1969

© Jon Horne 2005

     B7sus4                         E
That summer we were meant to go to Ireland
A           D           A           D
Newry or Newcastle, I can't remember where
G                 C
On the ferry from Ardrossan
G                 C
To walk the misty mountains
      C            Am7               D
Or whatever people do when they are there

But when the first bombs went off in Belfast
My father said, I'm sorry son, we'll go another year
Instead we drove down south
To the country of my birth
And went to see my Grandad who lived there

We pulled up at the rest home for the aged
And found him in a corner in a worn-out easy chair
It's probably the last time
That I saw him alive
He was eighty-five, give or take a year

We crossed the fields one blazing August morning
To see the Flying Scotsman on its final fare-thee-well
I watched as it flashed past
And gave its whistle one big blast
I don't know why I remember that so well

My brother says that year was a nightmare
He got ditched by his girlfriend and evicted from his flat
And "All you need is love"
Turned into "Rivers of blood"
Biafra, Ireland, Vietnam, and Israel saw to that

But in the east wing of Worksop General
A woman had a daughter on the 21st of June
And if 1969
Was shit most of the time
    C              Am7               D             G
It is my favourite year because that daughter was you

        G  C
Even if 1969
     G               C
Was just a waste of time
      C        Am7      D                G   C   G
It's still my favourite year because of you