As I walked out one morning fair
I found myself drawn thoughtlessly
Back to the place we used to live
And you still do, now without me
Around back, away from the road
Behind the bins, beneath your window
I found the hulk, the rusting bulk
Of a shattered old piano
Someone had torn out some of the keys
With cruel care, not thoughtlessly
In such a way that one could only play
Minor melodies
So I sat down in my sadness
Beneath your window
And I played sad songs on the minor keys
Of a broken piano
A sinner amongst saved men
On the banks of the muddy Thames
As I have wandered through this city
Like a child lost in the London fog
From Highgate Hill, down to the river
Then washed downstream past the Isle of Dogs
I've had time enough to think upon
The question of what kind of songs
That you would choose to listen to
Now that I am gone
And as I drift beneath that bridge
Just down the road from where you live
I've often thought I might have caught
Your voice upon the wind
But as I stroked those broken keys
You did not join in harmony
So I sat down in my sadness
Beneath your window
And I played sad songs on the minor keys
Of a broken piano
A sinner amongst saved men
On the banks of the muddy Thames
On the banks of the muddy Thames
On the banks of the muddy Thames