A Woman Unknown
From the Album The Minstrel
I see her walking in the street each day
Nothing to say, in a world of her own
Looking twice the years that she has had
Life is bad, for the woman unknown
Collecting bits in bags
Like diamonds in her hand
Just how much they mean to her
We’ll never understand
Chorus
Were you a dancer or once a beauty queen
Were you a famous actress on the silver screen
Or maybe all you wanted were the simple things in life
A happy home and children and to be somebody’s wife
Now leaves are falling and the summer’s gone
Will you carry on, living day to day
Sleeping in shop windows where we buy and sell
And know too well, that you’re the price we pay
Perhaps your only crime
Was to trust in someone bad
How I wish I could give to you
The life you never had
THE STORY BEHIND THE SONG
There used to be a homeless woman in Brighton, that walked the streets with a shopping trolley and dozens of plastic bags. The first time I saw her, it occurred to me that when we see homeless people, it is easy to forget that they weren’t always homeless. Many of them were successful professionals, loving parents or people who led normal lives. All of them had once been children with a future.