The Strangers

Welcome stranger, the hills all seem to say
The border colours of green and brown and purple-grey
Are so familiar, and yet they all seem strange
So I answer, "Hello stranger, is it you or me who's changed?"
Welcome stranger, the curlew seems to cry
A scrap of paper, whirling in the muddy sky
My heart remembers his bittersweet refrain
Yet I answer, "Hello stranger, is it you or me who's changed?"

But the Tweed still runs down
Past that wee border town
Where my parents lived and died
It's where the boy was born
It's where the man was formed
Where my past and my present collide
Where the man who is, and the boy who was
Will not look for each other again
Too many threads have been unstrung
Too much water has run
Under the bridge between now and then

Welcome stranger, the west wind seems to sing
A promise bearer of the coming of the Spring
My senses waken to the scent and taste of home
Yet I answer, "Hello stranger, is it you or me who's changed?"
Welcome stranger, the whole valley seems to call
It once seemed boundless, aye, but now it seems so small
Its far horizons, the years have crossed and tamed
So I answer, "Hello stranger, is it you or me who's changed?"

But the Tweed still runs down
Past that wee border town
Where my parents lived and died
It's where the boy was born
It's where the man was formed
Where my past and my present collide
Where the man who is, and the boy who was
Will not look for each other again
Too many threads have been unstrung
Too much water has run
Under the bridge between now and then

But the Tweed still runs down
Past that wee border town
Where my parents lived and died
It's where the boy was born
It's where the man was formed
Where my past and my present collide
Where the man who is, and the boy who was
Will not look for each other again
Too many threads have been unstrung
Too much water has run
Under the bridge between now and then