Story Behind The Song
My sister was dying in Newfoundland but the family in England did not know how long she had got left to live.
We couldn't all afford to go out and stay with her indefinitely, so I went out for 2 weeks - my mother and brother were due to fly out 3 days after I left. Jane (who we called Lubie) died just after I left and before they arrived.
Parts of the song are about what my mother told me later about events and her own observation.
It took me two years to finish this song as I kept cracking up and crying when I was trying to sing it.
I was crying when I wrote this.
Song Description
It's a song about my sisters death from cancer and the aftermath as well as the difficulty in writing the song.
| Song Length |
7:00 |
Genre |
Pop - Easy Listening, Pop - Classic |
| Tempo |
Very Slow (Under 70) |
Lead Vocal |
Male Vocal |
| Mood |
Serene, Heartbreaking |
Subject |
Loneliness, Numbness |
| Language |
English |
| |
Lyrics
Newfoundland © Julian Wilson June 2007
As the summer rain machine gunned the decking
I was all alone at the Whalen?s house very much regretting truth
Though you had known the end from the beginning
You kept it hid, very well, from your family overseas
Yes you did - Lubie
And on that last day in that little gander town
Though you loved your life
I saw it slippin? through your trembling hands
In Newfoundland - in Newfoundland - in Newfoundland - in Newfoundland
I never eulogise - nobody?s perfect in this world, not even you
And you?da laughed out loud and cried out ?Jubie I aint worth it!? to me you were.
You said you wanted no one to feel bad for you but I do
Oh sister, sister that?s impossible for me to ever do
In Newfoundland - in Newfoundland - in Newfoundland - in Newfoundland ? without ya?
In a saffron dress you shone just like the sun you always were to me
You came and went in style ? those were Ma?s exact words about you girl
Surrounded by flowers I heard they laid your sweet head down
Some from the Premier, some from the girls you loved downtown
In Newfoundland - in Newfoundland
In Newfoundland - in Newfoundland
I finished this song in the sunshine of Mastichari (yes I did)
At the sun and Peace hotel I finally got the strength to write it for you -
after two long years
I said I?d see you one more time in this old world
I didn?t make it ? see you on the new one that?s coming soon
A Newfoundland -a Newfoundland -a Newfoundland -a Newfoundland
I finished this song in tears, with tears in my eyes
I finished this song in tears, with tears in my eyes
I finished this song in tears
You know that I cried
I finished this song in tears.