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I Won't Be Coming Home

from The Gift by Clary Croft

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lyrics

I Won’t Be Coming Home

Clary Croft © 1973. Doseydotes Music

I wrote this song in remembrance of my Highland ancestors, the MacKays and Campbells, who came to the St. Mary’s River in search of a new life. I recorded it on my first album, Sun, Moon and Stars.

Now mamma, don’t be sad, I promised I would write,
This letter’s bound to reach you by October;
And pappa, don’t be mad, you know I’ve got the right,
Remember all the times we talked it over.

But I won’t be coming home,
Half of what I believe in is still here,
I know I promised when I left I’d make good or come home,
But I’ve gotta stick it out another year.
My heart’s already broken but my spirit still keeps strong,
I’m holding on to memories, but they won’t last for long,
‘Cause its memories I’ve left behind to make some of my own,
But if memories are made of this they’re better left alone.

Its not like I’d been told; the streets aren’t paved in gold,
The gold is here but men still die to mine it,
Everything is new to me; nothing here is old,
Except the dream that one day I will find it.

So I won’t be coming home,
Half of what I believe in is still here,
I know I promised when I left I’d make good or come home,
But I’ve gotta stick it out another year.
The leaves have turned to red and left the trees to stand alone,
The hills above my camp look like the heather of my home,
A home I left to find a better life in this new land,
To try and find a future that keeps slipping through my hands.

Your letter came in June, it was good to hear the news,
Sometimes I really miss the hills of my homeland,
The money that you sent - well, I’m afraid I had to spend,
‘Cause the camps I work in here don’t pay a fortune.

So I won’t be coming home,
Tell pappa he must tend the farm alone,
I know I promised when I left I’d make good or come home,
But I gotta try and make it on my own.
You see, my heart’s already broken but my spirit still keeps strong,
I’m holding on to memories, but they won’t last for long,
‘Cause its memories I’ve left behind to make some of my own,
But if memories are made of this they’re better left alone.

credits

from The Gift, released April 20, 2021

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Clary Croft Nova Scotia

Clary is a folklore researcher, author and recording artist. His newly published memoirs, Clary Croft: My Charmed Life in Music, Art, and Folklore, chronicles a career spanning over fifty years. His work with the traditional music from the Creighton Collection, has caused Clary to be called, “the acknowledged master of one of the richest repertoires in Canada.” [Halifax Mail Star] ... more

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