Leaving Nancy

Eric Bogle



In comes the train and the whole platform shakes,
It stops with a shudder, and a screaming of brakes,
The parting has come,and my weary soul aches,
I'm leaving my Nancy O

But you stand there so calmly determinedly gay,
And you talk of the weather and events of the day,
But your eyes tell me all that your tongue doesn't say,
Goodbye my Nancy O

CHORUS
And come a little closer,put your head upon my shoulder,
And let me hold you one more time,before the whistle blows.

My suitcase is lifted and stowed on the train,
And a thousand regrets whirl around in my brain,
And the ache in my heart is a black sea of pain,
Im leaving my Nancy O

And you stand there so calmly so lovely to see,
But the grip of your hand is an unspoken plea,
You're not fooling yourself,and you're not fooling me,
Good-by my Nancy O

For our time has run out and the whistle has blown,
And here I must leave you standing alone,
We have so little time and now the time's gone
Good-bye my Nancy O

And as the train starts gently to roll,
And as I lean out to wave and to call,
I see your first tears,trickle and fall,
Good-bye my Nancy O

Leaving Nancy was the first song Eric wrote for himself, about the pain as he left his mother Nancy at the train station when he was emigrating to Australia.

I first heard this song performed by Eric at the Rialto Theatre in Brisbane in the mid-1980s (before it burnt down).