The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #122132   Message #3065556
Posted By: GUEST,Mark Robberts
02-Jan-11 - 11:00 AM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Harbour Lights (Judith Haswell)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Harbour Lights (Judith Haswell)
I came across this web site by chance when looking up the full lyrics for an old favourite: 'I saw the harbour lights'. written by Hugh Willams and Jimmy Kennedy. Note the correct spelling of 'harbour'.
That aside, contributors may be interested to know how this song came into being.
One of the two - I believe it was Jimmy Kennedy - was driving one night from Portsmouth (Cosham) along the old A27 coast road towards Portchester and Fareham. Halfway along that road at the side of the harbour was, and I believe still is, a public house called 'The Harbour Lights'. That night the lights from the pub and its sign clearly reflected in the water giving the song writer the words and first line of the song: 'I saw the Harbour Lights'.
I often drove along that road, saw what the writer saw and wondered. Years later I actually met the writers and they corroborated the story.