Biography:
Peter Joseph Andrew Hammill (born 5 November 1948, in Ealing, West London, England) is a singer-songwriter, and a founding member of progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Most noted for his vocal abilities, his main instruments are guitar and piano. He also acts as a record producer for his own recordings, and occasionally for other artists.
With an extensive solo career spanning dozens of albums, Peter Hammill is certainly more than just the front-man and leader of Van Der Graaf Generator (VdGG).
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Forsaken Gardens (PETER HAMMILL: The Silent Corner, The Empty Stage)
(No chords, just voice.)
F Dm
Where are all the joys of yesterday?
F (already piano:) Dm
Where, now, is the happiness and laughter that we shared?
Am7 G
Gone, like our childhood dreams, aspirations and beliefs -
Am F
Time is a thief, and he ravages our gardens,
Dm
stripping saplings, felling trees,
F Dm
trampling on our flowers, sucking sap and drying seeds.
Am G
In the midnight candle-light of experience
Am D C B
all colour fades, green fingers grey...
G Em
Time, alone, shall murder all the flowers,
G F
still, there's time to share our plots and all that we call 'ours'.
Am F
How much worse, then, if we all deny each others' needs
A# F Dm C
and keep our garden's privately?
Am Em
Its getting colder, wind and rain leave gashes;
Am F G Am G Am
looking back, I only see the friends I've lost.
Am Em
Fires smoulder, raking through the ashes
Am
my hands are dirty, my mind is numb,
F G Am G F
I count the cost of 'I':
Em Bm
"I need to get on, I've got to tend my garden;
Em C D Em Bm
got to shut you out, no time to crave your pardon no_ ow".
F#m Bm G# A# C
F Dm
Now I see the garden that I've grown is just the same
as those outside;
F D#
the fences, [that] erected to protect, simply divide...
Gm
There's ruination everywhere, the weather has
D#
played havoc with the grass -
Gm F
does anyone believe his [their] garden's really going to last?
Am F
[and] In the time allotted us, can any man keep miserly his own?
Am F Em Am
Is there any pleasure in a solitary growth?
F G Am G Am Em Am
Am G Am G F
Em Bm Em C D Em
Bm F#m Bm G# A# C C# Fm
F Dm
Come and see my garden if you will -
F Dm
I'd like someone to see it all before each root is killed.
Am7 G
Surely now its time to open up each life to all -
Am7 D C B
tear down the walls, if its not too late!
G Em
There is so much sorrow in the world;
G F
there is so much emptiness and heartbreak and pain;
Am F
Somewhere on the road we have all taken a wrong turn -
A# F Dm C F C A#
how can we build the right path aga_ _in?
Am7 Gm
Through the grief, through the pain,
Am7
our flowers need each others' rain...
Credit to: Jose Javier Glaria at Hammill.ru
(No chords, just voice.)
F Dm
Where are all the joys of yesterday?
F (already piano:) Dm
Where, now, is the happiness and laughter that we shared?
Am7 G
Gone, like our childhood dreams, aspirations and beliefs -
Am F
Time is a thief, and he ravages our gardens,
Dm
stripping saplings, felling trees,
F Dm
trampling on our flowers, sucking sap and drying seeds.
Am G
In the midnight candle-light of experience
Am D C B
all colour fades, green fingers grey...
G Em
Time, alone, shall murder all the flowers,
G F
still, there's time to share our plots and all that we call 'ours'.
Am F
How much worse, then, if we all deny each others' needs
A# F Dm C
and keep our garden's privately?
Am Em
Its getting colder, wind and rain leave gashes;
Am F G Am G Am
looking back, I only see the friends I've lost.
Am Em
Fires smoulder, raking through the ashes
Am
my hands are dirty, my mind is numb,
F G Am G F
I count the cost of 'I':
Em Bm
"I need to get on, I've got to tend my garden;
Em C D Em Bm
got to shut you out, no time to crave your pardon no_ ow".
F#m Bm G# A# C
F Dm
Now I see the garden that I've grown is just the same
as those outside;
F D#
the fences, [that] erected to protect, simply divide...
Gm
There's ruination everywhere, the weather has
D#
played havoc with the grass -
Gm F
does anyone believe his [their] garden's really going to last?
Am F
[and] In the time allotted us, can any man keep miserly his own?
Am F Em Am
Is there any pleasure in a solitary growth?
F G Am G Am Em Am
Am G Am G F
Em Bm Em C D Em
Bm F#m Bm G# A# C C# Fm
F Dm
Come and see my garden if you will -
F Dm
I'd like someone to see it all before each root is killed.
Am7 G
Surely now its time to open up each life to all -
Am7 D C B
tear down the walls, if its not too late!
G Em
There is so much sorrow in the world;
G F
there is so much emptiness and heartbreak and pain;
Am F
Somewhere on the road we have all taken a wrong turn -
A# F Dm C F C A#
how can we build the right path aga_ _in?
Am7 Gm
Through the grief, through the pain,
Am7
our flowers need each others' rain...
Credit to: Jose Javier Glaria at Hammill.ru
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