As a special treat (to myself) I have just spent an hour listening to the two versions of Where The River Bends, and have now written down the lyrics for you all. The original version is on the ultra-rare Two Churches EP and the re-recording is on the only slightly less rare CV compilation.

The lyrics are the same, up to the final verse. At that point they differ slightly. I include both for you to sing along to.

If you think I have got any part wrong, please add in your suggested corrections, unless Colin wants to add the definitive versions …

TheOctoberMan


Where The River Bends by Colin Vearncombe
I can’t find my way home
It’s still a place I need to be
Can someone show me any place
That could be home for me

Not back there in the north
In the wind swept bitter cold
With the sidewalks growing grass
Where we were only grew old

And all the mines are gone
But no one knows or cares
If a thing is not nailed down
It was never there

I still remember how it seems
An old world symphony of tears
And now what I want’s always beyond my reach
Where the river bends

Was it down here in the south
Always on night shift or on call
There’s no sunshine in the streets
The buildings grew so tall

And no-one sees your eyes
But from a corner of their own
And they only really feel it
When the balance has all gone

They don’t care how
And they don’t care why
It’s enough to make
A grown man cry
And I do
What’s it to you

If I can’t find my way home
And it’s still a place I need to be
Seems what I want’s always beyond my reach
And where the river bends

(the CV album version continues with these lyrics …)
Singing songs down from the tree
To race across the open field
Around the trucks like carrion for the fall-en fruit we tried to steal

I cannot find my way home
Empty places packed and gone
Seems what I want’s always beyond the point
Of where the river bends
It’s where the river bends
Where the river bends

(and the Two Churches EP version continues with these lyrics …)
Singing song down from the trees
To race across the open fields
Around the trucks like carrion for the fallen fruit we tried to steal

I cannot find my way home
Empty places packed and gone
Seems what I want’s always beyond the point
Of where the river bends
Where the river bends
Where the river bends<br /><br />Post edited by: TheOctoberMan, at: 2007/06/16 15:02

And to cap it all ...

On the CV album you get three extra surprises.

Firstly you get an extended version of Storm Cloud Katherine. The version on The Accused is only 4:41 long. The version on CV is 5:36 long.

Then, you get an edited version of That’s Just Like Love. The version on Are We Having Fun Yet? is 3:49 long. The version on CV is 3:03 long.

And finally you get an edited version of Better Letting Go. The version on The Accused is 5:44 long. The version on CV is 4:43 long.

So there you have it. Three more reasons (as if you needed reasons) to buy CV (if you can find it now). I see that it seems to be available on iTunes, if you don’t mind not getting the case &amp; inner booklet. Check out www.colinvearncombe.com for the links to it.

Go on, have another listen to it all. It is truly superb. Long live Black!!

TheOctoberMan