To try for the sun

Written and recorded by Donovan in 1966, this candid song is about his early days in Hatfield and his friend Gipsy Dave. Here I use a Martin 00-42 K2, some two-part harmonies and some harmonica.

To try for the sun

We stood in the windy city
The gypsy boy and I
We slept on the breeze in the midnight
With the rain droppin' tears in our eyes

And who's going to be the one
To say it was no good what we done?
I dare a man to say, "I'm too young
For I'm going to try for the sun"

We huddled in a derelict building
And when he thought I was asleep
He laid his poor coat round my shoulder
And shivered there beside me in a heap

And who's going to be the one
To say it was no good what we done?
I dare a man to say, "I'm too young
For I'm going to try for the sun"

We sang and cracked the sky with laughter
Our breath turned to mist in the cold
Our years put together counted thirty
But our eyes told the dawn we were old

And who's going to be the one
To say it was no good what we done?
I dare a man to say, "I'm too young
For I'm going to try for the sun"

Mirror, mirror, hanging in the sky
Won't you look down what's happening here below?
I stand here singing to the flowers
So very few people really know

And who's going to be the one
To say it was no good what we done?
I dare a man to say, "I'm too young
For I'm going to try for the sun"

We stood in the windy city
The gypsy boy and I
We slept on the breeze in the midnight
With the rain droppin' tears in our eyes

And who's going to be the one
To say it was no good what we done?
I dare a man to say, "I'm too young
For I'm going to try for the sun"