Betty Thatcher (16 February 1944 – 15 August 2011) was an English lyricist who wrote many of the lyrics for the progressive rock band Renaissance.
After many personnel changes, the Renaissance lineup finally stabilised from 1972 to 1980, featuring Annie Haslam (vocals), John Tout (keyboards), Michael Dunford (guitar), Jon Camp (bass guitar/vocals) and Terence Sullivan (drums).
Dunford sent tapes of his compositions to her when it was inconvenient to play through his ideas in person and said that "she writes amazingly quickly... three days later I get these stunning lyrics back in the post!
"[4] During this period, Thatcher wrote most of the band's lyrics for the studio albums Prologue (1972), Ashes Are Burning (1973), Turn of the Cards (1974), Scheherazade and Other Stories (1975), Novella (1977), A Song for All Seasons (1978) and Azure d'Or (1979).
"[5] In 1973, McCarty formed the group Shoot, whose only album, On the Frontier, featured the McCarty/Thatcher-composed title track that Renaissance recorded for Ashes Are Burning (1973).
[8] In 1994, Thatcher wrote the lyrics for the album The Other Woman by Michael Dunford's Renaissance, which featured singer Stephanie Adlington.
They're not drawn from the normal sort of thing that people write about in a rock band", and Jon Camp opined, "What she's written has always been correct for the group.
"[12] "Carpet of the Sun" conveys Thatcher's "joy of being alive, and seeing the grass grow", and "Ashes Are Burning" relates "a near death experience."
Thatcher said she "always regretted writing 'Sounds of the Sea' because I felt that it was such a personal thing...every time I heard it for the first five years I cringed and thought, oh my God, everyone can see into my brain.