PARTS: Soprano Alto Tenor Bass All
KEY: bold = first beat of bar ^ = rest Underline = triplet
191 - The Last Farewell
Verse 1
There’s a ship lies rigged and ready in the harbour
To-morrow for old Eng-land she sails
Far a-way from you land of endless sunshine
To my land– full of rainy skies and gales.
And I shall be on board that ship tomorrow
Though my heart is full of tears at this farewell
Chorus ^ For you are beautiful
And I have loved you dearly
More dearly than the spoken word can tell.
Repeat chorus ^ For you are beautiful
And I have loved you dearly
More dearly than the spoken word can tell.
Verse 2
I heard there’s a wicked war a-blaz-ing
And the taste of war I know so very well
Even now I see the foreign flag a-raising
Their guns on fire as we sailed into hell
I have no fear of death it brings no sorrow
But how bi–tter will be this last farewell
Chorus ^ For you are beautiful
And I have loved you dearly
More dearly than the spoken word can tell.
Instrumental (to verse and chorus)
Verse 3
Though death and darkness gather all about me
And my ship be torn apart upon the sea
I shall smell again the fragrance of these islands
In the heaving waves that brought me once to thee
And should I return safe home again to England
I shall watch the English mist roll through the dell
Chorus ^ For you are beautiful
And I have loved you dearly
More dearly than the spoken word can tell.
Repeat chorus ^ For you are beautiful
And I have loved you dearly
More dearly than the spoken word can tell.
Words R.A Webster. Music Roger Whittaker
"The Last Farewell" is a song from 1971 by the British folk singer Roger Whittaker. Whittaker is quoted as saying that "one of the ideas I had was to invite listeners to send their poems or lyrics to me and I would make songs out of them. We got a million replies, and I did one each week for 26 weeks." Ron A. Webster, a silversmith from Birmingham, England, sent Whittaker his poem entitled "The Last Farewell", and this became one of the selections to appear on the radio programme. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Farewell