Chords for BILLY FURY

[N] _ Don't leave [D] me half way _ to _ [G] _ _
paradise
_ _ _ [D] So near, [A] yet so [D] far away _ _
_ He [Bb] was just 42.
The former Mersey Tugboat Hand shot to fame as one of the first real pop stars of the late 50s.
His real name was Ronald [A] Witcherly and he was England's answer to Elvis Presley
and all that without ever having a number one hit.
[Db] Throughout his career he [C] was troubled by a heart complaint and he underwent major surgery twice during the 70s.
Last year his attempt to come back was also cut short [G] by illness.
_ Tributes are already [Cm] pouring in from people like Cliff Richard and [C] Alvin Stardust.
Tonight we spoke [Bb] to the Liverpool DJ Billy Butler who knew Billy Fury in the days [C] of the Mersey Beat.
He was a [Ab] fan [F] during his early days [A] in the Hip Parade and I was lucky enough to have Billy as a person through [Ab] my profession in the same business.
I met him quite a few [Gb] times in the _ [G] [Gb] 70s and during the late 60s.
[D] What was he like?
He was a very shy person.
He was nothing like he was on [Ab] stage.
He was very shy.
As you know he was very concerned about [Gb] animals and wildlife.
_ I think at times [B] he left his singing days behind him and he was quite happy just [A] being with the animals he loved and [Bb]
conserving animal life.
That was what he was into.
Because as you [B] know he was a very sick person.
He was one of the first real rock and roll [Gb] stars.
What do you think he did [D] for music?
I think he [B] was the only rock and roll star.
Cliff Richard wasn't really a rock and roller.
Marty Wilde wasn't a rock and roller.
Billy Fury [Db] was.
He was the [Gb] naughty boy of British pop [Db] music.
He had curtains rung down on him.
[B] Parents protested about him.
He was the rock and roller.
[A] Cliff was the boy next door.
Marty was the boy he wanted to grow up with.
Billy was the [Gb] one that frightened the parents.
But he [Cm] never did get a number one [F] hit did he?
He never got a number one note because he made [Bb] most of his hits with big ballads which didn't really go with [B] his stage act.
It's one of them things.
There's [Bb] footballers who get capped for [C] England and the great.
Fury was great.
He never had a number one.
So what?
He's probably lasted longer than British pop music [A] legend and some of the people who were going at [G] the same time.
Billy Butter [Db] on Billy Fury who died.
Billy Fury a former [Bb] Mersey River tug hand was famous for his [G] sultry image and his [B] wild and moody performances of hits like Halfway to Paradise.
Many aficionados of the pop business rate Billy [G] as one of the best rock and rollers [Eb] Britain has [Fm] ever produced.
_ [G] _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ [G] _ _ _ _
[F] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[Am] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ [F] Oh, it's such a pity.
_ You're so pretty.
I'll keep you all the spring.
[G] Honey, you'll do more than anything but don't knock _ [C] _ _
upon you anymore.
I [Dm] don't love you as before.
We [Am] get in just before [G] you do.
[F] No _ [C] more.
[F] Yeah.
_ _ But [Ab] there was another quieter side to Billy Fury.
Later in life, [A] he used his pop [C] earnings to buy [G] a sheep farm in [Db] the depths [C] of the Welsh countryside [Ab] where he was able to [G] relax from the strains of a life spent battling against [Db] illness.
[A] He'd already [Em] undergone major open heart surgery and he was still fighting constant ill health.
When James Hogg went to talk to him for Nationwide last summer, it turned out to be one of Billy's last [Gbm] interviews.
You [Bb] enjoy growing up in Liverpool?
[A] I didn't enjoy my childhood very much [Eb] at all. Why?
Well, I [Ab] was a very, _ I was always sick.
I was always in [G] hospital _ [F] doctors or I was lying in bed [G] somewhere.
_ And I [Ab] missed a hell of a lot of my [F] schooling.
_ And every [Gb] time I got back to school, I didn't know the kids.
I was a kind of always [G] the stranger. _ _
[Ab] And I didn't go on with the kids and I didn't go on with the teachers. _
I was just glad to [G] leave.
_ [C] Did you turn to [D] music because of that, do you [G] think?
I think I turned to music because [Bb] I enjoyed it, number one.
_ [F] _ _ [G] Number two, I think I probably dreamed about being a singer but never thought it would [Em] happen. _
And also [Gb] because when I was [F] writing my songs, I was kind of alone.
And I just [G] enjoyed being alone.
I was very much a [Em]
loner.
La la la [A] la la la la [Em] la la _ _ _ _ _ [G] _
_ _ _ _ _ [Gb] la la la la
Billy Fury, who died this [C] afternoon at the tragically young age of [G] 41 following a heart attack.
Well, that's it from Nationwide for tonight.
_where
he was born.
[Db] Over 15 years, he had 26 hits and only The Beatles and [G] Presley spent more time in the charts.
The more I fight [A] against it.
Right.
Have you looked at [Gb] death at all in any of your illnesses?
_ [G] Sure, I think I've looked at death probably, well, [Bb] twice anyway.
Oh no, three times.
Oh no, sorry, four [Am] times.
Keep it going.
Fine.
Have you learned anything?
[D] Were you frightened by it?
I've learned that _ I've been shy all my life [G] and suddenly _ I missed [Ab] out meeting a lot of great people.
I missed out [A] on a lot of great musical [Bb] experiences because of my shyness.
And in the last 12 months, [Ab] I decided to try [Gm] and get on [G] with my life and do the things I [A] enjoy.
And just forget about tomorrow.
[D] I want _ to be your lover, _ _ _ but your friend _ [B] is all I [A] say.
_ _ _ I'm only [D] _
halfway _ _ _ to [G] _ _
paradise.
_ _ Life's [A] so near yet so far _ [D] away.
_ _ I long for your _ _ lips _ to kiss my _ lips.
_ But just when _ I think [A] they may, _ _ you leave [D] me.
I'm only halfway _ to [G] _ _
_ _ paradise.
_ [D] So [A] near yet so [D] far away.
_ _ [G] Whoa, whoa, whoa, [D] so near [A] yet so [D] far away.
_ _ _ [G] Mmm, [D] so _ near [A] yet so far away.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _