Sarah's World

Album: Song for Sarah (2002)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Running to 4 minutes 50 seconds, this song was commissioned from East Grinstead songwriter Mark Scott by Sara Payne and her husband, Michael.

    On July 1, 2000, their 8-year-old daughter Sarah disappeared from a cornfield near the home of her paternal grandparents. The young girl literally vanished off the face of the Earth in what was initially a missing person inquiry. In a relatively small country like Britain, incidents such as this often lead to massive media coverage. That coverage increased exponentially when a body was found some twelve miles away on July 17. The following day, the police confirmed this body was indeed the missing eight year old, and the missing person investigation had become a murder case.

    The day after Sarah's disappearance, Sussex Police questioned Roy Whiting in a routine inquiry. In 1995, Whiting had been sentenced to four years' imprisonment for abducting and sexually assaulting a young girl, but he was not initially a prime suspect in what was then still only a missing person investigation, albeit of a young girl. However, after Sarah's body was found, the police built a compelling case against Whiting, and in December the following year he was convicted of abducting and murdering the eight year old on fairly strong evidence. Although Whiting had maintained his innocence throughout, he did not appeal, and in June 2004 he admitted the murder when he testified against a fellow inmate who had slashed his face in Wakefield Prison to make a name for himself.
  • The murder of Sarah Payne by a convicted pedophile led to a campaign to introduce Sarah's Law, based on Megan's Law imported from the United States, and which requires disclosure of the antecedents of convicted pedophiles to certain parties under certain circumstances. The driving force behind the campaign was Sara Payne, whose good intentions are not to be doubted, but as often happens, the solution to a problem creates further problems. In January 2011, three members of one family were jailed at Liverpool Crown Court after extorting money from a man who had been convicted of indecently assaulting young boys in 1983, but had put his past behind him. After he ran out of money, the gang tried to frame him for child sexual abuse, and it was this that led to their campaign of hate and blackmail being uncovered.
  • Of the song itself, in an interview with Sky News, the composer, a family friend of the Paynes who co-wrote the Cher hit "Believe", said it was "a fantastic chance to really get involved in something so real... I had to dig deep in every... area of my mind." He added it took him nearly three months to write, but nothing was more important than the futures of our children. >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    Alexander Baron - London, England, for above 3

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Dean Friedman - "Ariel"

Dean Friedman - "Ariel"They're Playing My Song

Dean's saga began with "Ariel," a song about falling in love with a Jewish girl from New Jersey.

Jon Foreman of Switchfoot

Jon Foreman of SwitchfootSongwriter Interviews

Switchfoot's frontman and main songwriter on what inspires the songs and how he got the freedom to say exactly what he means.

Frankie Valli

Frankie ValliSong Writing

An interview with Frankie Valli, who talks about why his songs - both solo and with The Four Seasons - have endured, and reflects on his time as Rusty Millio on The Sopranos.

Vanessa Carlton

Vanessa CarltonSongwriter Interviews

The "A Thousand Miles" singer on what she thinks of her song being used in White Chicks and how she captured a song from a dream.

Dexys (Kevin Rowland and Jim Paterson)

Dexys (Kevin Rowland and Jim Paterson)Songwriter Interviews

"Come On Eileen" was a colossal '80s hit, but the band - far more appreciated in their native UK than stateside - released just three albums before their split. Now, Dexys is back.

Second Wind Songs

Second Wind SongsSong Writing

Some songs get a second life when they find a new audience through a movie, commercial, TV show, or even the Internet.