No Time to Say Goodbye
Tom Paxton Lyrics


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It was a phone call in the night-
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.

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.

Overall Meaning

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.
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Comments from YouTube:

@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.

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