Song Lyric Sunday: Gonna See All My Friends

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For this week’s Song Lyric Sunday Jim is inviting us to play a song to which we know all of the words, in his post Procedural Memory. Years ago this would have been easy for me, but if I’m being honest with myself the passage of time has seen a lot of those remembered words depart from what I laughingly call my brain. There are still quite a few for which I could make a good attempt, but today’s tune really has remained with me, and I’m still word perfect on it.

Like much of the music I grew up listening to, loved then and still do, this apparently counts under the heading of ‘folk music,’ but I think that is far too narrow a judgement for a masterpiece like this, so don’t let it put you off:

I’m guessing that Meet On The Ledge will either be new for you or long forgotten. Here are its lyrics, which fortunately for my aging brain aren’t too long or complicated, but then I have sung along with this many times myself, both on my own and in a crowd:

We used to sayThat come the dayWe’d all be making songsOr finding better wordsThese ideas never lasted long
 
The way is upAlong the roadThe air is growing thinToo many friends who triedWere blown off this mountain with the wind
 
Meet on the ledgeWe’re gonna meet on the ledgeWhen my time is up I’m gonna see all my friendsMeet on the ledgeWe’re gonna meet on the ledgeIf you really mean it, it all comes round again
 
Yet now I seeI’m all aloneBut that’s the only way to beYou’ll have your chance againThen you can do the work for me
 
Meet on the ledgeWe’re gonna meet on the ledgeWhen my time is up I’m gonna see all my friendsMeet on the ledgeWe’re gonna meet on the ledgeIf you really mean it, it all comes round again
 
Meet on the ledgeWe’re gonna meet on the ledgeWhen my time is up I’m gonna see all my friendsMeet on the ledgeWe’re gonna meet on the ledgeIf you really mean it, it all comes round again
 
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Richard John Thompson
Meet on the Ledge lyrics © Warlock Music Ltd
 
As the credits show, this was written by Richard Thompson, whose long career of making superb records has been celebrated here on many occasions. This was where it all began for him: he co-counded Fairport Convention in 1967, when he was just 18, and had already written this song before that. This was the penultimate track on their second album, What We Did On Our Holidays, which I bought and loved at the time and still play. The song was the first single taken from it, in December 1968, and made #52 in the UK Singles chart. The album came out the following month but didn’t make the chart – they had to wait until the July 1969 release of their third album, Unhalfbricking, for that. Lead vocals are by Iain Matthews, who is then joined by the wonderful voice of Sandy Denny.
 
I think this is a remarkably mature song for one so young, but in typical RT style he plays that down. It has been assumed to be about death and the afterlife, the regrets we might leave behind and the hope that we will see friends and loved ones again, and is a popular choice for funerals – I have asked for it to be played at mine, though hopefully that won’t be coming any time soon. In a 2011 interview with Mojo magazine Richard was quoted as saying “The hardest thing about being a 17-year-old songwriter is that you’re embarrassed – you’re never going to write a song saying, ‘These are my feelings, I love you.’ So I was trying to find some semi-veiled language that conveyed something to somebody somehow but which didn’t really say anything up front. It’s a slightly naïve song, a little obscure. I don’t even know what it means … I had to sing it at my own mother’s funeral. It was in her will. That’s about the hardest thing I’ve ever done.” 
 
Meet On The Ledge has become a kind of unofficial anthem for the band. I have seen them several times in concert, going right back to my uni days, and this has always been the song that closes the show: the band are often accompanied on stage for it by support acts, friends, roadies and anyone else they can squeeze in, and the audience sings along with them. It is a magical moment which I have enjoyed being a part of, and no one seems to mind that I can’t sing to save my life!
 
Since 1976 Fairport Convention have run their own festival every August, in the small village of Cropredy, near Oxford. It has grown over the years and regularly attracts 20,000 or more, many of whom have been going since it started and now come with children and grandchildren in tow. I’ve never been but by all accounts it is one of the friendliest family-oriented music and arts festivals that we have in this country: that’s the beauty of folk music, I think.
 
I said it had been every year, but they did miss one: 2020, of course, when the pandemic closed everything down. It is so typical of the band that they didn’t want people to think they had forgotten about them, so they got together – virtually – with many of the acts that would have played that year and have been there other times, to share a specially made video. Guess which song they chose? It could only be one, couldn’t it:
 
 
There is such an outpouring of emotion in those performances, and even though they were miles apart you can sense their togetherness of spirit. If anyone ever asks me why I love music that is one of the reasons I give – that community that it engenders. And speaking of communities, the annual reunion is taking place this weekend: Fairport’s Cropredy Festival lives on 😊🎶

42 thoughts on “Song Lyric Sunday: Gonna See All My Friends”

  1. Pingback: My August | Take It Easy

    • Hi Yvette,

      I’m pleased you seemed to like it. I’ve known and loved it for nearly 55 years and never grow tired of hearing it.

      I can’t sing to save my life but there are some songs that just get me doing it 😊

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  7. I also am at the point where my memory is letting me down far more than it used to. I also find that, for whatever reason, I seem to reverse the order of letters while I’m typing. So, if I call you, Clvie, you’ll know I didn’t do it on purpose.

    I thought you were going to mess with us by playing an instrumental tune with no words. 🤣

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  8. Yes, one I well remember, and it has a lovely singalong feel to it.A great fit for a virtual concert too.

    (Is ‘Cropredy’ said as ‘crop ready?’ If so it is so quaint in that Olde English way. You know, where but in England do you hear names like Barrow-in-Furness, Cleckheaton, Dorking, Upton Snodsbury?)

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    • It certainly is! You’ll find FC interesting. They started out with a US west coast style, and after some changes developed into one of the two main forerunners of English folk rock. That was largely due to Sandy’s influence after she joined..

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  12. Needless to say, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (fill in the blanks). 😂

    It’s easy to see why you love this song so much, Clive. It may just be the ultimate you song I’ve heard to date. Lately I’ve been using the term universal language when referring to music. The group video is a perfect example of that universality, comrades in arms. I’m glad you included it in your post. Wonderful to also read about the festival.

    This is a lovely share, Clive. Thank you. 🫶🏼

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  13. I can see why you like this song so much, as it is really beautiful. I may have listened to this, but if I did, I have completely forgotten it, however after your post, I will remember this song for a long time now. Great choice, Clive.

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  14. I definitely remember Richard Thompson and Fairport Convention, but do not recall this song. Yes, quite an amazing write for a 17 year old. Thanks for the wonderful information about this great song and the FC annual festival. Who knew? ☺️

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    • I’m glad you remember them, and appreciate this song. The Cropredy Festival is well known here, an integral part of the summer festival scene, but I’m not surprised you didn’t know of it.

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  17. Jim? 🤣

    I’m glad you like it. Both of these versions are great, but the least said about Greta Van Fleet’s destruction of it the better. I really hope Sam goes nowhere near it!

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