From the recording Family Portraits (Volume V)
A love song to my wife Juliet, sung through the prism of remembering loved ones who are no longer with us. References my late uncle George who was such a gentleman that he waited for his wife, Eveline, to pass before following suite himself, only days later. Also references my late Scottish great aunt Isobel (known as "Scanty Auntie" because of her diminutive size) who died on the Isle of Bute aged 97. She had lost her boyfriend to WWI and was one of the many women who subsequently lived their entire lives alone.
Lyrics
Rest Well / Goodnight
Uncle George was a gentleman
Oh, whoa, whoa!
Old school career in medicine
Waited so patiently for Aunt Eveline
To go
Ladies first
Before he followed
Followed
Followed
In the footsteps of his bride
Found
Hallowed in consecrated ground
A mound
Marked by a cross
A home for us
A lifetime of love
Rests here
Good night
Farewell
Sleep well, my love
Sleep tight
Maybe, babe
I’ll see you
On the other side
Good night
Rest up
Sleep well, my dear
Close your eyes now darling
I will always be by your side
Scanty Aunt was a tiny thing
Oh, whoa, whoa!
Old school career in school teaching
Waited for four long years for the war to end
A million men
Did not return home
So she grew old alone
Alone
In her thoughts and her dreams almost
Reached the fingertips of her lover’s ghost
On rainy Bute
A last salute
To a love that never quite was
Good night
Farewell
Sleep well, my love
Sleep tight
Maybe, babe
I’ll see you
On the other side
Good night
Rest up
Sleep well, my dear
Close your eyes now darling
I will always be…
In love with you
In love with you
In love with you
My whole life
In love with you
In love with you
In love with you
My beautiful bride
Good night
Farewell
Sleep well, my love
Sleep tight
Maybe, babe
I’ll see you
On the other side
Good night
Rest up
Sleep well, my dear
Close your eyes now darling
I will always be here
I’ll always love you
Like I loved you all my life
I’ll always love you especially now it is time to say goodbye
I’ll always love you
Like I loved you all my life
I love you now and forever more
I’ll love you until the end of time