I Said I'd Plant It, and I Did

Lyrics

Twenty years ago I told my mother
I would plant a pear tree by the wall
She laughed and said, you say a lot of things, love
But the spade was leaning, and I let it fall

Life got loud and then it got complicated
Houses, jobs, and roads that wouldn't end
But the promise sat there in my pocket
Like a seed I never learned to spend

I said I'd plant it, and I did
Dug it deep and set it straight
Better late than never, that's what the soft ground said
Under the gate, under the grey
I said I'd plant it, and I did
Now the roots go down where the words once lay
A promise kept is a slow green thing
That grows a little every day

I drove the old road back on Sunday
With a sapling wrapped up in the back
The spade was still there in the shed, still leaning
Rust and all, it never lost the knack

I said I'd plant it, and I did
Dug it deep and set it straight
Better late than never, that's what the soft ground said
Under the gate, under the grey
I said I'd plant it, and I did
Now the roots go down where the words once lay
A promise kept is a slow green thing
That grows a little every day

She isn't here to see the blossom
But I stood there with my hands in the clay
And I said it out loud to the quiet garden
Mother, I did it, I came back to stay

I said I'd plant it, and I did
Dug it deep and set it straight
Better late than never, that's what the soft ground said
Under the gate, under the grey
I said I'd plant it, and I did
Now the roots go down where the words once lay
A promise kept is a slow green thing
That grows a little every day

I said I'd plant it, and I did
And I did