HALCYON DAYS

I remember Charlie Douglas when we were still at school
He was my very best friend
But I passed him as a stranger in the street the other day
He didn't even know my bonnie face
And little Cathy Thompson with her hair and heart of gold
I vowed I would love until the end of time
But we were young and I failed to realise
That she would never be mine

I remember the times when we used to laugh and play
But this cruel world always seems to take those times away
Now it all seems like a dream that just happened yesterday
Those times will never come again

We rang bells and ran through gardens
But caused no harm to anyone
And the rows and fields were our own
And we would mucky all our best clothes
Jumping becks and climbing trees
And stayed out late didn't want to go back home
And the gypsy-camp battlefield where we used to play at wars
Was innocent fun and games back then
But now we are acting out our battle plans for real
Though we say we are fully grown men

In our ignorance and bliss we were happy in our lives
And our innocence could never let us down
On grassy moors we chased and in greeny lanes we roamed
Creating our own world in our town
But it could never last forever fate caught up on us in time
And turned our whole world upside down
For our minds then knew of guilt and all the pain of love and hate
While our dreams were left shattered on the ground

Oh what happened to you whatever happened to me
What became of the people we used to be

(Gary Miller)


OLD MAN FORGOTTEN

As the waves come rolling in
Across the blackened shale
An old man stands alone
And carves an image of nostalgia
In the dying sunlight you know

And the features on his wondrous face
Once shined like a million stars
Now it’s cracked and worn
His whole life is tattered and torn
And he's filled with grief you know

And as the day comes down
He feels the years come down
As the sands of time slip through his hands
Like a burdened weary old pack horse
Waiting for the slaughterman

And he's spent his whole life in the area
Working for the area
But what recognition do they send his way
But so long Joe it's time to go

And as the day comes down
He feels the years come down
There is a weight upon this man
Like a burdened weary old pack horse
Waiting for the slaughterman

And as the day comes down
He feels the years come down
Like a weight across the land
Like a burdened weary old pack horse
Waiting for the slaughterman

And as the day comes down
He feels the years come down
"I toiled in this place" he says
As the tears roll down his face
For the family that has forgotten him
And the land that has forgotten him

(Gary Miller)