Song Book

[Verse 1 — Intimate, thoughtful]
I only went to clear my mind,
To think of what was said,
Some words are easy to forgive,

[Intro: solo Hammond organ, soft]
[Verse 1: sparse, Rhodes and voice only]
I held your hand
You held on too

[Verse 1]
I've gathered things
Throughout my years,
Filled up the rooms,

[Verse 1]
Kid with a marshmallow
Told to wait ten
Ate it in a minute

[Verse 1]
Kettle on at seven
Before the radio
Strong tea

Verse 1
He left the schoolroom at fourteen,
No grand goodbye, no in-between,
A butcher’s boy upon his bike,

[Verse 1]
Front row, twenty-two,
Posters on my wall,
Knew every word you wrote,

[Verse 1]
Sixteen years of age,
Sweeping up the site,
Not a trade to my name,

Verse 1
Grey road down to Waterford,
Mist upon the hill,
A green welly in the middle,

Verse 1
I was seven when we left here
On a grey October tide,
With my hand in Daddy's pocket

Verse 1
Nearly fifty years
How quickly they disappear
Three children grown

Verse 1
He was seven that first summer,
When I took him down the stream,
With a little rod beside him

Verse 1
We had forty years together,
Mostly laughter, mostly good,
Built a life around each other,

[Verse 1]
There's an old road waiting,
Under branches hanging low,
Where the great oaks meet above you,

Verse 1
There stood an old greenhouse
At the bottom of the lawn,
We'd talked about removing it,

My son gave me thirteen straws
And said, “Dad, you're irresponsible”
I looked at him
He looked at me

[Almost Silence]
Before…
Before the light…
[Low Distant Choir]

Verse 1
She stood where the streetlights
Shimmered below,
People with somewhere

Verse 1
Friday night down at the local bar,
Same old faces, same old jar,
Darts in the corner, cards being played,

[Verse 1]
We don't decide where the morning goes
Or tell the tide which way it flows
We raise the sail

[Verse 1]
The glass fell hard at half past four
The wind backed west
Then backed once more

[Intro — distant, almost inaudible]
What…
is…
nothing?

[Verse 1]
I came here with nothing,
I'll leave here the same,
Given a number,

Verse 1
His hands were never handsome,
Knuckles swollen, fingers scarred,
Black beneath the nails on Friday,

Verse 1
He was twenty-three that winter,
Working cargo on the quay,
Three days tied up in Bergen,

Verse 1
I keep looking at the mantel,
At the clock we bought one spring,
Funny how the hands keep moving

Verse 1
Nothing happened today,
The kettle boiled at eight,
The postman pushed two letters through,

Verse 1
For forty years the telephone rang,
Something leaking, something gone wrong,
“Can you come round?” — “Can you lend a hand?”

Verse 1
We never saw the moment come,
Never heard it at the door,
One minute life was ordinary,

[Verse 1]
There's an old road waiting,
Under branches hanging low,
Where the great oaks meet above you,

Verse 1
Woke up smiling,
Don't know why.
Sun is shining,

Verse 1
Seven twelve, too early,
Turn over, close my eyes.
Seven twenty-six, that's better,

Verse 1
You stood there by the station,
Your coat against the rain,
I can't recall the words now,

Verse 1
Beyond the harbour
Beyond the light
Out where the ocean

I woke up.
Again.
Same ceiling.
Same light

Verse 1
We left the streets of Swindon,
With the morning rolling west,
Two and a half hours of England,

Morning
Sunlight
Windows
Home

Verse 1
Bert left school on a Friday,
Started Monday morn.
Sixteen years…

Verse 1
Morning light came soft and gold
Through the window by the door,
You were somewhere far behind your eyes

[Verse 1]
I set four plates like I always do,
out of habit, not thinking it through —
Stopped.