[Verse 1]
We slipped from Calais before first light
The Channel grey
The gulls in flight
A cold wind followed from the quay
And France fell slowly into sea
I stood alone beside the rail
My collar high against the gale
Twenty-odd miles
That’s all, they said
But fifty years
Ran through my head
[Verse 2]
I’d crossed this water long ago
A younger man
With far to go
One battered case
A sailor’s grin
And no idea what waited in
I thought the world was mine to take
No heart too strong
No heart to break
England disappeared behind the foam
And I never thought
I’d miss a place called home
[Chorus]
A passage to Folkestone
Across the grey
Not very far
On an ordinary day
But measure the distance
By the years I have known
It’s a lifetime from leaving
To sailing back home
[Verse 3]
I worked in ports with foreign names
Lost some friends
Forgot some names
Loved one woman
Lost her too
Watched my dark hair disappear from view
I’ve slept where summer never ends
I’ve drunk with strangers
Buried friends
And every harbour had a light
But none looked quite like England
Through the night
[Verse 4]
Then through the mist
The white cliffs grew
Half remembered
Half brand new
A church appeared above the stone
And something in me whispered, “Home”
I laughed at first
Then wiped my eye
And blamed the wind as sailors lie
For an old man knows
What young men don’t:
You can leave your home.
Your home won’t.
[Chorus]
A passage to Folkestone
Across the grey
Not very far
On an ordinary day
But measure the distance
By the loves I have known
It’s a lifetime from leaving
To sailing back home
[Verse 5]
The engines slowed
The ropes went down
Morning gathered round the town
I saw the harbour
Saw the hill
So much had changed
So much stood still
Then somewhere underneath my skin
I felt that younger man again
The boy who’d left
Still twenty-one
Had waited here
For me to come
[Outro]
I stepped ashore
No band
No crowd
No need to say
The words aloud
Just one old sailor
One small case…
And fifty years
Crossing twenty miles of grey.
Lyrics Michael Forty
Voice Michael Forty