TURN AND FACE THE WIND (BLISS)

This was written for, and first performed at, Sacha Fu Fen Quayle’s naming ceremony (and here she is, doing it) Her father John (a pilot - hence the refrain) asked Tom for a song that would welcome Sacha to her new home in Alderney, while remembering the many thousands of Chinese babies every year who, as he so sensitively put it, “never see the sun rise more than two or three times”

Sasha now has a little Chinese sister called Corey (for Harry Chapin's 'Corey's Coming')

NAPPER vocal BLISS mandocello, vocal

In a land of dreams and dragons, way out to the East

Rice and fruit and spices grew, plenty for a feast

But there was no justice, and the poor had all the pain

The rich had all the pickings, the time had come for change,

From the land beyond the sunset, came one man's Grand Idea

To treat all men as equal, set all men free from fear

But somehow things got muddled, the world became confused

The dream became a shadow, and the dragon was so bruised

So turn and face the wind - throw your arms out wide

Turn and face the wind - reach for the other side

Turn and face the wind - let your spirit climb

We'll be here to catch you - every time

This shining revolution, needed soldiers for the cause

So cry by cry an army grew, behind the cottage doors

But another hungry mouth appeared with new-born cry

And rice and fruit and spices, were soon in short supply

Again it seemed so simple, another Grand Idea

Word goes from the city, just one child for every pair

But love will have its moment, and it will not be repressed

And though men - and boys - are equal now, girls still take the test

The odds on your survival, I wouldn't dare to quote,

But many did what they could do, to give you that slim hope, when

From the lands beyond the sunset, a truly fine idea

Gave you a chance of liberty, of living without fear

And so the planes came from England, like dragons in the sky

Pushchairs on the tarmac, hope in every eye

The dragon may be far away, but the dream is here to stay

And there's rice and fruit and spices - every day