Verse 1
Every night at half past seven
Rose would put the kettle on
Arthur heard the cupboard closing
Then the wireless would come on
Thirty years they’d lived as neighbours
Never really talked at all
But he knew the sound of living
On the other side of the wall
Verse 2
Sometimes Rose would hum on Sundays
Sometimes laugh at something said
Sometimes Arthur heard her footsteps
Slowly climbing up to bed
Just a nod across the garden
Just a wave beside the gate
Two lives passing close together
Never knowing they could wait
Chorus
On the other side of the wall
Someone’s living out their days
Little sounds you hardly notice
Little ordinary ways
You can live a life beside them
And believe you don’t know them at all
Till the silence makes you listen
On the other side of the wall
Verse 3
Then one evening half past seven
Came and quietly went by
No familiar cupboard closing
No old tune to wonder why
Arthur sat and watched the minutes
Eight o’clock became half nine
Told himself she’d gone out somewhere
Told himself that she was fine
Verse 4
Still he stood there in the hallway
Listening harder than before
Then he crossed the little pathway
And he knocked upon her door
Once again he knocked more loudly
Called her name into the hall
Funny how you hear the silence
On the other side of the wall
Verse 5
Rose came home some weeks thereafter
Arthur saw her taxi slow
She looked tired but she was smiling
More than he had ever known
She just said, “You came to find me.”
Arthur didn’t know what to say
So he took her bag and carried it
And helped her on her way
Bridge
Thirty years of little greetings
Thirty years of “Morning, Rose”
Sometimes those we barely notice
Are the ones we somehow know
Final Verse
Now at seven every evening
Arthur puts the kettle on
There’s a gentle knock soon after
And the wireless carries on
Two old chairs beside the table
Two cups waiting there instead
And the wall that stood between them
Doesn’t matter now, Rose said
Final Chorus
On the other side of the wall
Someone’s living out their days
Little sounds you hardly notice
Little ordinary ways
Arthur never knew he cared so much
Never thought he cared at all
Till the night he heard the silence
On the other side of the wall
Outro
Thirty years he knew her sounds
Without knowing her at all…
Never knew he cared so much
Till he heard nothing at all.
Lyrics Michael Forty
Voice Michael Forty