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