He Fades Away

There’s a man in my bed I used to love him
His kisses used to take my breath away
There’s a man in my bed I hardly know him
As I wipe his face and hold his hand
And watch him as he slowly fades away

Chorus:
He fades away
Not like leaves that fall in Autumn
Turning gold against the grey

He fades away
Like the blood stains on the pillow case
That I wash every day

He fades away

There’s a man in my bed he’s on a pension
Although he’s only fifty years of age
And the lawyers say we might get compensation
In the course of due procedure
But they wouldn’t say for certain at this stage

Chorus

He’s not the only one
Who made the trip so many years ago
To work the Wittenoom mine
So many young men old before their time
And dying slow they fade away
Wheezing bags of bones
With lungs half clogged and filled with clay,
They fade away

There’s a man in my bed nobody told him
The cost of bringing home his weekly pay
And when the courts decide how much they owe him
How will he spend his money
As he lies in bed and coughs his life away

Chorus

There’s a man in my bed I used to love him
His kisses used to take my breath away
There’s a man in my bed I hardly know him
As I wipe his face and hold his hand
And watch him as he slowly fades away

By Alistair Hulett – AMCOS/MCPS

“He Fades Away” is a poignant song written by Alistair Hulett, about the compensation due to the young men who died from exposure to blue asbestos in the Wittenoom mine in Western Australia in the 1940s.