Album: Green Green Grass Of Home (1966)

Charted: 1 11

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• The old home town looks the same as I step down from the train,
  And there to meet me is my Mama and Papa.
  Down the road I look and there runs Mary hair of gold and lips like cherries.
  It's good to touch the green, green grass of home.
  Yes, they'll all come to meet me, arms reaching, smiling sweetly.
  It's good to touch the green, green grass of home.
  The old house is still standing tho' the paint is cracked and dry,
  And there's that old oak tree I used to play on.
  
  Down the lane I walk with my sweet Mary, hair of gold and lips like cherries.
  It's good to touch the green, green grass of home.
  
  Then I awake and look around me, at four grey wall surround me
  And I realize that I was only dreaming.
  For there's a guard and there's a sad old padre -
  Arm in arm we'll walk at daybreak.
  Again I touch the green, green grass of home.
  Yes, they'll all come to see me in the shade of that old oak tree
  As they lay me neath the green, green grass of home. Writer/s: Curly Putman
  Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 23

• Callasda from LondonJones' own TV programme in the UK was produced by ATV and not ABC-TV as mentioned below
• Gillian De Verbeke from Dover, Kent United KingdomJust remembering this song from the 1960's... my teenage years!!!
• David from Sa Diegoas nice as this version is to reminisce, hear this outstanding piece written in 1876 and sung by the Petersens: “Sweet Beulah Land” bit.ly/43K3I5t go to 14:58.
• David Martin from Hickory NcPorter Waggoner did the song best. Sad. Many hany have went this path.. A Great Song.
• Seventhmist from 7th HeavenI liked the cover Johnny Cash did of this one better. It was more his style of song, especially because he was always associated with prisons.
• Paula from Georgia I always thought it was one of those subtle Vietnam protest songs, like “Galveston” and “Last Train to Clarksville.”
• Mehmet from IstanbulAt the end they buried hım beneath the tree. The music is nice but the lyrics too depressive....how could someone write something like this? Must be crazy, but anyway I like the music best.
• Lisa from Chicago - Usa Shane - I don't think you're wrong. The very last line is, "Yes, they'll all come to meet me, in the shade of that old oak tree, as they lay me neath the green green grass of home". Based on the last line and the 4 gray walls, I wasn't sure myself if he was coming home from prison, war or a concentration camp, but it's was clear he's dead.
• Gq from CyprusGQGeorge released a great Green green grass of home cover also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACrYUjRJkeU
• Mark from LondonYou could combine it with Delilah and expand them into a film.
• Shane from Usa MichiganMan I was wrong about how I thought about this song... My vision... I thought he was coming home dead in a coffin. I guess, I was wrong. Lyrics "Four gray walls that surround me" I thought that was the interior of a coffin.
• Shane from Usa MichiganYou Tube has Port Wagner on TV in 1964 singing this song. It hit the charts like Barry - Sauquoit, Ny said in 1965. But it was recorded in 1964.
• Shane from Usa MichiganI think this might be wrong... "1964 initially recorded by: Country singer Johnny Darrell" I am sure it was initially recorded by: Port Wagner. Anybody have a comment?
• Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn February 7th 1969, Tom Jones performed "Green Green Grass of Home" on his own ABC-TV program 'This Is Tom Jones'...
  It was the debut show of the musical/variety series that aired from 1969 to 1971 with a total of 65 episodes.
• Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn December 18th 1966 "Green, Green Grass of Home" by Tom Jones entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart; and on February 12th, 1967 it peaked at #11 (for 1 week)and spent 12 weeks on the Top 100...
  On December 3rd, 1966 it reached #1 (for 7 weeks) on the United Kingdom's NME chart...
  It was originally recorded in 1965 by country singer Johnny Darrel, his version didn't make the chart but later in 1965 Porter Wagner covered it and his version peaked at #4 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart...
  R.I.P. Mr. Darrel (1940 - 1997), Mr. Wagner (1927 - 2007), and Mr. Jones, born Thomas John Woodward, will celebrate his 74th birthday come next June 7th.
• Thomas Leonard from Pittsburgh, Pa, PaJones also hit big with his cover version of Bobby Bare's Country Cross Over hit "Detroit City" (US #27, UK Top 10) later in 1967. Another country song, "Funny, Familiar, Forgotten, Feelings" also hit the UK Top 10 for him that year. In the late 70's and early 80s, Jones recorded mostly in Nashville, almost exclusively country music, and had multiple Top 20 hits on the US Country Charts including "Touch Me (I'll Be Your Fool Once More)" and "Woman's Touch". His 1977 single "Say You'll Stay Until Tomorrow" made Jones the first artist ti hit No. 1 on the US Country Charts with their first ever country chart hit (It peaked at US #15 on the pop charts).
• Bob from Bismarck, NdJoan Baez does a VERY NICE version of this lovely, sad song.
• Gary A. Stansbury from Wall Twp., NjStationed in Germany in the U.S.Army, 1966-1968, this song was played over and over in the juke box
  by homesick soldiers. To this day,I always think of Germany, and my youth!
• Daniel from Seattle, WaPeople who enjoy this song should read the Ambrose Bierce short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge."
• Mike from Seattle, WaThere is a great cover that can be found at i-tunes by the Inkspots. I play this at 4th of July picnics and think about P.O.W.s returning back home, even though it obviously is about a convict awaiting capital punishment.
• Erlend from Sandvika, NorwayComment to Andrew's comment: It's not someone glad to be home. The 4th verse, which is - I think - supposed to be spoken - explains everything. "For there's a guard and a sad old padre, arm in arm we'll walk at daybreak" - this is about a guy in prison about to be killed by the state; the padre is the prison chaplain accompanying him. Usually, only the first 3 verses are used. They stand well on their own, but it kinda ruins the song - because the most important thing to it is the... Twist ending, when you realise that it's not a nice song of longing for home, but the last thoughts of a condemned man.
• Andrew from Birmingham, United StatesI always thought that "Green, Green Grass of Home" was about a soldier who finally returned home from war. Oh, but it's a prison period that's over, not a war period. My bad! In any case, it's about a guy who's glad to be home after a long time away.
• The Last Dj from Hell.a., CaTom Jones knocked ol' Curly's song out of the park! However, let's not forget that the "Man in Black" also covered this song triumphantly on his 1968 Folsom Prison album. Other artists who have coverd this song; Mr. Elvis Aaron Presley and Kenny Rogers. Note: Looking for a great country song recorded by Tom Jones? Darlin', off of the album by the same name.

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