Keris

My friend Chris Croughton, aka Keris, died on Thursday, as a result of a road traffic incident.

I’ve only just got the news. I wasn’t working on Friday, and was out for much of yesterday, so hadn’t caught up on email and stuff. This morning I got up, and found several subscription requests for my FILK_UK mailist – more activity than usual. I wondered what was up in the filk world, but didn’t think for one moment that it would be bad news like this.

Over the last few weeks, Keris and I had been talking about him coming over here for the New Year weekend, and discussing whether or not he would be interested if I set up a gaming session while he was here, or did he just want to kick back and relax with food, drink, some TV or some music. Typically, he replied “All of the above?”, and I was really looking forward to having him stay.

At such times, I do find it exceedingly difficult to put my feelings into words, so I hope folk won’t think it too self-indugent if I post a song. This was written a decade ago, following an equally sudden and meaningless loss of a friend, and it expresses everything I want to say.

Tomorrow’s So Far Away
Words and Music: Chris Malme

I couldn’t say I knew him well
Someone I counted as a friend, a pal
But I never found the time to get to know this friend of mine
And now he’s gone I wish I could
Too late for it to do us any good

     For we always had tomorrow for the things we never did today
     But don’t you know tomorrow’s so far away.

Long time ago, I can recall
When all of us were young and every day was full
Of adventure, games and fun, with each moment precious, every one
With all the time we’d ever need
I wonder where’s that boy I used to be

     For we always had tomorrow for the things we never did today
     But don’t you know tomorrow’s so far away.

          Why does it take a moment like this
          To make us question the way we choose to live

I couldn’t say I knew him well
But still I’ll miss him more than words can tell
So we will take his song, and sing it loud and sing it strong
But it will never sound the same
Without his voice there, joining the refrain

     And we always had tomorrow for the things we never did today
     But don’t you know tomorrow’s so far away.
     Yes we always had tomorrow for the things we never did today
     But don’t you know tomorrow’s so far away.
     Oh don’t you know tomorrow’s so far away.

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