Long, long ago, and far, far away

Words and music by Richard Homer

4/4, 125 bpm

CGFC

I’m / watching the / bird in the / tree 

CGFC

maybe / he’s / trying to talk to / me 

FCGC

maybe, like / me, he’s / cold to the / bone 

FCGC

maybe, like / me too, / he’s on his / own 

GCFCG, G C

that’s / why he / comes / to / me to / play 

C F G C 

I’m / watching the / bird in the / tree,

F G C high G C high

in the front of my / house; I’m / going / far // away,

G F G C high

I think of the Cwmbran / train, the / wasp stinging / me

FGFGC high

the bird nest, / corrugated / iron that / cut my / knee

FCGC

long, long ago, and far, far away GCFCG, G C

Now at nearly / ten, the / evening kicks in / tight,

in the front of my / house; I’m / going / far // away,

G F G C high

I think of the Johor / train, the whirring / insects in the / night,

FGFGC high

the aroma of the / frangipani, the / kampung / nyamuk / bite

FCGC

long, long ago, and far, far away GCFCG, G C

I’m / watching the / bird, / flying out / there,

in the front of my / house; I’m / going / far // away,

G F G C high

I think of the / pineapple / Meru coffee / air,

FGFGC high

the car on a / dirt track, the / oil lamp / night-time / care

FCGC

long, long ago, and far, far away GCFCG, G C

I wash the / plates by the / sink, alone / here, 

in my house, in the / cold air; I’m / going / far / away

G F G C high

I think of rugby / weather, the / winger in top / gear 

FGFGC high

the warmth of the / Wye pub, a / glass of / kicking / beer 

FCGC

long, long ago, and far, far away FCGC

GCFCG, G C

CGC

The young man in the ageing photograph / oh, that is / me, 

FCGC

ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh

CGC

I think of Mart, Pete, Willy in a / Whitby // memory

FCGC

ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh

CGC

with Patricia, Derek, in a / long-gone // geography 

FCGC

ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh

FCGC

long, long ago, and far, far away FCGC

CFGC

I try to / think of you , to / think of you // tonight

FGCGC

in the now empty / house, but / you went / far / away 

GFGC high

on a Gwent Christmas / when /  I  held you  / tight;

FGFGC high

but you flew / away like the / soaring / Powys / kite

FCGC

long, long ago, and far, far away FCGC

C high G C high

the problem is the pictures of you / won’t go / away 

FCGC

ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh

C high G C high 

of a warm summer evening in a / half-forgotten / May

C high G C high 

of bouncing baby yachts on a / glinting Swansea / bay 

FCGC

ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh

FCGC

long, long ago, and far, far away FCGC

FCGC

long, long ago, and far, far away FCGC

CGFC

I’m / watching the / bird in the / tree 

CGFC

maybe / he’s / trying to talk to / me 

FCGC

maybe, like / me, he’s / cold to the / bone 

FCGC

maybe, like / me too, / he’s on his / own 

GCFCG, G C

that’s / why he / comes / to / me to / play 

FCGC

unaware that / he is / bringing back to / me 

FCGC

a quiet, / meandering, / autumn // geography

FCGC

of the time long / ago when / you were here with / me

GCFCGGC

that’s / why I’m / watching the / bird in the / tree FCGC

Whispering to the morning air

Words and music by Richard Homer

4/4, 93 bpm 

Am C

morning opera / in the air

G C / F G C / F G C 

tenor bird on / unseen bough

Am C

racing kampung / chickens cry

G C / F G C / F G C 

the insect chorus / quiet now 

wet night hours / changing hue

aqua air, / moaning breeze

flickering through the / azure air

orange palette / with cerise

clouds of pink and / off-white grey

rhythm of the / wet leaf tune

broken // pizzicato rain

the sunrise of the / morning moon 

CFC

the sunrise of the / morning / moon 

FGC 

the breakers come to / gaze to / where

CFC

the surfing branches / enjoy the / breeze

F G C / F G C 

whispering / to the / morning air

off-shore sun / begins to peer

gentle hint of / morning heat

Earth enjoying / new reprise 

night-time umbrage / in retreat

handphone, house key, I’m / on the / way 

squirrel on the / wire up / high

grunting, hunting / wild / boar

hidden / tree-bird / whooping cry

ending

CFC

the sunrise of the / morning / moon 

F G C / F G C 

whispering / to the / morning air

New flower in May

Words and music by Richard Homer 

4/4 110 bpm Intro B flat m A flat C# A flat

B flat m, A flat

the breeze half-whispering to a / memory track

C # A flat

bringing a picture of you and your / perfume back 

B flat m, A flat

to me, these years on in the / warm house here

C # A flat

the rain on the Brecon Beacons / to the rear

C#, ==== C#, A flat

ooh, / ooh, / ooh, / ooh ==== notes A flat, E flat, F #, A flat bass

where we listened to the breeze blowing a / beech tree tune

to accompany the colour of the / winter high noon

the rhythm of the water of the / Wye through the night

high up, the eagle, the / hawk, the kite

meeting you for the first time in the / Crickhowell ‘Bear’

the high birds rocking in the / bleak autumn air

the Pengenffordd winter mountain of / barren tree

in Talgarth in May with your / arms around me

Extra B flat E flat m

then you left for work / in the big city

B C#

new clothes, new hair, so / elegant, so pretty

B flat E flat m

but as the time apart / went along

B C# A flat

It seemed something // between us went / wrong

but I'm unable to let / go of you

your memory keeps on coming / back anew

I know in my heart that / you are gone

but why your picture keeps / coming / on and / on

Ch

C# A flat

I have a kind, gentle woman / with me here

C# A flat

but I wish in my heart that / you were near

==== C# A flat

coz the memory of you / won’t go // away

==== C# A flat C #

it keeps coming back like a / new flower in // May

A flat C#

a new flower in / May, a / new flower in / May

but I thank you in my heart / for the time

when I was yours, / you were mine

we had each other in / loving care

that went away / but who knows to / where

I couldn’t know back then what the / years would bring

but I like to think now you wear a / wedding ring

because I don’t want you to / be alone

you’re too beautiful to / be on your / own

Ending Ch 

B flat m, A flat, C #

ooh, / ooh, / ooh

One week ago (Mardy night)

Words and music by Richard Homer 

4/4, 145 bpm

EABE

high up / birds on the / Mardy / wire

AEBE

enjoying the / humming of the / telegraph / breeze

EABE

a truck or a  / motorbike / fly past, the / tyre

AEBE

whining on the / tarmac, / rocking with / ease EBAE / BE

the new night / now / coming to me / here

back home by / gardens, / parked car or / two

hang up the / jacket, take / out a cold / beer

one way / I can / get the night / through

A E

thinking of the time when / you were with me 

B E

thinking of the time when / you were with me

bringing / colour to the / greying / air

four // pm, the / street lights come / on

winter / trees are / raw and / bare 

I wonder / where another / lost day has / gone

tonight lamb and / apricot were / enough for / me

in a mental / pipeline of / broken / rock

here, in / disconsolate //  harmony

I gaze at the / gas fire, the / wall, the / clock

A E

thinking of the time when / you were with me 

B E

thinking of the time when / you were with me

AE

a pen with a raging / energy

AE

I write for whom, / no-one can know

AE

I write on the paper in / front of me

AEBE

 ‘a frost in // December, just / one week // ago’

AEBE

 ‘a frost in // December, just / one week // ago’

AE BE / AE BE 

one week // ago, / one week // ago

one week // ago, / one week // ago EBAE / BE

AEBE / AEBE / EEEE / BBBB

A E

in the empty room, I / hear the wind moan

B E

the flickering rain of the / winter weather

A E

thinking of when we / were together

B E

thinking of / you girl, / thinking alone

A E B E

when we / held each / other / tight 

A E B E / B A E B E /  A E B E

memory / of a / Mardy / night, a / Mardy / night

Uncaring goodbye

Words and music by Richard Homer

3/4, 93 bpm

E F G F E / B E

I think yet / again of your / peach / bouquet / hair 

E F G F E / B E

caressing your bare / body with // affectionate / care

Am G7 Am E

the warm shower / water / running off your / thigh

Am G7 G E Am

going in the / way of / your / uncaring // goodbye        

E Am G C / E Am E Am

why / woman, / why you / went away from / me?

the clock / ticks on in a / half- / cloud-/ bright

not-much-/ breeze / late / August / night 

each hour a / half-awake train / echoing / cry 

going in the / way of / your / uncaring // goodbye      

E Am G C

why / woman, / why you / went away from / me?

Am E / Am E 3/4

a half-forgotten / overture of / unknown / time

a half-forgotten / poem of / unknown / rhyme

Am Em / B A E

going on / and / on; / going on / and / on;  

G E Am / E Am E Am

I wake up, / you were / gone …

the embrace of a / rhythm of / how, / when, / where

in a quiet / memory of / now / broken / care

a whispering / elegance of a / bird up / high

going in the / way of / your / uncaring // goodbye    

E Am G C

why / woman, / why you / went away from / me?

E Am G C

oh / woman, / come back to / me

E Am G C

oh / woman, / come  back to / me

E B / B A / E high                                        

come back to / me, / back to / me, / back to / me

No kiss, no hug, no farewell beer

Words and music by Richard Homer

4/4, 3/4 103 bpm 

Intro CGFC 

C G 

the empty lounge, the / lights were on

F C

the open front door, / you were gone … 

C G

I imagine, now, you / being with me

F G C GC sfz

in the / way we / used to be

I thought you were the right / woman for me

come back to / me

you went away without a / word in my ear

no kiss, no / hug, no / farewell beer

I wait alone in the / afternoon air

the sofa, the bedroom, it’s / chilly in there

I cannot bear to / be alone

with teabag, / chips, / chicken bone

apartment now / empty, bare

half-used plate, / heart-broken chair

patterns on the tile / flooring rhyme

with colours / of our / autumn time

next to me / throughout the night

in quiet way / warm and tight

gentle fingers / touching me

kissing in / night-time / harmony

FG high C

on the floor, you’re the / reigning queen 

of the silky pink lipstick / dance routine

your willow body in the / disco air

champagne, / tank-top, / long brown hair

FG high C

by Ysgyryd Fach, we / take a walk

hear the breeze, the / flowers talk

the roar of the track, the / whistle cry

watching the / Hereford / train come by

the loneliness of the / night time here 

thoughts of you now / reappear

I think again why we / went awry

another / empty / night goes by

FG high C

Ending

no kiss, no / hug, no / farewell beer

kissing in / night-time / harmony

why won’t / you come / back to me?

another / empty / night goes by 

GC/FG/high C

gaze at unmoving air

Words and music by Richard Homer

4/4, 103 / 110 bpm

E G E G, E, G, E, 1 beat each

I gaze at the ten am / unmoving / air,

E G E G, E, G, E

the piano, a rough and raw / riff or / two,

G GI7 G GI7, G, GI7, GI7

trying to get yet another / morning / through

G GI7 G GI7, G, GI7, G

to a place where warm colours / once / grew,

E Am F E, Am

me / here, / in the / empty / air

I gaze at the one pm / unmoving / air,

pour out a mug of / Jasmine / tea,

the overbearing boredom is / getting to / me,

the wet coat of high gloss // monotony,

me / here, / in the / empty / air.

I gaze at the four pm / unmoving / air,

then try to get my thinking / into / gear,

with no one else to / talk to / here,

looking with pleasure to my / evening / beer,

me / here, / in the / empty / air.

I gaze at the sunset / unmoving / air,

the garden going an / orange / hue,

the bird choir stop, / as if on / cue,

the tree, hedge, grass go / quiet, / too.

me / here, / in the / empty / air.

Am GI7 C

Me now, I’m / out of / here

G F E

gazing at the / unmoving / air

Am GI7 C

the soft lamp table, / ice cold / beer

G F E

the piano keyboard, / alone and / bare

EE/AmAm/FF/EE/Am

Me now, I’m / out of / here 

gazing at that / other / time

the empty car, / the farewell / tear

a breaking / rhythm, a tiring / rhyme

Me now, I’m / out of / here 

gazing at your / face / again

backpack, handphone / passport / near

the runway lights, the / goodbye / rain