Eric Bogle   •   Scraps of Paper (UK)

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  • Scraps of Paper
    • 1983 - Plant Life PLR 046 LP (UK)
  • Side One
    1. Scraps of Paper
    2. Goodbye Lucky Country
    3. A Reason for It All
    4. Old Friends
    5. Shining River
  • Side Two
    1. If Wishes Were Fishes
    2. The Old Number Ten
    3. The Ballad of Henry Holloway
    4. My Youngest Son Came Home Today
    5. Big Mansion House
    6. Just Not Coping
    7. He's Nobody's Moggy Now

  • Musicians
    • Eric Bogle: Vocals & Acoustic Guitar
    • John Munro: Vocals, Acoustic & Electric Guitars, Mandolin, Autoharp & Dulcimer
    • Brent Miller: Vocals & Bass Guitar
  • Additional Musicians
    • Phil Cunneen: Keyboards & String Arrangements
    • Dean Biebeck: Drums
    • Trev Warner: Fiddle
    • Dennis Siddall: Pedal Steel Guitar
    • Dean Bland: Harmonica
  • Credits
    • Produced by Eric Bogle, John Munro & Peter Brook
    • All songs, words & music by Eric Bogle & arranged by John Munro
    • Published by Larrikin Music except: Track: 6, published by Plant Life Music
    • Engineered & mixed by Peter Brook at Street Remley Studios, Adelaide
    • Mastered at Tape One, London, by Jacko
    • Artwork & Design: Serious Business
    • Photograph: Guy Lamothe
    • First issued by Larrikin Records 1982 and released under license

  • Tracks Notes
    • There 3 versions of Scraps of Paper: Australia, UK & USA — all with different track lists.
      • Tracks: 5, 7, 10 only appear on the UK release.
      • Tracks: 2, 4, 9 do not appear on the USA release.
      • Track: 5 also appears on When the Wind Blows (1984)

Sleeve Notes

These days my life seems somehow like a tired old cliche
A bad movie scene that just goes on and on
With dialogue like "It's so sad how fast time slips away"
Or "You never really miss them till they're gone"
Funny how these old cliches come true
Never thought I'd miss him but I do.

My father died in Summer, and all he left behind
Were little scraps of paper, little scraps of rhyme
I read them, and felt something inside me break
And angrily cried out "Too late, too late!"
Surely there must be something better
Surely there must be something better.

He and I were always strangers searchin' for someone
I was lookin' for a hero, and he a friend
So while I searched for my father he was lookin' for his son
And strangers we remained until the end
But the man who wrote his heart into those rhymes
I know he could have been a good friend of mine.

So I sit here where he lived and died, as the ghosts around me weave
As evening shadows lengthen on the wall
And in this bare and empty room it's easy to believe
That he never lived at all
But the little scraps of paper in my hand
Prove he lived to me; the father and the man.