After time in the Army Reserves, Paxton moved to New York City where he frequented the city's Greenwich Village coffeehouse circuit. His early success in Greenwich Village coffeehouses led to an ever-increasing circle of work. He made his professional debut at the Gaslight, the renowned folk haunt that also issued the singer's first album. In 1962 Gaslight Records would press 2,000 copies of his debut album, I'm The Man Who Built The Bridges.
Paxton also auditioned to join the Chad Mitchell Trio, but although he failed, the group enjoyed a 1963 hit with "The Marvelous Toy," one of Paxton's early songs. Paxton performed at the 1963 Newport Folk Festival, a performance that would be recorded-and released-by Vanguard Records. Paxton would go on to record a second album with Vanguard-at the Newport Folk Festival the following year - but his association with that record company lapsed, and it would not be until the year 2000 that Vanguard once again released a Tom Paxton album, Tom Paxton: Best of the Vanguard Years. In 1964 Paxton was signed to Elektra Records for whom he recorded his best-known work. Then in 1965 he made his first tour of the United Kingdom - the beginning of a still-thriving professional relationship that has included at least one tour in each of the succeeding years.
He and his wife Midge have been married since 1963 and have two daughters, Jennifer and Kate. All three women have served as inspiration for many of Paxton's songs. He now has three grandsons, Christopher, Sean, and Peter.
In addition to songwriting, Tom Paxton has written many critically acclaimed children's books, some of which were inspired by his songs for children.
He has performed thousands of concerts around the world in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Hong Kong, Scandinavia, France, Italy, Belgium, Holland, England, Scotland, Ireland and Canada. Paxton enjoys a strong relationship with fans throughout the world. His songs have experienced enduring appeal, including modern standards such as "The Last Thing on My Mind" (perhaps Paxton's best-known song, it has been recorded by dozens of artists, including Judy Collins, Sandy Denny, Dolly Parton, and Porter Wagoner), "Ramblin' Boy", "Bottle of Wine", "Whose Garden Was This", "The Marvelous Toy", and "The Hostage" (which recounts the 1971 uprising at Attica State Prison).
In February 2002, Tom Paxton was honored with the ASCAP Lifetime Achievement Award in Folk Music. A few days later, he received three Wammies (Washington, DC, Area Music Awards); as Best Male Vocalist in the "traditional folk" and "children's music" categories, and for Best Traditional Folk Recording of the Year for Under American Skies (the duo album he made with Anne Hills in 2001). This was the first Paxton album to receive an award of any kind.
Paxton has been nominated four times for Grammy Awards in his career, all since 2002.
In 2004, the Martin Guitar Company introduced the HD-40LSH Tom Paxton Signature Edition acoustic guitar in his honor.
In 2005, Paxton received a Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting at BBC Radio 2's Folk Awards at London's Brewery Arts Centre.
In 2006, Paxton received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the North American Folk Music and Dance Alliance.
On January 22, 2007, Paxton was honored with an official UK Parliamentary tribute at the British House of Commons at the start of his 2007 United Kingdom tour.
On May 3, 2008, Paxton was honored with a special lifetime tribute from the World Folk Music Association, and a concert was held at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center at Northern Virginia Community College, Alexandria Campus, in Alexandria, Virginia.
No Time to Say Goodbye
Tom Paxton Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The kind you hear before it rings.
It was a phone call in the night,
When you can hear an angel's wings.
When you know before you answer
That it's someone's time to die,
And when I learned that it was you,
And as I stood there I could feel you passing by-
There was no time to say goodbye;
No time to thank you for the years.
There was no time to say goodbye-
A lamp gone out, light disappears.
And as I stood there in the darkness,
There were more tears than I could cry,
For you were here so totally,
It seemed impossible that you could ever die-
There was no time to say goodbye.
There are pictures in a box,
In a room in a house long miles from here,
There are old seashells and rocks;
Faded labels from our days of German beer.
There are postcards from Montana;
Faded drawings and some drums,
And I can't recall the rest-
Oh, God, you're never really ready when it comes.
There was no time to say goodbye-
I was delayed in getting home.
There was a missed connecting flight,
And when I got here you were gone.
Someone handed me some coffee;
A tiny sandwich made on rye,
I put it down. I stood there looking
At your picture on the mantel, wondering why
There was no time to say goodbye.
No time to thank you for the years.
Tom Paxton's "No Time to Say Goodbye" is a heart-wrenching song that talks about the feeling of losing someone you care about without getting a chance to say goodbye. The song begins with the artist receiving a phone call in the middle of the night, and before he even answers it, he knows that it's someone's time to die. He learns that it's someone who is close to him, and he can feel them passing away. The next two stanzas of the song talk about how there was no time to say goodbye, no time to thank the person for the years they spent together. It feels like a lamp has gone out, and the light is disappearing. The artist expresses his helplessness in the face of death and how it feels impossible to accept that someone who was so alive can suddenly die. The last stanza talks about how the memories of the person will always be with him, and there are pictures, seashells, and postcards that will remind him of the person he lost.
The song explores the theme of death, grief and the feeling of helplessness that one feels when they lose someone they care about. The lyrics "And as I stood there in the darkness, There were more tears than I could cry" beautifully capture how overwhelming emotions can be when someone we love dies. The song captures the feeling of not being able to say goodbye when it matters the most, and how it's something that haunts us forever.
Line by Line Meaning
It was a phone call in the night-
The call that comes before you expect it to
The kind you hear before it rings.
The one that gives you a premonition
It was a phone call in the night,
The kind that carries messages from heaven
When you can hear an angel's wings.
That this particular call announces a death
When you know before you answer
That the person calling is about to deliver bad news
That it's someone's time to die,
That someone has passed away
And when I learned that it was you,
Upon learning it was you who passed, I was filled with sadness
And as I stood there I could feel you passing by-
I could feel your absence even in your passing
There was no time to say goodbye.
I regret that I didn't have the opportunity to say goodbye
There was no time to say goodbye;
I didn't have the chance to express my gratitude towards you
No time to thank you for the years.
I didn't get to show appreciation for the time we had together
There was no time to say goodbye-
Your light went out so fast it didn't give me time to process the loss
A lamp gone out, light disappears.
Just like that, life that once illuminated the world is gone
And as I stood there in the darkness,
I was filled with sadness as I reflected on the memories we shared
There were more tears than I could cry,
I was overwhelmed with grief and couldn't express it all in tears
For you were here so totally,
You took up such an important portion of my life, soul, and heart
It seemed impossible that you could ever die-
I couldn't fathom the idea of life without you
There was no time to say goodbye.
I just wish I could have got the chance to say goodbye
There are pictures in a box,
Memories of you are stored in a box somewhere far
In a room in a house long miles from here,
That room with the memories is somewhere remote
There are old seashells and rocks;
Things that we gathered on a beach we once visited are kept there
Faded labels from our days of German beer.
There are not so clear memories stored in that room
There are postcards from Montana;
Those memories we made in Montana went there as well
Faded drawings and some drums,
A depiction of memories we shared together are kept in that room
And I can't recall the rest-
The memories are so innumerable that I can't recollect all
Oh, God, you're never really ready when it comes.
It is hard to prepare for a loss, just like I wasn't prepared for yours
I was delayed in getting home.
The circumstances prevented me from being there on time
There was a missed connecting flight,
The connecting flight that would have gotten me home in time was missed
And when I got here you were gone.
You had already passed away before I got home
Someone handed me some coffee;
As I was arriving, I was being offered a consolation of coffee
A tiny sandwich made on rye,
An afterthought in the consolation was a snack
I put it down. I stood there looking
I put aside all the afterthoughts and stood there in sadness
At your picture on the mantel, wondering why
All I could do is stand there and wonder how and why this happened
There was no time to say goodbye.
I regret that I didn't get to say goodbye, and will always mourn that fact
Contributed by Jackson E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@leoseries
I saw Tom at the Royal Albert Hall London in the Mid sixties. I couldn't get anyone to go with me as they had never heard of him. When he sang this he invited anyone who knew it to join in. To my pleasure and surprise, the whole audience sang it word for word so Tom stopped and left us all to complete it.
@charliekucharski2079
Really nice session with Tom and for my money one of the greatest songwriters of all time. A master craftsman who can write about humor, sadness, equal rights, or any topic you can think of. His songs always have a topic and make an impact.
@michaelmadson2861
I have yet to hear a bad cover version of this song. A sure sign of greatness. Tom, we need more troubadors like you. Music is magic!
@ag83ga
Tom, may you live many many more years !
@Tocsin-Bang
It doesn't get any better than this. Wonderful song, beautiful guitar playing and a voice like the smoothest velvet. Every note, every syllable as clear as a bell. Today's performers need to listen and learn.
@timlee8135
As I get older , I find myself going back to the songwriters and singers of the 60s
@ag83ga
... and a very nice language. Fine language, fine words, fine singing, fine guitar playing
@dancochrane617
Thanks. This is excellent and beautiful. This song, especially the lyrics, is timeless. Really does it for me. ( last thing on my mind)
@edtech2008
One of the truly great songwriters of that time when I was first learning to play the guitar. I eventually learned and sang a dozen of his great songs. This one was a favorite, as it captures that sense of regret most of us feel for the various ways we fail or stumble in life. His voice still touches my heart deeply, as it did back 50 year ago. I am now 74 and still sing this song from time to time. Thank you, Tom, for inspiring such sweet emotions and sounds.
@lutherslaton6349
I saw Tom Paxton in mid-November 2015 at The Birchmere in Alexandria, VA. I had been a fan for decades, but this was my first time to see him live. It was a bucket-list night for me. Terrific concert before a packed house. Afterward, he graciously stayed around and chatted with fans and signed CDs.