Verse 1
We had forty years together,
Mostly laughter, mostly good,
Built a life around each other,
Like we always thought we would.
She would smile and let me have it,
When I swore I knew what’s best,
And I never stopped to wonder
What she swallowed with the rest.
Verse 2
She liked roses by the window,
I said leaves would block the drain,
She once fancied yellow curtains,
I said cream would hide the stains.
She would mention somewhere seaside,
I’d find something else to do,
And every time she chose a colour,
I suppose I chose it too.
Chorus
So I painted the gate blue,
Like she asked me years ago,
Funny what you finally listen to
When there’s no one left to know.
It was only paint between us,
Just a colour, nothing new,
But I cried there like a child
When I painted the gate blue.
Verse 3
We were happy, I believe that,
And I know she loved me well,
There were Sunday cups of coffee,
There were stories we could tell.
But love can hide a blindness
In the ordinary days,
You can hold somebody closely
And still always get your way.
Verse 4
Last spring she stood beside me,
Said, “That gate could do with paint.”
Then she laughed, “Perhaps some blue this time,”
Like an old familiar complaint.
I said, “Brown has always suited.”
She said, “Yes, I suppose that’s true.”
God, I wish I’d fetched the paint then.
God, I wish I’d chosen blue.
Chorus
So I painted the gate blue,
Like she asked me years ago,
Funny what you finally listen to
When there’s no one left to know.
It was only paint between us,
Just a colour, nothing new,
But I cried there like a child
When I painted the gate blue.
Bridge
Now the roses fill the window,
And her yellow curtains hang,
There’s a photograph from Brighton
Where we went when we were young.
I’ve changed everything she wanted,
Every little thing I knew—
There’s nobody here to see it,
And the gate I painted blue.
Final Verse
I don’t ask her for forgiveness,
She’d have laughed at that somehow,
She’d say, “You daft old beggar,
Why are you listening now?”
But sometimes love is learning
What you should have always known—
She made room for me for forty years,
And I thought we’d made a home.
Final Chorus
So I painted the gate blue,
And I left her roses there,
Put the yellow at the window,
Though she’ll never see them there.
And if that old gate needs painting
When another year comes through,
I won’t have to choose the colour.
I’ll just paint it blue.
Lyrics Michael Forty
Voice Michael Forty