Henry's Songbook

Chorus.
Tell me again, I want to know
The forests had trees, the meadows were green
The oceans were blue, and birds really flew
Can you swear that was true?

Whose garden was this? It must have been lovely
Did it have flowers? I've seen pictures of flowers
And I'd love to have smelled one

Whose river was this? You say it ran freely
Blue was its colour, I've seen blue in some pictures
And I'd love to have been there

Whose grey sky was this? Or was it a blue one?
At night there were breezes, I've heard records of breezes
And I'd love to have felt one

(as sung by Iain MacKintosh)

 [1979:] Dieses Tom-Paxton-Lied, inzwischen einige Jahre alt, ist immer noch eine Mahnung an das Gewissen, nicht so rücksichtslos mit der Umwelt umzugehen. Sie ist die Zukunft unserer Kinder. (Notes Iain MacKintosh, 'Straight to the Point')

 [1988:] In 1969 (I believe it was) I was invited to come to Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois to perform at the first ecological teach-in. After I had accepted, it dawned on me that I had not one song on an environmental theme and so it was to avoid embarrassment that I wrote 'Whose Garden Was This'. It worked out better for me than I deserved. A few years later, in London, Dame Vera Lynn wanted to sing it on TV but felt it was one verse short. I added the 'forest' verse [not included above] and I think the song is the better for it. (Notes 'The Very Best of Tom Paxton')