Family Names Lyrics

Catherine Maclellan Family Names

Walking amongst those graves I stumbled upon yours
Your brother being laid to rest just next door
All those family names and all those people who
I bear resemblance to.
At the edge of that field there's a break in the trees
Where you can hop onto the train tracks
Follow them where they lead
all along the coast and out of black cape
You can go a long way
Land call us home
Let's gather round
Let's tell the stories that remind us
of where we're all from
Let's sing the songs that our parents sang
Bring us all together
With those family names
Harry said he didn't know this place anymore
Changed the lay of the land, cut into the shore
The water's not even fit for swimming these days
From the paper mill on the bay
There's a sold sign in the yard of Aunt Doris' house
I guess at her age it's too much by herself
Still the rhubarb grows behind the garage
And she's busy cooking for us all

As of old, every new generation has to leave this place
Head out into the world to find work that'll pay
We're all drawn back here inevitably
By the land and the sea