This song was inspired by a novel by Rachel Joyce called “The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry”. I found this moving novel an absolute pleasure to bury myself in for a few tear filled hours.
The story is about an old man who gets a letter from a terminally ill old work colleague. She is dying and writes to say goodbye. Harold sets off to post a note of condolence and walks past the first post box, then the second, the third and just keeps walking with the idea that his walk will somehow keep the old friend alive. He walks the entire length of England dressed in yachting shoes and an old coat (that is not water proof) with a plastic bag holding his few possessions
At first he stays in Bed and Breakfasts but soon decides he is being selfish with the retirement funds and starts to sleep out doors, surviving on what ever kind people give him or he finds in the rubbish.
This song is a result of that story
Lyrics
Joanne Cooper
He shaves everyday puts on a tie
Sits in the same old chair
Watches his wfe while he silently cleans
No need to go anywhere
With all the bills in the mail one day
Is a note to say goodbye
An old friend is desperately ill
He walks to post his reply
But he just keeps on walking
He'll say goodbye face to face
In deck shoes and old worn coat
he leaves his life along the way
Will you be long was all she had asked
From behind her cold and grey
As she sat down to impatiently wait
Nothing left to say
Still he just keeps on walking
To say goodbye face to face
In deck shoes and old worn coat
he leaves his life along the way
As he walks shes changing
a little more everyday
She finds the strength to forgive him
And finds hereself along the way
And he just keeps walking
An old friend so far away
In deck shoes and old worn coat
He found his life along the way
In deck shoes and old worn coat
He found his life along the way
In deck shoes and old worn coat
He found his life along the way