such as my dad its also a beautiful moment you have to look positively on because those moments you have with people are always limited.

I hope people when they listen to the song can find a positive relationship with it. Whether they relate to the lyrics or they like the feel of it I don’t really mind, for me as long as people have a positive experience from what I’m putting out in the world Im happy. I also hope that if anyone is having similar experiences as my own it can give them the solace of knowing that they are never alone in that experience and help is always around. From my personal experience with this topic it can feel like your up against the world, fighting a battle that your never going to win, music’s helped me massively to get through that so hopefully I can give my part back with this song in a way no matter how big or small.