the golden spinifex brushed hard against my legs scratches scarring on my skin a martian landscape beckons, there's nothing else on my horizon we're driving in the distance let's go there's nothing out here save for unearthly rock formations and the rusted hunks of stone a thousand shadows own the land that we all walk on but they've always been alone let me say hey, can you feel it now? we all want to go walkabout it's hard to lose your way with no forks in the road but it's easy to lose your mind the devil kept his marbles here for one good reason he thought they'd be too hard to find let me say hey, can you feel it now? we all want to go walkabout

i picked you up at an underground market you were dressed head to toe in dark blue the sellers told us where we could park it but i knew i wanted you you looked a little rough around the edges but superficial gets you nowhere at all and i'm grateful that you made your promises not to drive me up the wall we hit the road in the spirit of travellers everything we ever needed in tow chose a town on a map of the east coast and indicated we were ready to go road markings cruised beneath us and we camped under the stars every night and in the times we stopped to catch our breath we were breathless at the sights oh georgie, you really set me free free as i'd ever been, it's alright i don't mind that you're unclean i knew you carried some baggage on rare occasion you simply broke down and breaking was never your strongest suit as we cruised from town to town but every journey has to end somewhere and we parted on the spot we first met and even though i never had control of you your first car you never forget oh georgie, you really set me free free as i'd ever been, it's alright i don't mind that you're unclean

where do you think we go when we die? are we off to meet jesus, in a big old place in the sky why don't the aeroplanes see us, whenever they fly by tell me, where do we go when we die? what's gonna happen to us when we die? vishnu came back as a turtle, a sage and a dwarf but will i? i'd like to think i'd remember if i used to be a fly so tell me, where do we go when we die? where do you think we go when we die? what is it you're so afraid of, that you concoct all of these lies? at the end of it there's no heaven, no summerland or surprise there's nowhere for us to go when we die so why'd we have to go somewhere when we die? can't we just fade away gracefully, til we're gone in the blink of an eye? i'm happy just to be a memory in the corner of your mind that's where i want to go when i die yeah, that's where i want to go when i die

i saw drifting down ice all drifting down the mountainside the mountainside twelve thousand feet high air and skin collide caress the sky caress this guy lake reflects the hills late in morning i'll forsake my name for my namesake's fame and i know in this place i belong but i can't stay very long caves are underground case in point you found a new pursuit a new pursuit hanging by a rope indisposed i smoke and settle down i'll settle down and i know in this place i belong but i can't stay very long

i've traded with the maoris, the yankees and chinese i've courted dark eyed beauties beneath the kauri trees i've travelled along with a laugh and a song in the land where they call you 'mate' rainbow beach and home again for that is the sailors fate across the line, the tasman i've been in nelsons bay rainbow beach and home again for that is the sailors way i've ran aground in many a sound with no pilot aboard longboat lowered by lantern light, pushed off and gently oared row-lock creak and a thumping swell and a wind that'll make you ache who would sail the seven seas and share a sailors fate? across the line, the tasman i've been in nelsons bay rainbow beach and home again for that is the sailors way we've sailed away to northward, we've hauled away to east we've skimmed our sail by the teeth of a gale and stood the calmest seas we've set our course by a southern star, by stewart through the straight westward round by milford sound for that is the sailors fate across the line, the tasman i've been in nelsons bay rainbow beach and home again for that is the sailors way hey!

now it's time for their ships to come in and they'll finish where others begin a new life away from home, it can't be bad and they called their town christchurch, 'cos jesus was all that they had the settlers, they came for no silver or gold on their faces was the rain which came down hard and cold but they were spirited, not cynical, and swollen with pride and they called their river avon, for the one that flows into the clyde don't leave us now, we're not coming home don't leave us now, we're not good alone (repeat)

met her in new jersey on a blank september day told me that she wanted to see the palisades i said okay, so we jumped in my car and drove she asked me lots of questions as to what i was doing there i said a scotsman in the states is hardly shock of the year she said i'm just trying to break the ice and i looked over at her, and thought that was nice we wandered for an hour through a blanket of autumn leaves she said she thought the rocks looked just like rows of trees i thought that was cool, cos that's what the indians said and when we drove back into town she took me to bed woke up in the morning with the sunlight creeping in holding on to her and trying to hide a grin when she woke up, and told me i had to leave 'my father is quite strict and he'll be home in half an hour' talk about a morning that went from sweet to sour i got out of bed, and dressed to save my life she said 'it could be worse, i could have been someones wife' so i'm driving to my hotel on a blank september day didn't think i'd ever get to see the palisades the windows are down, i'm breathing in the autumn air and when i think of jersey i'll be sure to think of her lying next to me as i stroke her silky hair and i know for sure, this town will never look the same and it's the damndest thing, but i don't recall her name

hand me a cigarette tell me another story what pictures did you take today? how long before you go away? i really like that dress you're wearing i can't believe the other folks aint staring pulling out your polaroid i think it's warm enough to stay outside i'll send you a postcard when i get back home that night in toronto made me feel like feel like i'm not alone i thought that i'd run out of things to say or that you'd turn and look the other way but when you walked me to the subway station i couldn't bear to end the conversation i really hope that when i'm gone you'll miss me and i regret you didn't get to kiss me i'll make a promise to come back someday but you're an ocean and a continent away i'll send you a postcard when i get back home that night in toronto made me feel like feel like i'm not alone i'll make a promise to come back some day but you're an ocean and a continent away

i've packed all my bags it's time to be leavin' way up in the sky it's what i believe in and you know you can't go wrong by turning right but it's hard for me to go without a fight slept under the stars and camped by the roadside jumping out of a plane and learning to hang-glide and you know you can't go wrong by turning right but it's hard for me to go without a fight it's one if by land and two if by sea but it's three if by air (that one was me) and you know you can't go wrong by turning right but it's hard for me to go without a fight i'm going home

the bars are still open til midnight and the smokers still bask in the streetlight and it all looks the same as i walk down memory lane but the city feels different without you well the statues still stand in the square and the makeshift world market is still there and the seagulls still squawk as i go for a walk but the city feels different without you and the ships are still watertight, it would seem and we still play on magdalen green and it's hard to forget on the bridge the sun sets but the city feels different without you and it all looks the same as i walk down memory lane but the city feels different without you

the setting sun casts shadows the setting sun casts shadows on the desert floor not long ago, there was so much more and i never knew but it's hard to be confused with all the places we've passed through the pier it stands alone now the pier it stands alone now i wonder if it knew that was where i fell for you and i didn't know as the geyser starts to blow what our footprints had to show and i always knew it was time for something new but there's days i still miss you