Lyr Req: A Strange Affair (Richard Thompson)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Strange Affair (Richard Thompson)
From: RobbieWilson
Date: 01 Feb 12 - 07:43 PM

RT official website

This is a link to Beesweb, RT's official site. The songomatic has song lyrics and the Catch of the day incudes a Q and A session to which RT regularly contributes and you can ask him yourself.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Strange Affair (Richard Thompson)
From: michaelr
Date: 31 Jan 12 - 07:57 PM

Never got an answer to that query. Does anyone know the origin of the al-Hawari poem?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Strange Affair
From: michaelr
Date: 23 May 02 - 11:55 PM

So Ray - that is you, isn't it? - what we have here is actually a Sufi poem which Thompson based his song on?

Hope to see you again soon,
Michael

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Strange Affair
From: GUEST,Lindsay
Date: 23 May 02 - 07:59 PM

Thanks all for your assistance. I also had problems following links but "mission aclomplished" now as I have all 3 verses. Regards to all, Lindsay

Subject: RE: A Strange Affair
From: SharonA
Date: 23 May 02 - 04:25 PM

MMario: Weirder still, your blickie takes my computer to a page of guitar tablature (with just a smidgeon of lyrics underneath the tab).

Subject: Lyr Add: STRANGE AFFAIR (al-Hawari, R Thompson)
From: DADGBE
Date: 23 May 02 - 03:40 PM

Hi all. here's what I have...


STRANGE AFFAIR
Poem by Si Fudul al-Hawari, translation and music by Richard Thompson


This is a strange affair,
The time has come to travel but the road is filled with fear.
This is a strange affair,
My youth has all been wasted and I'm bent and gray with years.

Where are my companions? Taken away.
And who will provide for me against my dying day?
I took my own provision but they fooled me and wasted away.
This is a strange affair.

Where are my companions?
My Mother, Father, lover, friend and enemy?
Where are my companions?
They're prisoners of death now and taken far from me.

And where are the dreams I dreamed in the days of my youth?
They led me to illusion when they promised me the truth.
And what do sleepers need to make them listen?
Why do they need more proof?
This is a strange affair.

Won't you give me an answer?
Why is your heart so hard towards the one who loves you best?
When the one with the answer,
Has wakened you and warmed you and called you to the test.

Wake up from the sleep that lies like clouds on your eyes,
Win back the life you had that's now a dream of lies,
Turn back on yourself and if you follow you win the lover's prize,
This is a strange affair.

Line Breaks
added.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: A Strange Affair
From:
Date: 23 May 02 - 11:52 AM

June Tabor interpreted it for me as "I took my own provision, but it fooled me and wasted away..."

Subject: RE: A Strange Affair
From: Wolfgang
Date: 23 May 02 - 03:24 AM

And of course there is the songs and recordings of Richard Thompson site which has most of the lyrics inclunding Strange Affaire.

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: A Strange Affair
From: MMario
Date: 22 May 02 - 04:25 PM

wierd! I had the page up on my screen.

Subject: Lyr/Chords Add: STRANGE AFFAIR (Richard Thompson)
From: katlaughing
Date: 22 May 02 - 04:14 PM

MMario, that site appears to be down. Google could only access a cache of it. I foudn them on another site, though:

STRANGE AFFAIR
    C                               G                   C
The time has come to travel but the road is filled with fear
          G
This is a strange affair
   C                                 G                  C
My youth has all been wasted and I'm bent and grey with years

    F         C          G      C
And all my companions are taken away
    F          C            G               C
And who will provide for me against my dying day?
F             C             Dm          Am       G
I took my own provision but it threw me and wasted away
          C F G                      C
This is a strange, this is a strange affair

Oh, where are my companions?
My mother, father, lover, friend and enemy
Where are my companions?
They're prisoners of death now and taken far from me
And where are the dreams I dreamed in the days of my youth?
They took me to illusion and they promised me the truth
And what do sleepers need to make them listen,
why do they need more proof
This is a strange, this is a strange affair

Subject: RE: A Strange Affair
From: MMario
Date: 22 May 02 - 03:37 PM

Strange affair

blickie should work.

assuming I don't either lose my whole post or get another "You have HTML in your post" error

Subject: RE: A Strange Affair
From: MMario
Date: 22 May 02 - 03:36 PM

Subject: A Strange Affair
From: GUEST,Lindsay
Date: 22 May 02 - 03:32 PM

Can anybody help, I am trying to decipher the lyrics for A Strange Affair - Richard Thompson. The previous thread (1999) has a broken link for the lyrics. Thanks, Lindsay