This has been through the wash from ’20s pop to some overly straight jazz forms until settling into some sort of blues in G. 20 bar verse and 8 bar chorus, not sure why; MIDI walking bass added in the preview to help with that.

Lyrics (cc)BY 2013 D A Ayer:
—————
[1] If I could wish these chains away
I’d love you every night and day
from close nearby. You needn’t fear
I’d ever go away, my dear.
But you’ve been gone these many years.
I’ve cried a hundred thousand tears,
and now I write a line or two
each time I stop to think of you
a thousand (thousand) songs away.

[C1] They say when love is true, it’s blind;
I’d like to think it’s so.
But since you’ve left me far behind
I’m really not so sure, you know.

[2] Some day while walking down the street
I’ll wonder, should we chance to meet,
what you might do as I walk by:
will you look up to meet my eye?
Or by some far exotic shore
were I to knock upon your door
would you invite me in for tea
or leave me stranded helplessly
a thousand (thousand) songs away?

[C2] A simple love affair, I’ve heard,
is common as a dime.
My love for you’s a rarer bird:
not quite extinct, just hard to find….

[R] If I could wish my chains away
I’d love you every night and day
from close nearby. You needn’t fear
I’d ever go away, my dear,
a thousand (thousand) songs away.