Words and music by Richard Homer
I got off the train, / thinking you’d be / there
but just a bare platform met me in the / Reading night / air
the Great Western thundered, / went on its / way
the town skyline a mélange of / orange and / grey CCC/FFF/CFG C
I thought that maybe that / you would / appear
with a warm embrace, a hug, then / off for a / beer
in The Moderation, / together / again
but a gnawing disquiet now came / into my / brain
at that late lonely hour, there was / no going / back
I walked into the town centre, with my / heart-broken / pack
to look for a place to crash / out for the / night
the reality, like the rain, now / beginning to / bite
I went into some place, I have / forgotten the / name
for a cup of black coffee, that / wearily / came
from a half-awake waitress of / indifferent / care,
of languid attire and / mismanagement / hair
I rang, rang, rang, just an empty / buzz from your / phone
becoming clear I was part of your / no-parking / zone
the late autumn trees / empty and / bare
I walked out alone into the / Forbury night / air
GGG FFF CCC
wandering forlorn in the / night on my / own
I felt like a dog with no / owner, no / bone
FFF CCC GGG CCC
Why did you / want me to / come to you / here?
Why did you / want me to / grind in low / gear?
By the Reading Abbey gateway, / quiet Abbot’s / Walk
I wanted to hear the / Maiwand Lion / talk
he growled in the aura of the / street lights orange / glow
‘when the lioness won’t come, boy, it’s / time for you to / go’
CCC FFF GGG CCC
oh, / yeah, / time for you to / go
when the lioness won’t / come, it’s / time for you to / go
It was time now I knew to / get out of / here
in a Victorian bar, a / Three Guineas’ / beer
one lonely ticket into the / barrier / again
by a bare platform ten, the / Great Western / train
to erase the once lovely / memory of / you
I’m thinking right now of / what I can / do
I know I can’t come to meet / up with you / again
but your picture I will carry on the / Great Western / train
when it’s time to / go, take the / Great Western / train
You know there’s no going / anyway / back
when the train pulls out to the / full-throttle / track
the grinning lights go green as if / they seem to / know
when the lioness won’t come it’s / time for you to / go
through the Severn tunnel junction to the / raw Newport / air
where the flickering lights on the Usk / play without / care
now fading away in the / oncoming / rain
the woman whom I once knew on the / Great Western / train
