The Bench by the Harbour – Song Description
“The wind says nothing. The sea says more.” I don’t think the bench in this song functions as a memorial, exactly, though it would be easy to read it that way at first. A memorial is something you visit to remember. This feels closer to a listening post — somewhere he goes not primarily to recall her, but to keep receiving something steady, the tide and the passing boats, that behaves the way she used to: constant, a little indifferent to how he happens to be feeling on any given day, entirely unbothered by his grief and continuing regardless. I think that’s part of what grief actually needs sometimes, more than sympathy. Something that keeps happening whether or not you’re ready for it, the way she once did, simply by being there every morning without waiting for permission. The sea doesn’t comfort him in any active sense in this song. It just keeps being the sea, on schedule, and there’s something in that dependability that seems to matter to him more than any word anyone else could offer.
THE BENCH BY THE HARBOUR
Verse 1
That old bench.
Still there.
Paint peeling.
Salt air.
Fishing boats.
Coming home.
One by one.
Alone.
Seagulls crying.
Evening sky.
Years passing.
So am I.
Where you sat.
Next to me.
Watching waves.
Out to sea.
Chorus
The bench by the harbour.
That’s where I go.
To sit with the memories.
Only I know.
The wind says nothing.
The sea says more.
And somehow I still find you.
By the harbour shore.
Verse 2
Summer evenings.
Golden light.
Holding hands.
Sitting tight.
No great riches.
No grand plans.
Just your smile.
In my hands.
Children laughing.
Further down.
Life was simple.
In our town.
Now the tide.
Comes and goes.
Just like time.
I suppose.
Chorus
The bench by the harbour.
That’s where I go.
To sit with the memories.
Only I know.
The wind says nothing.
The sea says more.
And somehow I still find you.
By the harbour shore.
Verse 3
Old boats rocking.
Wood and rope.
Weathered faces.
Faith and hope.
Harbour lights.
Starting glow.
Where the years.
Seem to slow.
Names remembered.
Voices clear.
Though you’ve been gone.
Many a year.
Yet every wave.
That reaches shore.
Brings you back.
Once more.
Bridge
Some folk leave.
Without goodbye.
Like the sunset.
In the sky.
Gone from sight.
Not from heart.
Love remains.
Though we’re apart.
Verse 4
Autumn mornings.
Colder breeze.
Falling leaves.
From the trees.
Coffee flask.
By my side.
Watching gulls.
On the tide.
People pass.
Here and there.
Some still nod.
Some still stare.
Knowing why.
I come here.
Year by year.
Final Chorus
The bench by the harbour.
That’s where I go.
To sit with the memories.
Only I know.
The wind says nothing.
The sea says more.
And somehow I still find you.
By the harbour shore.
Outro
That old bench.
Still there.
Paint peeling.
Salt air.
One old man.
One old shore.
One lost love.
Forevermore.
Lyrics Michael Forty
Voice Michael Forty