Scroll down to see FULL LYRICS & CD / MUSIC Information.
BACKGROUND NOTES
May 28th 2000 was the day when the Sydney Harbour Bridge was closed to vehicles so that people could walk across it in support of Reconciliation with the indigenous people of Australia.
My wife Madge and I were in a bus-load of people who came from the Southern Highlands to Sydney to walk across the Bridge. On that bright, cold day, about 250,000 people did the same - "a river of good will" that flowed across the Bridge for more than six hours.
As we walked, a tiny silver plane ascended the cloudless sky. With smoke, it slowly wrote a single word "Sorry". It was such a blessed and happy day, I had to write this song - the first seed of which was the opening line. "You hardly feel the cold on a day like this".
P.K
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lyrics
ON A DAY LIKE THIS (The Bridge Song)
Ah you hardly feel the cold on a day like this
You’re walking in the sun on a day like this
You’ve never felt alive in a way like this
since the day you fell in love.
And the city’s so fresh in the morning light
You’re walking on the bridge with the black and white
There’s laughter in the air and the mood is right -
It's a river of good will.
CHORUS:
It’s a slow time together in no time at all.
There’s a plane up high and it’s writing in the sky
One word - one great word: 'Sorry'
And the people cheer and cry for such completion
On a day like this.
Strangers say hello on a day like this.
The spirit can survive on a day like this
The future of the land is made from this -
The Flowing of good will.
Aah the traffic is away, it’s out of sight.
It’s windy on the bridge but our ranks are tight.
From toddlers to greys there’s great delight
As the people claim the day. CHORUS
Oh I know there’s still a long way that we surely have to go
Yes, but my old friend in the wheel chair says,
“we’ll make it there I know”
And some Koories by the road applaud our motley crew -
We will come through on a day like this.
Oh you hardly feel the cold on a day like this.
You’re walking in the sun on a day like this.
You’ve never felt alive in a way like this
since the day we fell in love.
And the people are a flood for many’s the mile.
The officers in blue can’t help but smile.
The shiny black girl is dressed in style -
So glad she came today.
FINAL CHORUS:
It’s a slow time together in no time at all
There’s a plane up high and it’s writing in the sky
One word - one great word: 'Sorry'.
And the people cheer and cry for such completion
On a day like this. On a day like this. On a day like this.
Words and music by Peter Kearney
credits
released May 22, 2020
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RELATED RESOURCES
Available for purchase through Peter Kearney's Online Store:
1. CD 'Islands of the Heart' containing this song and fourteen other tracks is available. Link: peterkearneysongs.com.au/product/356144
2. MUSIC BOOK: 'Islands of the Heart' is available. It contains ''On a Day Like This and fourteen other songs . Link: peterkearneysongs.com.au/product/553816
3. PDF Music for ' On a Day Like This (The Bridge Song)' and fourteen other songs: LINK: peterkearneysongs.com.au/product/566505
THE RECORDING:
Arranged, produced and recorded by Peter Kearney in The Little Portion Studio, Welby.
VOCALS: Peter Kearney - male vocal.
Female vocals: Louise Cassidy, Catherine Mahony & Clare Michael
MUSIC: Guitar, bass, recorders and autoharp played by Peter Kearney
Drums by Lachlan McBean
Peter Kearney is an Australian songwriter and singer. His early folk-hymns 'Fill My House' & 'The Beatitudes' are
internationally known. He has written many other songs of justice and peace, songs for children, and a musical-narrative on St. Francis of Assisi. His published recordings include 153 original songs.
LINKS BELOW are for Peter's:
- Website
- Online store
- Facebook Artist Page....more
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