Chords for The Day I Went Back Home

_ [Eb] _ _ [Bb] _ _ [Eb] _
I _ [Bb] drove up the old home valley with some sadness and some [Eb] joy
But the old place [Eb] seemed so different since I [G] lived there as [Bb] a boy
_ _ Every mile or so along the road [Ab] there used to be [Eb] a farm
[Ab] A cozy [Eb] kind of way of [Bb] life away from [Eb] fear and harm
_ But time has changed the valley, [Bb] all the families [Eb] now are gone
A way of life has vanished [Fm] and to me it all [Bb] seems wrong
Oh, the old creek road was lonely, [Bb] [Ab] there's not much [Eb] traffic now
There's no more cultivation, it's used for [Bb] grazing cattle [Eb] now
I walked up the old home [Bb] paddock, the grass was green and long
To [Ab] the back door of [Eb] the old place, oh, [G] I'd been away [Bb] so long
The [Bb] old back door swung open [Ab] and I looked into [Eb] the hall
[Ab] The kitchen [Eb] hadn't changed much, [Bb] seemed older [Eb] and so small _
[Ab] Oh, the old home [Eb] seemed so [Bb] lonely and the rooms were [Eb] bare and plain
[Ab] I knew this was the last time, [F] I felt saddened [Bb] and ashamed _
[Eb] Though mum and [Bb] dad were buried about fifty [Eb] miles away
[Ab] I knew we [Eb] were together in the old place there that day _ _
Oh, the old dining room was still a grand place, [F] seemed so big when I was young
At [Bb] a dance one night it's here I heard my first Jimmy Rogers [Eb] song
I walked up the [Bb] hall, opened the door, the [Eb] veranda boards were gone
[Ab] That's where daddy played [Eb] the fiddle and I [Bb] sang and [Eb] strummed along _
_ [Ab] _ _ _ _ [Eb] _
_ _ _ [Bb] _ _ _
_ _ [Eb] _ _ I [Ab] walked outside to the [Eb] tank stand, [Bb] imagined I could [Eb] see
Old [Ab] dad sitting [Eb] with his pipe, some [F] scones and a cup of [Bb] tea
_ Though [Eb] all [Bb] the other buildings had [Eb] vanished to thin air
[Ab] The old place stood in [Eb] majesty, [Bb] so proud to still be [Eb] there
I _ _ walked around [Bb] the paddocks, too deep in thought [Eb] to speak
_ [Ab] [Eb] Tasted an old speckled orange [G] from a tree down by [Bb] the creek _ _
[Eb] Some sad old trees [Bb] were standing that were [Eb] old when I was young
[Ab] That cattle camp of apple gums [Bb] where the mulkers used [Eb] to come
Then [Ab] I got that [Eb] same old feeling [Bb] that I'd known so [Eb] long ago
It [Ab] said, move on [Eb] restless stranger, [Ab] it's time for you [Bb] to go _ _
With the strangest kind of mixture [Ab] of happiness [Eb] and pain
I knew then that I'd never [Bb]
come back to the creek [Eb] again
As I turned [Bb] around to travel back along the gravel [Eb] road
[Ab] I'm sure I heard a [Eb] distant voice say, [F] take the long [Bb] straight road
For [Eb] a few [Bb] unbelieving moments [Ab] the old place looked [Eb] the same
_ [Ab] [Bb] Cultivation, cows and buildings, then all was [Eb] gone again _ _ _
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[F] _ _ [Bb] _ _ _ _
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