Sapphire is a 1959 British crime drama. It focused on racism in London toward immigrants from the West Indies. The film was directed by Basil Dearden, and stars Nigel Patrick, Earl Cameron and Yvonne Mitchell. It received the BAFTA Award for Best Film and screenwriter Janet Green won a 1960 Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Foreign Film Screenplay. It was a progressive movie for its time.
Earl Cameron who played the part of Dr Robbins her brother would appear two years later in another English film dealing with racial issues, the 1961 film Flame in the Streets.
Dearden and Green later also collaborated on another 'social problem' film, Victim, although this one was focused on blackmail of gay men before the passage of the Sexual Offences Act 1967 provided limited decriminalisation of male homosexuality.
The film is about a pregnant girl found stabbed on Hampstead Heath. Although she appears to be white, her brother (Earl Cameron) arrives at the police station to give evidence and he is black. It then becomes evident to the police officers that this girl has been passing for white. This film reveals the underlying insecurities and fears of ordinary people that exist towards another race.
I watch the day go down
Sapphire
I watch my luck turn round
A high flyer
I threw my bones around
Sure fire
I watch the current run
Live wire
Clear blue
Too true
Clear blue
Too true.
I don't know what to do
I got no place to go
Oh the day I lost my sweet Sapphire
My precious gems are dust
There's nothing left to trust
Oh the days I'll miss sweet Sapphire.
I saw her running round
Sweet liar.
And I ran the garden path
Sweet briar
I did just what I could
So tired
I threw my keys away
With no desire
Clear blue
Too true.
I don't know what to do
I got no place to go
Oh the days I miss sweet Sapphire
My precious gems are dust
There's nothing left to trust
Oh the days I'll miss sweet Sapphire.
I got no place to go
I don't know what to do
Ooh, the dream about Sapphire
I don't know what to do
I got nowhere to go
I got no face to show without Sapphire.
My precious gems are dust
There's nothing left to trust
oh since the day I lost my sweet Sapphire
There's nothing I can trust
My precious gems are dust
Oh, the day I lost sweet Sapphire.
I don't know what to do
I don't know where to go
Between the black and the gray there is only the rage
Of the waterfall dream
And the shadows that play in the roaring cascade
Will not stay in the stream
Though a feather or two has been plucked from your wings
Flying is always the same
We'll fly off together, I'll love you forever
For now forever's to blame
In the cavern of night where the river of thirst
Runs its terrible course
Burns a crystal black flame in the cold silver eyes
Of a sapphire blue horse
Though a feather or two has been plucked from your wings
Flying is always the same
We'll fly off together, I'll love you forever
For now forever's to blame
In the cavern of night where the river of thirst
Runs its terrible course
Burns a crystal black flame in the cold silver eyes
Of a sapphire blue horse
Though a feather or two has been plucked from your wings
Flying is always the same
We'll fly off together, I'll love you forever
For now forever's to blame
Though a feather or two has been plucked from your wings
Flying is always the same
We'll fly off together, I'll love you forever
For now forever's to blame
The road I've walked for my whole life
Has brought me to this crossroads
And I'm standing here beside you.
I know you've never been someone
To take things on a leap of faith
Please trust me once and never cry again.
Hold my hand
We can this slowly
And see where it might lead
Going into
Going into
Going into
Going into you
And everything seemed to make sense
The first time that things seemed to fall in place
Just for a little while
And now my hopes and dreams
Are falling down.
Claw out my eyes, I'd rather be blind
Than to see you turn around and walk away from me
Tear off my ears, I'd rather be deaf
Than hear you say goodbye.
The lucky ones will never
Share what we've shared
For I'm damned to know exactly
just what might have been
Can't somebody stop this?
I feel like I'm drowning
And everywhere I turn
The water's deeper.
It would tear out my heart
To be nothing more to you
Than a smile that occasionally
Crosses your face
Twentyfive years from now
What will we have?
A pile of ash
Of what could have been
Treasures can slip through your fingertips
And sapphires melt in your hand
As I gaze in your jaded eyes
I pray that this world isn't ending
Walking down this road
I thought I felt you hold my hand
But looking I can see my palm is empty.
How can you turn from me?
All that I wanted
Was to catch the stars and lay them at your feet.
It would tear out my heart
To be nothing more to you
Than a smile that occasionally crosses your face
Treasures can slip through your fingertips
And sapphires melt in your hands
You turn to me with your jaded eyes
And I'm scared that I know how this ends.
And everything fell into place
But now it is falling apart
I'm trying to hold on
But I can see you fading.
Be quick
Or you missed it
Sometimes when our backs are turned
A choice is made
Once in a lifetime
If you didn't see it coming
Then you're much too late
This self-constructed prison
Is comfortable and warm
But I can't escape the feeling
That there must be something more.
Everything we've been through
Has made us who we are
Has brought us here
And now the choice is ours to make
I'm begging you
I'm pleading on my knees
I can't believe that this was just a big mistake.
From jewl gem-stoned memories
To jaded guarded energies
To just gentle victory
I know we couldn't last
Tell me what I've got to do
Tell me what I've got to do
To get inside your heart.
Where do we go
When there are no more conspiracies?
When there's only you and only me
Seeing each other for the very first time.
I pledge myself
If you stumble I will carry you
And wipe away your tears
If you were mine.
And I'm holding out for a miracle
But I'm scared to let go of the blood in my hand
And afraid that I've run out of time for a second chance.
I wanna drown myself in your eyes
I wanna drown myself
I wanna believe
But I'm scared that your lying.
Please tell me there's hope
For the ghost of a second chance
For the ghost of a second chance.
Chances are meant
Meant to be taken
But my life's so fragile
And it's breaking into pieces.
Somebody help me
I feel like I'm dying
And I reaching for your hand
But it's not there.
And I pray that we know what we're missing
And we'll never imagine what might have been
But twenty five years from now
I'll still hold on
To a fading dream of me and you
Of me and you.
Treasures have slipped through my fingertips
And the sapphires melted from my hand
I'll never forget the look in your eyes
When you lied and said this wasn't ending
Treasures have slipped through my fingertips
And the sapphires melted from my hand
I say goodbye to your jaded eyes
Tender breeze, a hint of silence
Raven down the night and sky
Tinted clouds, a sheen of velvet
Echoes separate truth from lies
Chrome and iron shape the colour
Purest blue and You and I
A pale reflection on the water
Utter sadness in your eyes
Our love is a storm
We’re lighter than air
We travel like clouds
Our tears are your rain
Tender breeze, a quiet warning
Lock the doors, pray for your life
Feeding the machine
From this inner cage I made my body
My son is staring at a sun that’s still to come
But go figure it all, was it worth searching far beyond?
Scratching the surface
From this inner grave I built my country
My love, I finally found the one I belong to
But go figure it all, was it worth waiting for so long?
To become the stone...?
Follow me here, I’m on my way back (home)
Crimson, we’ve become the stone and time may come
See the man I’ve become
And follow the child inside until he’s grown up
Before he goes away
Memories and expectations
All is moving in so similar ways
Small rooms or huge surroundings
There’s no use when you are the missing
I think I’m getting used to – the fear of getting used to you
I think we’re getting used to – the fear of living for two
Follow me here I’m on my way back home or then bury me here or take my hand back stronger…
I miss you more than words can say
What I would do just for one more day
To be lost in your eyes
And at the mercy of your touch
Ever since I've been without you
My world has turned a dark and stormy hue
And I don't know if I wanna stay here anymore
Sapphire
I have nothing to live for
Sapphire
I have nothing to breathe for
Everywhere I look I see
Constant reminders of you and me
But if I close my eyes
I see you staring back at me
If the way I feel is wrong
Then I will sing the sinner's song
I would sell my soul
everything seems much clearer now
i've reach the seventh sense inside my mind
i'm flying through space
flying through time
flying away from the sapphire
in the lunar sky
slowly i begin to feel nothing
as i approach a distant new world
welcome aboard flight 666
it's time for you to return (kicking, screaming)
a peculiar fear takes hold of you
suddenly things have changed
i'm spinning through space
i'm spinning through time
my head explosions are wasting my mind
slowly i begin to feel nothing
the sapphire has eclipsed the sun
step inside this painting
to see the past
to look behind to see what's catching you
one hundred years from now
only i will live
then he turned into the lizard king
i'm spinning through space
flying through time
my head explosions are wasting my mind
the night sky is falling on me
the sapphire has eclipsed the sun