A gentle 'semi-acoustic' track
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Story behind the song
I often drive past an area where there are a lot of home units. Most afternoons, out the front of one of these blocks of home units, an old man sits on a plastic chair in a concrete courtyard, just watching the cars pass by. I've always wondered his story, so decided to write it for him.
Lyrics
COME ON BY
It was autumn '53 when I first saw her, I'd swapped Korean khaki for civilian threads
She was somehow captivating, beguiling, fascinating
Yet perhaps not one who'd readily turn heads
I always took the same train every evening, trying to find the words to break the ice
Though I'd practice every night time, still couldn't find the right lines
But I'm sure I felt my lips move once or twice
And I always kept myself some steps behind her
As I followed her to her house every day
And I never once suspected, that my quest had been detected
Till that night she turned to me to say
Come on by, come on by, Come and sit down, have a chat, rest for a while
Come on by, come on by, Come and keep me company, make me smile
We loved and married but we had no children, something there just never worked out right
And though we struggled through that setback, some nights were dark as coal black
And we hugged each other till the morning's light
In ’93 I thought my world had ended, as they carried her into the nursing home
For five years I brought fresh flowers, combed her hair, stayed after-hours
Then left to face the darkness on my own
But each night as the time came for me leaving
Before I made that slow trek to the door
I caught a little crinkled smile, just a twinkle in her eye,
That echoed words she'd said those years before
(Repeat Chorus)
Now the folks from "meals-on wheels" have now departed, on the sink an empty dish sits all alone
I pick up my plastic chair, stumble slowly down the stairs
To the only place that I can feel at home
And the concrete units tower all around me
As I watch the passing metal cavalcade
Through the dusty petrol haze, I catch a fleeting passing wave
And I mouth the words I long to say
Repeat Chorus x2
As my ratings for it show, I love everything about this song Brian. You're such a good writer, and production/vocals are top notch as usual. Carol.