Sometimes a stranger comes to sing
And joins the room where we are playing.
We listen to the song they bring
And hope they’ll end up staying.
For we have all been strangers too:
We’ve all stood watching from some doorway
Waiting for our song to come
Hoping they’d sing it our way.
So strangers come and friends remain –
New voices with old voices blending –
As old friends go, new friends remain:
The song it has no ending.
So all who hear may hear us sing:
The song goes on, the song goes on
From year to year the voices ring:
The song goes on.
Old songs won’t fade from every heart,
Old friends won’t ever be forgotten,
If only we can play our part:
The song goes on!
There was a time when people sang
As readily as blackbirds calling:
At work, at play, at dawn of day
And when the night was falling.
We cannot say we know those times,
There’s nothing now can bring us near them,
But we can say we know those songs
And we still can hear them.
As old songs fade, new songs remain –
New voices with old voices blending –
And though songs fade, they still remain:
The song need have no ending.
So all who hear may hear us sing…
Perhaps a life is like a song,
The passing years like verse and chorus:
Gone all too soon, remembered long,
An inspiration for us.
A song well sung, a life well spent
Can help us as we make our way on.
And we can follow where they went
And let their music play on.
So, singing through the changing years,
New voices with old voices blending,
Though old friends go, they still remain:
May their song have no ending!
So all who hear may hear us sing:
The song goes on, the song goes on
From year to year the voices ring:
The song goes on.
Old songs won’t fade from every heart,
Old friends won’t ever be forgotten,
If only we can play our part:
The song goes on!
Phil Edwards, 2018
Dedicated to Les Jones, Dave Herron and Bob van Gaalen
Fifty-Two Folk Songs 
Hi Phil,
Love ‘The Song Goes on’ – has it been recorded, what’s the tune?
Best wishes, Eric.
That’s actually rather a sore point! I came up with the tune & thought it was original, sang the song in a few places & generally found it well received. Then one day I was in a session where somebody sang When All Men Sing. Oh dear. It’s not the *same* tune, but it’s close enough to be an obvious – albeit unconscious – rip-off.
I have high hopes for TSGO becoming a singaround standard, but first I’m going to have to write it a new tune.
Update: I have a tune!
X:1
T:The Song Goes On
T:A song for singarounds
C:Phil Edwards 2021
K:Gmaj
M:4/4
M:4/4
L:1/4
||zD|D>GGG|FGA>c|B>AGA|BA B/2G/2 z/2B/2|
cAAc|BAG>B|AGFE|F/2D/2z2c|
dedc|BAG>B|AGFG|FEF/2D/2z|
DGGG|F>GAc|BGAF|AGzc|
dedc|BAGd|dedB|AGFE|FDz||D|
DGGG|FGA>c|BAG>B|AFDz/2D/2|
D>GG>G|FGA>c|B2A2|G3c|
dedc|BAGc|dedAB/2d/2 z/2c/2|
dedc|BAG>B|A2F2|G2z2||
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