'39 lyrics

Words and music by Brian May

In the year of '39
Assembled here the volunteers
In the days when lands were few.
Here the ship sailed out into the blue and sunny mornin',
The sweetest sight ever seen.
And the night followed day,
And the storytellers say
That the score brave souls inside
For many a lonely day
Sailed across the milky seas
Ne'er looked back, never feared, never cried.

Don't you hear my call
Though you're many years away?
Don't you hear me calling you?
Write your letters in the sand
For the day I take your hand
In the land that our grandchildren knew.

In the year of '39
Came a ship in from the blue,
The volunteers came home that day.
And they bring good news
Of a world so newly born,
Though their hearts so heavily weigh.
For the earth is old and grey
To a new home we'll away,
But my love this cannot be,
For so many years have gone
Though I'm older but a year
Your mother's eyes from your eyes cry to me.

Don't you hear my call
Though you're many years away?
Don't you hear me calling you?
Write your letters in the sand
For the day I'll take your hand
In the land that our grandchildren knew.

Don't you hear my call
Though you're many years away?
Don't you hear me calling you?
All your letters in the sand
Cannot heal me like your hand,
For my life
Still ahead.
Pity me.