"The Last Farewell" is a song by the British folk singer Roger Whittaker (music and vocals on the original recording) and Ron A. Webster (poem and lyrics).
Whittaker hosted a radio programme in the United Kingdom, backed by an orchestra with arrangements by Zack Lawrence.
"[1] Ron Arthur Webster (1944–1994), a silversmith from Solihull Birmingham, England, sent Roger Whittaker his poem entitled "The Last Farewell", and this song became one of the selections to appear on the radio programme.
[2] He was travelling home on the upper deck of a Midland bus on a cold and rainy night and wished he were somewhere warm instead.
Webster told the Coventry Evening Telegraph, according to an article published on the 10th September 1975, that he had been writing songs in his spare time for about 15 years.
"The Last Farewell" also went to number 1 in 11 other countries, selling an estimated 11 million copies worldwide,[6] making it Whittaker's best-known song.
[9] Östen Warnerbring wrote lyrics in Swedish called Ännu kan en sjöman längta hem ("Still, a Seaman Can Long for Home"), and recorded the song on his 1976 eponymous album.