Op 13 september 2023 overleed Roger Whittaker (Wikipedia), het is jeugdsentiment dat mij dit opviel.
Bekende nummers zijn “New World in the Morning”, “If I were a rich man”, “Mamy Blue” en “Streets of London” Als herinnering aan Whittaker hieronder de nummers “The Last Farewell” en “I Don’t Believe in “If” Anymore”, die mij het meest zijn bijgebleven:
The Last Farewell:
Tomorrow for old England she sails
Far away from your land of endless sunshine
To my land full of rainy skies and gales
And I shall be aboard that ship tomorrow
Though my heart is full of tears at this farewell
For you are beautiful, I have loved you dearly
More dearly than the spoken word can tell
For you are beautiful, I have loved you dearly
More dearly than the spoken word can tell
I’ve heard there’s a wicked war a-blazing
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 sail into hell
I have no fear of death, it brings no sorrow
But how bitter will be this last farewell
For you are beautiful, I have loved you dearly
More dearly than the spoken word can tell
For you are beautiful, I have loved you dearly
More dearly than the spoken word can tell
Though death and darkness gather all about me
My ship be torn apart upon the seas
I shall smell again the fragrance of these islands
And the heaving waves that brought me once to thee
And should I return home safe again to England
I shall watch the English mist roll through the dale
For you are beautiful, I have loved you dearly
More dearly than the spoken word can tell
For you are beautiful, I have loved you dearly
More dearly than the spoken word can tell
I Don’t Believe in “If” Anymore:
And if you fix your bayonet so
And if you kill that man my friend
The one we call the foe
And if you do it often lad
And if you do it right
You’ll be a hero overnight
You’ll save your country from her plight
Remember God is always right
If you survive to see the sight
A friend now greeting foe
No you won’t believe in If anymore
It’s an illusion
It’s an illusion
No you won’t believe in If anymore
If is for children
If is for children
Building daydreams
If I knew then what I know now
(I thought I did you know somehow)
If I could have the time again
I’d take the sunshine leave the rain
If only time would trickle slow
Like rain that melts the fallen snow
If only Lord if only
If only Lord if only
No you won’t believe in If anymore
It’s an illusion
It’s an illusion
No you won’t believe in If anymore
If is for children
If is for children
Building daydreams
No you won’t believe in If anymore
It’s an illusion
It’s an illusion
No you won’t believe in If anymore
If is for children
If is for children
Building daydreams