Never Learned Your Name, Number Seven

Lyrics

You water your tomatoes when the light goes gold
I hear your tap run slowly, and the kettle getting old
Seven years of nodding, over the low fence
We trade the weather's moods, and never much more sense

Your radio plays softly through the thin back wall
A cricket match in summer, a hymn when leaves fall
I know your cough in winter, I know your step at ten
And still I could not tell you your name if asked again

Oh, neighbour, number seven, never learned your name
But I know the way you hang your washing in the rain
We are strangers by the hedgerow, and friends by the light
You leave the porch lamp burning, and I sleep easy at night

When I was ill in March you left a loaf on the stair
No note, no knock, no question, just the warm bread there
I stood a long time in the hallway with the crumbs
And wished I'd been the kind who knew how kindness comes

Oh, neighbour, number seven, never learned your name
But I know the way you hang your washing in the rain
We are strangers by the hedgerow, and friends by the light
You leave the porch lamp burning, and I sleep easy at night

Tomorrow I'll walk over, with a jar of plum jam
I'll say good evening, neighbour, and tell you who I am
And you may smile and tell me, or you may simply nod
Either way I'll thank you, for the quiet kind of God

Number seven, number seven
Late summer on the fence
I'll say it in the evening, when the swallows go
Hello, hello