I just read last night that Gerry Marsden of The Pacemakers died on January 3. His song, “Ferry Cross the Mersey” calms my mind every time I listen to it. I remember the first time I ever heard it. I was always more of a Pacemakers person than a Beatles guy. That may be a failing on my part, but there it is. I’m a heretic! “And here I’ll stay.”

So, I wonder what it is that I love so much about the song? The beat? It begins with a snare drum played with brushes. (I used to be a drummer. We weren’t called “percussionists” back in those days, just drummers.)

Or was it Gerry’s voice? Well, as a matter of fact, I do love his voice. (Hey, I’m a tenor! What can I say!)

How about the pace of this Pacemakers song? Yes, that may be part of it. I generally like slower music. Linked to this, “Ferry Cross the Mersey” is a great song for slow dancing. I could dance to that song with some hope of not stepping on my dance partner’s feet with my two left feet.

And, then the song came out a time when I was young and thought I was fully alive. However, I’m more fully alive today than I have ever been, so that probably didn’t play much of a part.

Maybe it’s the words. The Mersey River in England is a river that flows to the city of Liverpool. And the song “Ferry Cross the Mersey” is a love song to Liverpool.

“Life goes on day after day

Hearts torn in every way

So ferry ‘cross the Mersey

‘Cause this land’s the place I love

And here I’ll stay

People they rush everywhere

Each with their own secret care

So ferry ‘cross the Mersey

And always take me there

The place I love

People around every corner

They seem to smile and say

We don’t care what your name is boy

We’ll never turn you away

So I’ll continue to say

Here I always will stay

So ferry ‘cross the Mersey

‘Cause this land’s the place I love

And here I’ll stay

Life goes on day after day

Hearts torn in every way

So ferry ‘cross the Mersey

‘Cause this land’s the place I love

And here I’ll stay

Here I’ll stay

Here I’ll stay

This land, the place we love

Ferry ‘cross the Mersey

‘Cause this land’s the place we love

So ferry ‘cross the Mersey

So ferry ‘cross the Mersey

‘Cause this land’s the place I love

And here I’ll stay”

Not profound, perhaps, but profound to me, even at the age of twenty when I first fell in love with the song. I didn’t know why I loved the song so much at the time. I still don’t. But I can tell you a few things.

I was returning from my first, nationally ranked, chess tournament—the 1971 Ohio State University Open. I did well and tied for second place in the unranked category. It was the final game of the tournament. Barry and I had fought to a draw. Barry and his college roommate were students at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, and were planning to hitchhike back to Antioch. It was already about ten o’clock at night, and that didn’t sound either safe or wise to me. So, I lied: “That’s practically on my way home,” I told them. So, I gave them a ride back to their dorm, went in and played my first and last game ever of Gomoko, drank a cup of coffee, and headed home. Now, I was only slightly closer to home than I had been in Columbus.

Nobody was on the road at that time of the morning, and I was getting sleepy. And then, this song comes on the radio. If I had heard it before, I had not really heard it before. And I spent the rest of my two-hour drive home thinking about the song. Was it ferry across the mercy? Or was there a place called Mercy? And why was this place (or whatever it was) so special as to deserve such a beautiful song?

I have continued to love the song and think it beautiful. I was privileged to study in England and to receive my Ph. D. from the University of Nottingham. I have been to Liverpool. I’m sorry to say that I did not take the ferry cross the Mersey. If this pandemic ever gets tamped down enough, I am going back to England, and I will definitely ride the ferry.

I think that the main reason I fell in love with the song and the reason I love it even more today is primarily this: It speaks concerning the love of a place that accepts you just as you are. And all of us long for that

Some people find such acceptance in a bar. I have not. Some people find it in a church. Even though I’m a Christ-follower and do participate in the life of a fellowship of believers, I cannot honestly say that I have found acceptance there either. Sorry, but I try to speak the truth, even when I don’t like the truth.

I have found acceptance with my wife. I’ve also found it in England, and with my 12-step groups, both the groups in England and in “The Colonies.” For some reason that I can’t pinpoint, I feel more at home in England than I have felt here in America. I love America, but England is my heart’s home. I would migrate in a heartbeat if I could.

And yet, perhaps no place, no group, no person is ultimately my heart’s home. There is an ancient story that tells of a man and a woman—indeed, the first man and woman—who were driven out of their home because they disobeyed a simple, but important, command. Perhaps the heart’s longing, mine and yours, is a continuation of the longing to return to that “place I love”, the one that Gerry Marsden sang about.

Someday, we’ll be home. I trust that Gerry is home now. Rest in peace, dear one. If I see you in Heaven, I will most certainly say, “Thank you!”