TWENTY YEARS TOMORROW

When mother died, my father’s pride fell to me alone
Like a child bride with him I stayed at home
Father said a better life would never come our way
But thanks to me, he’d never be alone
I believed the words he said and each night slept alone in bed
Twenty years of sorrow, twenty years tomorrow

When I turned sixteen, as if in a dream, Johnny came to me
As I walked the trail from home down to the sea
And as he turned, something returned and became part of me
And that part I gave to my dear sweet Johnny
In my heart somehow I knew, no one else would ever do
Where love must go, I will follow, twenty years tomorrow

When Johnny took my hand that day, he said he’d soon be on his way
To the new world where his fortune surely lay
And if I would, if I could, he would marry me next day
And together to that world we’d sail away
I told him, “Johnny, yes, I’ll go, my love for you is all I know”
As he went to pack his cargo, twenty years tomorrow

“To lose you now,” my father said, “would be too much to bear.
Were you born to me only to betray?”
At the break of day, as I ran away, father followed to the bay
With his last breath he would make poor Johnny pay
When he found us there, father pulled a gun.
Two shots and it was done.
The old go first, the young follow, twenty years tomorrow

On Christmas Day, on All Saint’s Day, each sacred holiday
When I hear their call I come without delay
I place flowers on my father’s grave, then I walk down to the bay
And in the morning tide more flowers do I lay
Each time it’s just as before, each one says he loves me more
Twenty years of sorrow, twenty years tomorrow

A Song Can Tell A Story

When words leave off, music begins.

TWENTY YEARS TOMORROW