As you can see from the song headline, this song fuses influences from 2 famous songs that follow a similar chord progression.
At the time of writing, my covers band had been learning Roy Orbison's 'You Got It'. As I waited for the band to arrive for rehearsal, with all the gear set up, I started to play the opening chords and sing the verse over them. The rest flowed pretty easily once I got the idea. I couldn't resist adding in the timpani (from You Got It) and the flutes in the chorus (ala California Dreamin).
Certain phrases in the lyric put me in mind of the 60s too. 'Eyes of Sapphire', 'This candle in my heart'...
Lyrics
This candle in my heart
Is burning strong
Eyes of sapphire lit the flame
Long ago
And if you should leave
Melt away my dreams
Fire don't die easy you know
Cos I'd give you it all
My heart and my soul
This burning inside
Is almost out of control
But if you're not ready
Then don't let me fall
I don't wanna hold you
If you're gonna let go
This feeling that I feel
I can't explain
Sometimes dreams that you speak of
Slip away
But if I should lose
This dream so special
At least there'll always be the flame
Stronger and stronger
Higher and higher
There's nothing that could quench this fire
Cos fire don't die easy no
I wanna melt your heart
So when I hold you
Don't let go
Copyright November 1990 Lyrics by Ginny Rowson