A song for a dear friend - please read lyrics/description
singer
songwriter
acoustic
folk
country
vocalist
guitarist
james taylor
Story behind the song
This was a song I just had to write. A few years ago, when I first arrived in America, I worked as a "homemaker" for old people, not just for money, but to get to know the community. It was there I met Alma, who was to become a dear and treasured friend, for sadly too short a time. I remember finally seeing her for the last time in a nursing home after she'd been taken ill. I spent a last hour with her as she played my music on CD (she was always encouraging me). I said, "Well, got to go Alma, see you tomorrow". I got a call less than an hour later telling me she'd passed on, still listening to my music.........so this one's for you Alma, until we meet again.
Lyrics
Alma’s Song
(words and music by Ron Gletherow)
Verse 1
So many people come and go throughout our lives
So many nameless faces, so few can survive
In our memory, we savour moments cherished in our hearts
Some people stay forever when their soul departs
Verse 2
I remember it was just another ordinary day
I was working in a part of town that led me down your way
When your smile lit up the room like sunlight shining through the clouds
And I knew that I had found a friend of whom I could be proud
Bridge
Rows of dolls all clothed in lace
Lined throughout your living space
Christmas baubles tied with string
Needles, pins and fancy things
Photos of your life gone by
Captured in a sepia style
Alma, you have always tried
To bring enchantment everywhere
Chorus
So rise up out of that chair
Take a walk with me for one last time
Walk with me and taste the morning air
And let me sing for you one last song of mine
And let me be the last voice that you hear
As you say goodbye to this world
For I know that I will miss you
Till we say hello again
Verse 3
Your life was filled with wonder. You touched so many hearts
And in those last years that you had, I was glad to be a part
Eighty four is hard for anyone to understand
Least of all, this working man, and stranger to this land
Verse 4
But you had all the character and originality
You made me laugh. You made me cry. You gave your best to me
But Alma, you were everything that I would like to be
When I’m old and I am looking back at all life meant to me
(Repeat Bridge and Chorus)