家園青草綠柔柔 / Green Green Grass of Home

這几年生活繁忙,就好像玩雜耍的人一樣,要將所有耍球在時空之間,不停轉動走位,但又不能喊停或讓球跌下來,故常感到生活擔子,在精神上的壓力,是一個沈重的負擔。但最近這几天,在巴士站候車時,常不知不覺中,在心裡唱起自己喜愛的歌曲或調子。我覺得這是很好的現象,顯示我的「心理家園」,亦沒有因環境壓力而枯萎凋殘,反之,在酷寒逆境之中,仍有那春天含苞待放的生命力,就像「湯姆鍾氏」唱那首歌的名字一樣:『家園青草綠柔柔』。

I have quite a busy life in the last few years, trying to juggle all the balls in the air without stopping or allowing any one of them to drop. Such life style exerts tremendous pressure on the mind and impacts on one's overall wellness. But lately, I quite often find myself singing or humming a familiar song or tune in my head while waiting at the bus-stop. This is a good sign as far as I am concerned. For one thing, it shows that deep inside me, my "home garden" has not succumbed to the cold adverse environment of modern day living. Rather, there is a strong ever-green force that keeps "The Green Green Grass of Home" growing, just like the title of that song sung by Tom Jones.

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***** Updated Nov 24, 2010 *****

Walking his last mile,
the man and his smile !!
Hold on to your dream,
Beneath that patch of green !!

(If there is any comfort, it's the man's last dream of "The Green Green Grass of Home" that will help him walk his last mile. Yes, we all need our patch of green, in our own numbered dreams !!!)



"The Green Green Grass of Home"
Singer: Tom Jones; Song: Claude "Curly" Putman Jr.

The old home town looks the same,
As I step down from the train,
And there to meet me is my mamma mama and papa;
Down the road I look, and there runs Mary,
Hair of gold and lips like cherries,
It's good to touch the green, green grass of home.

CHORUS:
Yes, they all come to meet me,
Arms a-reachin', smilin' sweetly,
It's good to touch the green, green grass of home.

The old house is still standin,
'Though the paint is cracked and dry,
And there's that old oak tree,
That I used to play on.
Down the lane I walk with my sweet Mary,
Hair of gold and lips like cherries,
It's good to touch the green, green grass of home.

Then I awake and look around me,
At the four gray walls that surround me,
And I realize yes I was only dreaming,
For you see, there's a guard and there's a sad old padre,
Arm in arm we'll walk at daybreak,
Then I'll touch the green green grass of home.

CHORUS:
Yes, they'll all come to see me,
In the shade of that old oak tree,
As they lay me 'neath the green, green grass of home.

Reference:
* Wikipedia / Green Green Grass of Home:

"Green, Green Grass of Home", written by Claude "Curly" Putman Jr., is a country song originally made popular by Porter Wagoner in 1965 and Bobby Bare in 1965. It was sung later by Tom Jones in 1966 when it reached number one in the UK Singles Chart on 3 December staying there for a total of seven weeks.

The lyrics
A man returns to his childhood home; it seems that this is his first visit home since leaving in his youth. When he steps down from the train, his parents are there to greet him, and his beloved, Mary, comes running to join them. All is welcome and peace; all come to meet him with "arms reaching, smiling sweetly." With Mary the man strolls at ease among the monuments of his childhood, including "the old oak tree that I used to play on." It is "good to touch the green, green grass of home." Yet the music and the words are full of foreshadowing, strongly suggestive of mourning.

Abruptly, the man switches from song to speech as he awakens in prison: "Then I awake and look around me, at four grey walls that surround me. And I realize that I was only dreaming." He is, indeed, on death row. As the singing resumes, we learn that the man is waking on the day of his scheduled execution ("there's a guard, and there's a sad old padre...on and on [or "arm in arm"] we'll walk at daybreak"), and he will return home only to be buried: "Yes, they'll all come to see me in the shade of that old oak tree, as they lay me 'neath the green, green grass of home."

The Joan Baez version ends:
Yes, we'll all be together,
In the shade of the old oak tree
When we meet beneath the green, green grass of home.