Breakdown
Many years ago I was walking with a friend by a river when we saw a man fishing. He had a box of chocolates and a bunch of flowers by his side. It turned out that my friend knew him and he went over and chatted to him, whilst I walked on. Afterwards I remarked how peaceful and contented with life he looked and I asked why he was there with chocolates and flowers.
It turned out that he was far from contented. Sometime ago he had broken up with his wife and had a nervous breakdown which resulted in him being admitted to a psychiatric hospital. This weekend was the first stage of his re-habilitation but he couldn't bear to go back to the house where his problems had started. Instead he had written to his wife asking her to meet him by the river on "neutral ground". It was getting late in the afternoon and he was getting anxious that she hadn't turned up.
When we separated you said it was only fair
To ourselves, our families and our friends
To make the break clean with no regrets at all
But I cried when I knew it was the end
Then I started drinking a bottle a night
But soon it crept into the day
My dreams got so bad I could hardly sleep at night
I just lay there waiting for the break of day
Chorus
Please don't blame yourself for what's happened to me
You've nothing to blame yourself for
I just need to see you once more
I went to the doctor and tried hard to explain
All the problems which were troubling me
He gave me some tablets but they didn't work at all
In the end he sent me to psychiatry
They surprised my mind with electricity
I swear that it split my head in two
For just over a week I couldn't remember my name
And though I tried I could never forget you
chorus
Now I'm standing by the river in the fading light
With flowers and chocolates in my hand
I hope you got my letter, I hope you read what it said
But most of all I hope that you understand
chorus