Wilhelmina - Peter Hammill

Willie, what can I say to you

To hold true in your changing life?

You’ve come into a cruel world;

Little girls can lose their way in the growing night…

I hope you’ll be alright

Willie, try to stay a child sometime

For as long as you feel you can learn

Babies all turn to people

And people can really be strange;

They change and, changing, bring pain

Try to treat your parents well because they care

And what more can you do?

When you find your lovers, be good to them

As you hope they’ll be to you —

Be honest

Be true

Willie, you are the future;

All our lives, in the end are in your hands

Life’s hard now;

you know it gets harder

And hope is but a single strand:

We pass it on and hope you’ll understand…

We know that we do it wrong

We’re not so strong and not so sure at all;

Groping in our blindness

We may seem big now but, really, we’re so

Small and alone and searching for a home

In the night

Meanwhile you’re still a baby;

You’ll be a lady soon enough

And then you will feel the burn

So hold my words: people all turn to children

Spiteful children, and they’re really so cruel

Cruel fools!

Just follow your own rules…

Don’t think that I’m silly, Willie

If I say I hope that there is hope for you