I remember that summer, a long time ago
The waiting and the weather, wondering if they’d show
Flying high over white cliffs, over fields and sand
Looking down and protecting this green pleasant land
Now they ask, 'was it exciting, well you must’ve been so proud
A swooping and a soaring way up in the clouds
Mister how many did you get, how many did you kill?'
But me I think of lost friends, I’m thinking of them still
But if you ask me I’ll tell you
It felt just like dancing
Dancing on air
A dance for survival
A dance of despair
Life on the edge
Living life to the full
For death or glory
Oh glory, so cruel
So I stand on the white cliffs, at Capel-le-Ferne
There’s a band and a fly past, how the years have flown
As I stand in the crowd there, I feel so alone
Well the Few they get fewer, and soon we’ll be gone
But if you ask me I’ll tell you
It felt just like dancing
Dancing on air
A dance for survival
A dance of despair
Life on the edge
Living life to the full
For death or glory
Oh glory, so cruel
Oh glory, so cruel
The waiting and the weather, wondering if they’d show
Flying high over white cliffs, over fields and sand
Looking down and protecting this green pleasant land
Now they ask, 'was it exciting, well you must’ve been so proud
A swooping and a soaring way up in the clouds
Mister how many did you get, how many did you kill?'
But me I think of lost friends, I’m thinking of them still
But if you ask me I’ll tell you
It felt just like dancing
Dancing on air
A dance for survival
A dance of despair
Life on the edge
Living life to the full
For death or glory
Oh glory, so cruel
So I stand on the white cliffs, at Capel-le-Ferne
There’s a band and a fly past, how the years have flown
As I stand in the crowd there, I feel so alone
Well the Few they get fewer, and soon we’ll be gone
But if you ask me I’ll tell you
It felt just like dancing
Dancing on air
A dance for survival
A dance of despair
Life on the edge
Living life to the full
For death or glory
Oh glory, so cruel
Oh glory, so cruel
Contributed by Greg Harper - 2024/2/10 - 20:03
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"At the beginning of July 2010 I visited the Battle of Britain memorial site, on the cliffs, at Capel-le-Ferne, near Folkstone, in Kent
It was just a couple of days before the annual ceremony, which was held to mark, and remember, the start of that battle in 1940.
As I stood there on the cliff edge looking out towards France, I tried to imagine what the remaining members of the' Few' might have been thinking, each time that they attended the event over the years. What thoughts did they have as the dignitaries spoke, as the band played, and the flypast went over their heads?
My song Capel-le-Ferne is what I imagine they might have been thinking, on that day, and maybe every other day, for the preceding 70 years.
Now in February 2024, 14 years after I wrote Capel-le-Ferne, Group Captain John Hemingway (aged 104) is the last remaining living member of the Few ."
Greg Harper