Roger Whittaker's The Last Farewell

A summer song that my mother likes.



The Last Farewell

Originally recorded in 1971, the lyrics to the song were written by a Birmingham, England, silversmith who entered a contest in which the best lyric or poem sent to Whittaker would be put to music and recorded.

Although The Last Farewell was not the winner, the song was included on an album, along with the winner 'Why'.

'Suddenly, five years, later, I got the call from Atlanta, Georgia,' Whittaker relates. 'The wife of a program director had requested the song be played on WSB Radio there. She had heard the song while traveling to Canada.'

The Last Farewell went on to become the most requested song on WSB's playlist and within weeks, it became a massive hit all over the world, reaching the coveted Number One slot in 11 different countries. In the USA, The Last Farewell became a Top 20 hit in 1975 and finally selling over 11,000,000 copies worldwide. The song broke down the barriers to success in America for Whittaker and opened up a vast new country for his music to explore.

There's a ship lies rigged and ready in the harbor
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