“A Reason for It All” by Eric Bogle
(click here to listen)
Summer’s smiling on the city,
it’s another lovely day in Sydney,
sunshine pouring down like honey
in a golden waterfall
But in the room where Clare is dying,
no sunshine sends the shadows flying
No children gather round her crying,
there’s no one there at all
Except perhaps for the man
who sees each little sparrow fall
Don’t talk to me about lonely souls crying,
dark quiet rooms with old people dying
I don’t want to hear, I don’t want to hear it at all
Tired old people die alone every day,
don’t blame me, I didn’t make it that way
That’s just how it is, don’t look for a reason at all
Winter weeping on the city,
a wet and windy day in Sydney
Rain drops rolling fat and heavy
down Clare’s window pane
The rain upon the tin roof beating,
disturbing rats as they are feeding
Back to the nest they all go creeping,
leaving Clare alone again
It’s been a long and lonely time
since Clare could hear the rain
Don’t talk to me about the meaning of life;
don’t sing your songs that cut like a knife
I don’t want to hear, I don’t want to hear it at all
Lonely old people ain’t my concern,
from dust we come to dust we return
and that’s all there is, don’t look for a reason at all
Spring has come at last to Sydney;
flowers are blooming in the city
In all their multicoloured glory,
they rise to greet the year
Memories in chain recalling,
footsteps on the front porch falling
Voices through the window calling,
is anybody here
Clare Candle’s lost and lonely soul
is a long, long way from here
Don’t talk to me about life’s seasons,
don’t ask me for answers
Don’t ask me for reasons.
I don’t want to hear, I don’t want to hear it at all
From the moment we’re born, we start to die;
a man can go crazy if he keeps asking why
That’s just how it is, don’t look for a reason at all
Can’t you understand what I’m trying to say,
there must an answer; there must be a way
to make some sense of it, to try to find a reason for it all
We are not born just so we can die,
there must be an answer and we’ve got to try
to make some sense of it; to try to find a reason for it all
Can’t you understand what I’m trying to say,
there must an answer; there must be a way
to make some sense of it, to try to find a reason for it all
We are not born just so we can die,
there must be an answer and we’ve got to try
to make some sense of it; to try to find a reason for it all
That’s just how it is, don’t look for a reason at all
Ah, there must a way, there must be reason for it all
COMMENTS ON PREVIOUS SELECTION – “Less of Me”
‘Less of me’ is the first step on the road to ‘none of me’, which Jesus taught is the secret of life: ‘He who would save his life will lose it, but he who loses his life wills save it.’ Six times in four gospels this teaching is repeated, describing a state of ‘disinterestedness’ in which one’s concern is focussed entirely on others. It is only here that death can no longer touch you. It is only in this state that life in all its fullness is found.