The Shopfront in the Shoebox

Lyrics

A shoebox in the attic, string around its waist
Inside, a square of paper gone the colour of tea
My father by the shopfront in his Sunday coat
Squinting at the sun, and at me

The awning has a stripe I never could remember
The sign above the door in careful, hand-drawn gold
A bicycle leans waiting by the window glass
And nobody is older than they're told

Hold it to the light, hold it to the light
Every face is leaning from the past
The shopfront in the shoebox, the day that did not last
And somehow it is standing here at last
Hold it to the light, hold it to the light
Let the afternoon come through
The shopfront in the shoebox, and a father, young and new
Still waiting there for you

There's a shadow at the edge, a hand, a sleeve
Someone held the camera, someone loved us both
I turn it over: pencil, faded, one date
And a word that says, Be home by close

I never asked him what he thought that day
What he hoped, what he feared as the street went by
Now the paper holds the whole of it, quiet
And I am the one who asks, and I

Hold it to the light, hold it to the light
Every face is leaning from the past
The shopfront in the shoebox, the day that did not last
And somehow it is standing here at last
Hold it to the light, hold it to the light
Let the afternoon come through
The shopfront in the shoebox, and a father, young and new
Still waiting there for you

Be home by close
Be home by close