Long Way Home

as I was out walkin’ one cool summer’s evenin’
the sky was all shadowed and scattered with rain
an old gentleman busker I happened to pass
with harmonica melodies played in refrain
I reached in my pocket for money to pay
I knew it was true for he played it that way

it’s a long way home
many a mile to a bed of your own
it’s a long way home
weary you’ve grown on your own

oh I stood by the river that ran through the city
with waters that washed away off to the sea
six thousand miles to the Northwest Pacific
a long-distance vision in faint memory
sometimes you know it gets so hard to see
then somebody tells you just where you should be

it’s a long way home
many a mile to a bed of your own
it’s a long way home
weary you’ve grown on your own

old Grandmother Angel with baskets of flowers
and newspaper packages under her arm
she talked as she walked with her friends the invisibles
easy to be with they meant her no harm
all of the others have moved under ground
but she’s never alone when her friends are around

it’s a long way home
many a mile to a bed of your own
it’s a long way home
weary you’ve grown on your own

oh the world it is wide and far ’round its borders
from the west to the east it’s a long way to go
to pick up your roots and to travel all over
to take a good look to see how much you know
not to get fooled or to let it slip loose
but to take it in hand and to put it to use

it’s a long way home
many a mile to a bed of your own
it’s a long way home
weary you’ve grown on your own