Lyrics

A Pontiac Full of Greyhounds

All I ever wanted was a simple life
A Pontiac full of greyhounds and an understanding wife

What's wrong with me? Where can she be?

Too much understanding gets a woman frayed and torn
So I move into the Ponty and those doggies keep me warm

What's wrong with me? Where can she be?
That Ponty loving greyhound patting good old girl for me

I got the car, I got the dogs, I got the simple life
Only thing I'm missing is the understanding wife

The Pontiac is up on bricks, the dogs are old and grey
We'll sit out front and watch the pretty girls go by today

And there she'll be, eventually
That Pontiacking' greyhound trackin' good old girl for me

Battle of the Sexes

I have done my time in the trenches
In the battle of the sexes
But I never battled anyone like you before

Is it over? How much longer?
I wound you and you come back stronger
I never battled..

And the war drags on

In the kitchen, in the hall
In the bedroom up against the wall
I never battled..

I'm exhausted, honey, cease
Let's go to bed & sue for peace
I never battled..

And the war drags on

Crockery's flying, doors are slamming,
Vases smashing, the kids are running

I never loved anyone like you before

And the war drags on

Black Man Blues

Never picked a bale of cotton
Never dust my broom
Done no time in Parchman Farm
I still got the black man blues

Never been to the crossroads
Never met old satan there
Ain't no hellhound on my trail
I still got the black man blues

Blue Dog

Woke up today feeling just like lead
Saw that old blue dog, waiting by my bed
His jaws felt like a vice around my head

Well good morning Blue, how do you do?
Hasn’t been that long since I last saw you
Hope you won’t stay more than a day or two

Blue’s a faithful dog, always brings his friend
Why they come around, don’t understand it yet
Blue dog’s name is Grief, his friend is called Regret

Blue dog comes around, I just lay in bed
I don’t want you dog, hear what I said?
Leave me alone, wish that I was dead

Good morning Grief, hello Regret
Why you come around, don’t understand it yet
Leave me alone, I wish we never met

Blue Hills

On Sunday your dad would burn the leaves off
In the gutter outside of your home
In the evening the smoke it would cover the hills
As the houses were blanketing down

Walking back home it was quiet and dark
With the smell of the smoke in the trees
And the dogs in the yards would all bark as I passed
And send telegrams clear across town

We’re burning off leaves in old blue hills
Mum and dad and sister Sue and me
Burning off leaves, almost everyone is pleased
Been doing it for two hundred years

There’s bones buried underneath the back yard
And the ghost of a boy hangs in a tree
Painted ghosts they dance in a circle round a fire
There’s a party down at Circular Quay

Button B

There’s a Chinaman in the pizza bar
Eating on his own
If he had 10 cents and a girl to call
He’d ask to use the phone

There’s a barmaid in the coffee lounge
Cappucino please
If she had a car and a boy in tow
She’d leave before the squeeze

Need a call 10 cents away
Need to press on Button A
At the third stroke – the phone alone

There’s a worker with an airline bag
Thermos cuppa tea
If he had a ticket and he won the pools
He’d ring from Surfers P

There’s a telephone booth in a darkened street
Pressed on Button B
Buzzing noise and shattered glass
Receiver hanging free

Don’t destroy me, I might save your life
There’s gum in the slot and the cord’s been knifed
The book’s been burnt, there’s a body on the floor
If you want a root, call smudge blur 4
Dial-A-Prayer, the Lord is free
Put the blame on Button B

At the third stroke – the phone alone

Cheap Beer (In A Dear Town)

You wore a red dress when I met you
Your lipstick didn’t fade as time went by
You wore a perfume called “Forever” at our wedding
And dark glasses when you said goodbye

I can’t forget the way you looked, my darling
The words you said, the weather at the time
Simple things are easy to remember
Simple things are hard as hell to find

Like cheap beer in a dear town
Like a country song with a cheerful sound
Like a good night’s sleep in a hotel bed
While these thoughts of you linger in my head

I lost my job, my dog got hit by lightning
Some bastard stole my car, I didn’t mind
Yesterday it rained but you still loved me
Today it’s clear, you’re hard as hell to find

I can’t forget the way you walk my darling
Your wiggle it still messes with my mind
Simple things are easy to remember
Simple things are hard as hell to find

Common Touch

The lie of the land
The creak of the windmill
The cockatoos wheeling in the sky
Hearing the rain on an iron roof

Doesn’t seem that much
Doesn’t seem like much

The birds on the wire
The cats in the window
The radio playing down the beach
Getting a haircut in the morning sun

Doesn’t seem that much
Doesn’t seem like much

The town and the country
The soft and the hard hearts
I’m writing a letter to a friend
I’m hoping it’s sealed with some heart and soul

Doesn’t seem that much
Doesn’t cost that much
It’s just the common touch

Daddy Needs A Speedhump

Baby, daddy needs a speed hump
Cause he can’t slow down
Baby, daddy needs a speed hump
And he needs it now
S-P-E-E-D hump
Make my baby’s heart go thump
Oughta see her V8 jump
Whoo hoo!

Baby, daddy needs a roundabout
Cause he can’t slow down
Baby, daddy needs a roundabout
And he needs it now
R-O-U-N-D about
Make your daddy’s hair fall out
When his baby twist and shout
Whoo hoo!

Baby, daddy needs a bypass
Cause he can’t slow down
Baby, daddy needs a bypass
And he needs it now
B-Y-P-A-Double-S
Daddy’s in a state of stress
Baby wears that low cut dress
Whoo hoo!

Don't Break A Gentle Heart 

Dragging The Lake

There’s a red light down by the shoreline
Searchlight fingers the deep
Pine needle smell, shouts in the dark
Only the fish are asleep

Now they’re dragging the lake

Nighttime, walking the jetty
Shadows jerk with the tide
A moth caught out on the water
Nowhere left to hide

Now they’re dragging the lake
But we’ll meet in the back seat of my Ford

La la la la la la la

I still don’t know what happened
Out in the carpark that night
You told me someone had stolen your heart
Like someone turned out a light

Now they’re dragging the lake

Some people say there’s no Devil
There’s only God when he’s drunk
The night I felt my hands on your throat
The Good Lord was drunk as a skunk

Now they’re dragging the lake
But we’ll meet in the back seat of my Ford
In the lowest carpark in Hell

Dusty

She was blonde but she sang soul so well
Dusty wore her makeup like a shell
Someone said she liked the girls too well

Dusty she sang about boys
What’s a girl gonna do?

She could dance a jazz romance so well
Dusty kept her breakdown to herself
Someone said she liked the girls too well

Ghost Train

This train picks up, it don’t set down
Shuffle to the buffet in your dressing gown
Someone shoot the driver
Someone torpedo the guard

Kill him in the dark of the underground
Shuffle to the buffet in your dressing gown
Kill him in the dark of the underground
Shuffle down the aisle in your dressing gown

The carriage is full of the walking dead
Think I’ll take the bus instead

Go Go Daddy-O

I dig you sister but you got me beat
One day cold, the next on heat

Now you will, like, now you won’t
Now you dig me, now you don’t

Go go Daddy-O, go go go
Don’t go, Daddy-O, no no no
Move it, Daddy-O, don’t be slow
Too fast, Daddy-O, whoa whoa whoa

I’m confused and you don’t care
Hipsville Monday, Tuesday square

Want me here, don’t want me there
You flip my wig, I tear my hair

You’re so gone but whichaway?
Change your mind ten times a day

Loving you is hide and seek
Like, beatsville baby, every week

Gone Fishing

Going fishing
Catching nothing
Got a bite now
Lost my bait now
Watch the sun set
On the water
Start to wonder
What you’re doing

Maybe you’re daydreaming, maybe you’re asleep
Maybe you’re so beautiful, make a grown man weep

Pull the lines in
Weigh the anchor
Start the outboard
Dawdle downstream
Watch the sun rise
On the water
Start to wonder
What you’re doing

Maybe you’re in Africa, maybe you’re in Spain
Maybe you’re in Mobile with the Memphis Blues again

Maybe you’re a lawyer, maybe you’re a nurse
Maybe life without me just goes from bad to worse

Going fishing
Catching nothing

Gravedigger's Song

Dirt under my nails
Clay beneath my feet
Splinters from a shovel tell my tale

A soul can't get no rest in a hole dug by machine
Lay me down to lie in a handmade hole

I craft my graves with love
And guidance from above
I do my best to see you rest in peace

A soul can’t get no rest in a hole dug by machine
When I die please plant me in a handmade hole

And for what it's worth
Be gentle with the earth
Do your best to see you rest in peace

Six feet underground
Little creatures crawl around
Everybody ends up just the same

Haunted Hills

Took a walk beside the Peel
Dry with dust and cracking mud
Driftwood on the picnic grounds
Thrown up by a flood

Just a chimney in a field
Jonquil growing in the hearth
Walls and floor are long since gone
Underneath the earth

This is familiar country, lost between the wars
Yankee Doodle on Empire Day, they ride the same old horse

Something buried in the past
Just a ghost with time to kill
Lonesome as the sound of falling rain
In the haunted hills

This is familiar country..

These hills are haunted, memory clears the land
Ghost of tribal people, making camp on the river bend

These hills are haunted, memory clears the land
Ghost of old time bushman, only bones beneath the sand

Intergalactic Kitty Cat

It's Not The Same

Summertime we found a special place
Underneath the wooden bridge
The planks they rattled under passing cars
We swam and dust hung in the air
And the sun it still shines and the grass it still grows
And the willow still weeps and the river till flows

Once or twice it snowed at Hanging Rock
Winter in the Hills Of Gold
In the ruin of the Nundle church
We threw our prayer book on the fire
And the fire still grows cold, I still turn on the light
As the wind it still howls round the house late at night

And sometimes looking west from the New England Range
I can almost believe that nothing has changed
And on saturday night in the City Of Light
The only thing missing is you
It’s not the same any more
It’s not the same since you walked right out that door
It’s not the same since you met her, that’s for sure
It’s not the same any more

J.O’K/Shout

Country night when all your cattle drown
Country road that winds outside of Kempsey town
I heard a stranger calling out
You know you make me wanna --

Kempsey town I heard the news today, it’s bad
Country café greasy window feeling sad
Motel sign flashed vacant red
The headline said The King was dead

I heard it on the news: That’s what the headline said
I read it in the news: Never meant to die in bed
I saw it on the news: The headline said The King was dead

Burnt out ghost of a Plymouth Belvedere
Haunts the highway forty years
Tail lights in the dark ahead
The headline said the King was dead

Country wind when all your lines are down
Country rain it falls on Kempsey town
The Plymouth ghost has a driver now
You know you make me wanna --- SHOUT!

King Of Country

I never thought I’d live to see the day
I’m surrounded on all sides except the sky
But if I squint my eyes, the rooftops look like clay
The colour of the heartland far away

The river cuts through sandstone to the sea
Sheffield Blight it takes care of the trees
Soil so thin it slips right through your hand
Nothing grows but houses on this land

Everybody knows the King of Country
King of Country knows this country best of all
East of the mountains
West of Drummoyne
South of the Doyalson lights

Sydney or the bush I used to say
Doesn’t seem to mean the same today
Somewhere there’s a rider and he’s never seen the sea
Never seen the city but I bet he’s seen tv
Maybe soon he’ll mow the lawn and whistle just like me
While nothing grows but houses on this land

Lost In SpaceFunk

You can tell by my eyes
It was quite a surprise

Is it only a dream?
Time is not what it seems

I'm out past Pluto, in the Milky Way
Getting lost in SpaceFunk, watching comets play

I'm out past Pluto in the Milky Way
Getting lost in SpaceFunk, watching comets play

Just want to know how far out I can go

Now I'm lost in SpaceFunk, yeah I'm lost in Spacefunk..

Married Mary Lou Blues

Lying in my baby’s arms I heard the front door slam
Out the window, over the fence, I was gone like a Bondi tram
Oh baby don’t leave me

She’s got teeth like an old back fence but she sure looks good to me
Ring on her finger, one on the way, and a husband six foot three
Oh baby don’t leave me
Don’t leave me old and drunk and outside your house
With the m-m-married woman blues

We were just gonna be friends you see, just conversation and company
Maybe have a meal and a bottle of wine but the girl got attractive by half past nine
Oh baby, don’t leave me..

Well hubby bursts in, he’s breathing fire, says “Where’s my Mary Lou?”
I say “I don’t know any Mary Lou, I mean, Mary Lou who?”
Oh baby don’t leave me
Old and drunk and outside your house

With the married Mary Lou blues

Martian Girl

The saucer was silver, it had red velour seats
Picked me up at the end of my street
And took me far far away

The crew were all women, they told me the score
There are no Men from Mars any more
Except for a few in the zoo

I – I – I’m in love with a Martian Girl

She was mean, she was green, she was easy to clean
Deep purple eyes and a plasma screen
Her antennae folded away

I’ll never forget those purple eyes
Those Martian lips, those Martian thighs
She took me far far away

I – I – I’m in love with a Martian Girl

That’s why I keep watching the sky
I keep my eye on the sky
I just keep watching the sky
My wife she just wonders why

I said I love you and she laughed at me
She was only researching how it used to be
On Mars, long long ago

I – I – I’m in love with a Martian Girl

Much Too Young

She’s 15, he’s 18, they ran away to be free
Spent 6 months in a panel van starting up a family

She’s 19, he ain’t been seen, he ran away to be free
She went home, no-one had thrown her clothes out in the street

How can I see her after all these years?
What can I tell her after all these years?

She’s 14, looks 18, she ran away to be free
Looking for the missing piece of a teenage mystery

How can I see her…
What can I tell her…

She’s 29, her little girl’s gone, she ran away to be free
She’s gone boy mad, she’s telling lies, it runs in the family

He’s 33, a happy man, settled, feeling free
Telephone call, hello dad, you won’t remember me

How can I see her…
What can I tell her..

We were much too young..

My Three Wives

Julie went to uni, she marched against the war
Crushed velvet hipsters, haircut like a squaw
We had an open marriage, just us plus 3 or 4

Rosemary was like a vase, beautiful and cracked
Our house was painted white, our magazines were neatly stacked
She went out for some Clarins and never made it back

Married men are happy men
They lead longer lives
Married men are happy men
Just ask our ex wives

Debra was an actress, she played a hundred parts
Never knew just who she was, except some selfish tart
Now she’s playing Broadeway, I’m here playing darts

Married men are happy men..

New England Highway Revisited

There’s a town on the New England Highway
It’s a town where troubles disappear
It’s the country music jewel with guitar-shaped swimming pools
It’s the Nashville of the southern hemisphere

It’s not Hexham, it’s not Maitland, it’s not Muswellbrook or Scone or Murrurundi
It’s not Singleton or Branxton, Woop Woop, Willow Tree or Wallabadah

There’s a town on the New England Highway
It’s a town with a heart made of gold
With a down home feel, it’s the city on the Peel
When they made it, they must have broke the mould

It’s not Armidale or Guyra, it’s not Tenterfield, Glen Innes or Uralla
It’s not Dundee or Deepwater, Bungulla, BlackStump, BuggerdifIknow

If you don’t know where I’m bound, you must be 6 foot underground
Because it’s Tamworth, yes it’s good old Tamworth town

If you haven’t guessed by now you, must be 6 foot underground
Because it’s Tamworth, Tamworth my home town

On The Beach

You don’t look like Ava Gardner
I don’t feel like Gregory Peck
Melbourne’s just a desert and it’s miles away
But we’re all on the beach

Curious cloud for a summer’s day
Summer went, the cloud it stayed
Gonna catch some rays and then I’ll fade away
My surfer girl, she glows in the dark

No pop music on the beach
Get a green tan on the beach
Don’t hold my hand on the beach
Don’t walk in the sand on the beach

Sand as far as the eye can see
Sand where Sydney used to be
Strange red dust in the summer breeze
My transistor’s radio-active

Paco's In Love Again

See the look in his eye?
Some time tonight he’ll be gone
The stars are still in the sky
The river flows on

There’s no need for concern
Just like it says in the song
The world continues to turn
The band, it plays on

So dance with me, Paco’s in love again
My Paco, he is a fool

Parramatta Road

Friday night at 5 o’clock
Streetlamps glowing blue
The caterpillar from The East
Is crawling home to you

Families are sitting down
Tellies start to glow
The girl behind venetian blinds
Needs no excuse to go, out on

Parramatta Road, Parramatta Road

Sunset wind on dayglo flags
I just can’t wait to hear
The red roofs whisper I love you
Into the cool night air

Parramatta Road, Paramatta Road

Are you there? Are you there?
In the dark, beside the road
In the dark by Parramatta Road

Driving one day way out west
I stopped to give a girl a ride
She said please get me out of here
Before I lose my mind

Parramatta Road
Are you there..?

Police Exhibit

Down at the Royal Easter Show
There’s a big blue tent where the coppers all go
Pay your protection and don’t make a sound
A detective sergeant will show you around

You’ll treasure these memories all of your life
Rape and murder with a 20 inch knife
Takeaway Crime like it says on the tag
Of the Police Exhibit Sample Bag

An indoor game called “Who Killed Juanita?”
Throw the dice to see who bribed who
A calendar with 12 views of Wanda Beach
And Commissioner’s quote: “I haven’t got a clue”
A mystery puzzle: Find The Honest Cop
But there’s no-one there when you join the dots

Police exhibit
20 stone fat neck big flat feet
I make people sweat cause I’m the heat
I got through spelling cause I know how to cheat
I ain’t vicious I just eat a lot of meat

A cardboard replica of Bathurst gaol
A box of matches and refusal of bail
A throwaway number and a can of Mace
Plus your own souvenir of The Shark Arm Case
- an inflatable limb to float in the bath
The Police Boys Choir and Ronald Biggs
On a 7 inch single called Biggs and the Pigs

Police Exhibit
Take it down to forensic, Jack
Park the divvy van round the back
Blow ‘em away and pinch the smack
Rinse the blood off your rubber, mac..

Red Belly Black Snake

Red belly blacksnake crawled out of the west, dry itchy skin and dying of thirst
Met him a she snake named Pamela Sin, she said “Hey Red lemme take off that skin”
Red belly black snake put up a fight, mad bad she snake drove him crazy all night
Left her asleep, looking real cute, all curled up round a red and black suit

Skin me baby, we fit like a glove, but I’m looking for water, not looking for love

Red belly blacksnake was sent off to war, five years later they called it a draw
Gave him a medal and an acre of ground, creek went dry & his house burnt down
Red belly blacksnake went looking for work, market crashed, world went berserk
Queued for soup at the factory door, then Red marched off to a brand new war

Skin me baby..

Red belly blacksnake joined a rock roll band, she snakes fainted all over the land
Ten thousand snakelings born of his seed, band broke up when the singer OD’d
Red belly blacksnake got a good job, spreading religion with the Reverend Bob
“Halleluja!”, cried Bob, “See? I never get bit”, then he trod on Red’s tail & that was it

Skin me baby..

Red belly blacksnake got him a gun, held up a bank and went on the run
Spent 25 years in a biscuit tin, under the bed of Miss Pamela Sin
Red belly blacksnake finally died, hit by a spade in a back yard in Ryde
They draped his body over a fence, Miss Pamela Sin said it made no sense

You and me, baby..

Red Bikini Runaway

It was summer in Russia you said
You’d be down at the beach if thee wasn’t a war
The soldiers were nervous you said
They finished just one bullet short

Oh oh oh Anastasia, alive or dead?
Oh oh oh Anastasia, she’s a red

It was summer in Russia you said
You’d be down at the beach soon as you could
Do you like my bikini? it’s red
I wear it in spite of my blood

Oh oh oh Anastasia, alive or dead?
Oh oh oh Anastasia, she’s a red

She’s a red, she’s a red, she’s a red bikini runaway (rpt)

It weas summer in Russia you said
I was down at the beach, you didn’t show
You betrayed all your comrades they said
I threw your deckchair out into the sea

Rich Man's Country

Well you can’t drive a bomb any more, and the NRMA’s not free
It’s five bucks an hour just to park at the beach and stare at the deep blue sea

You can’t buy a home any more if you’re young with a family
It’s a million plus for the cockroach pit where you squatted in 83

It’s a rich man’s country now, it’s a rich man’s country now
It might have been lucky one time but it’s a rich man’s country now

There’s no free love any more, no free university
No free milk in primary school and plastic Christmas tree

You can’t hitch hike any more, sample bags aren’t free
And cracker night’s been cancelled, it was too much fun, you see

But it’s not all doom and gloom, from the cradle to the tomb
The screen jocks, share pimps & CEOs have made a fortune out of me and U 

Rockmelon Moon     

Salt Of The Earth

They say I’m not a country boy no more
They say I’ve traveled far away too far
A hundred miles of dusty road
A thousand miles of tar
They say I’m not a country boy no more
But I still can tell the salt of the earth

He’s the one who picks up glasses for the boss
She’s the one who can’t find money for the house
The one whose kids are screaming
The one whose car breaks down
The one who knows exactly what it’s worth
The bitter taste of salt of the earth

And it’s never to late to stop your doubting
And find that you really feel at home
And now and then you get to meet
The salt of the earth

They say I’m not a country boy no more
They say I’ve traveled far away too far
Working for a living
Scratching for my life
They say I’m not a country boy no more
But I still can tell the salt of the earth

And it’s never to late to stop your doubting
And find that you’ve been home all the time
And now and then you get to meet
The salt of the earth 

Second Chance

Shocked But Glamorous

He got diamante leather, he stroll down Taylor Square
He ain’t got no illusions, but he takes good care of his hair
Yeah he’s shocked but glamorous, silencer on his alarm
He thinks he’s a piece of jewellery on a fat man’s hairy arm

Bandaid cerebellum, elastolasted brain
Smoking holes in a head of cheese, steaming in the rain
Yeah he’s shocked but glamorous, shot but he doesn’t bleed
Shocked but glamorous, in love with Louis Reed

He got all the accessory, he digital enhanced
He fully air conditioned, he drive around in trance
Yeah he’s shocked but glamorous, shot but he doesn’t bleed
Shocked but glamorous, in love with Louis Reed

Stop Talking (Or I'm Walking)

Baby will you kindly shut your mouth?
You don’t do nothing but flap it north and south
Baby please stop talking
Or baby I’ll start walking
Cut it out!

Baby, what’s this blather all about?
The usherette is going to throw us out
Baby stop your yappin’
Or something bad will happen
Cut it out

Baby watch the language, wash your mouth
Security is going to throw us out
Honey put a sock in
Or honey we’re not rockin’
Any more

Baby, we’re in church, no need to shout
The Reverend is going to throw us out
Baby please stop talking
Or else the groom is walking
Cut it out!

Baby stop your yacking
Or baby I’ll start packing
Cut it out!

Stranger In Town

I don’t take too much for granted
I’m a stranger in this town
Faces stare in the hotel bar
Cold as a sun gone down

The map on the seat don’t tell me
These old hills look new
I don’t recognise the river
And the sky’s a different blue

Cause I’m a stranger in this town
I’m a stranger in this town

I don’t take too much for granted
I just lay my money down
The shopkeepers they smile a lot
When a stranger comes into town

Cause I’m a stranger in this town..

Stranger in town he’ll wait for a train
The rest of the town, they’re all waiting for rain, waiting for rain

The gas stations might be familiar
And the songs on the radio
They got chicken here from Kentucky
But we’re all a long way from home

Cause I’m a stranger in this town..

Sulphide Junction

I was born in Sulphide Junction
And my daddy drove the train
He hauled the coal to Newcastle
And he hauled it back again

And he loved my mama oh so much he cried when she shot through
Now he sits in Sulphide Junction and fires his shotgun at the moon

Little sister’s got a baby
But she still ain’t got a man
Little brother thinks he’s all grown up
Cause he’s done time in the can
And they loved my mama..

There was a girl in Sulphide Junction
The sweetest girl in town
Cotton dress and dusty feet
And eyes of deepest brown
But she loved another..

Now there’s frost out on the freeway
And they’re closing Bulli down
There’s a ladder on my roofrack
And I’m heading out of town

Maybe paint some houses, patch a roof, or mend a fence that’s down
Getting out of Sulphide Junction, getting out before I drown
Getting out of Sulphide Junction, it’s a stinking little town

The Later The Hour, The Sweeter The Party

When it’s sundown over the tableland
And purple over the range
Been so long since I saw this place
Looking better every day

And the later the hour, the sweeter the party
The softer the light, whoa-oh

When it’s nighttime out on the western plain
Milky Way clear above
You can see the speck of a farmhouse light
In the silence that I love

And the later the hour, the sweeter the party
The softer the light, whoa-oh

So tell me, when its sunup in the morning
Is love alive or buried in the cold cold ground?

When it’s midnight out on the tableland
The darkness takes me away
Been so long since I saw your face
Looking better every day

And the later the hour, the sweeter the party
The softer the light, sweeter the music, whoa-oh

Town and Country Waltz

He bought a new car like the one that he saw in the city
With duco the colour of Patterson’s Curse
It’s downhill from here he said as he drove up the mountain
The money is better but the weather is worse

In between the town and the country
In between the city and the soil
Town and country waltz
With a man who can’t make up his mind

Don’t give your heart to a man who can’t make up his mind
He’ll only take it and leave it somewhere on a train
He says he once knew this land like the back of his hand
But he’s wearing new gloves and it all looks the same from a plane

He bought a new house and now he’s a man with a mortgage
And a car and a kid and a good quarter acre of ground
He cut himself loose from the past and he’s tied to the future
I hope he remembers just why, when he wakes up alone

12 Regrets

I have only twelve regrets since I gave up cigarettes
And alcohol and cholesterol

I have only twelve regrets since to pay off all my debts
I sold my soul and that’s not all

I have only twelve regrets since I learned not to forget

That life is short and comes to nought

Only twelve regrets, I have only 12 regrets..

I have only 12 regrets & their names are Juliet and Margaret & Bernadette
Jennifer and MaryAnne, Nerida from Pakistan, Elizabeth, I can’t forget
Julie-Jane & Lindy-Lou, Celia & Karen too, & cousin Tess, a dozen yes?

Only twelve regrets..

Waste Of Time And Tears

When I was 10 I wore a cowgirl suit
With an Annie Oakley badge like a star
And I didn’t know what my mother really meant
By a woman needs some iron in her heart

It’s a waste of time and a waste of tears
When you don’t really know what you want
It’s a waste of time and a waste of tears
When you don’t really find what you need

When I was 16, my father said to me
Honey I don’t know much about girls
I was only taught what it means to be a man
It means the last tear I cry will be my first

And it’s a waste of time..

I never forgot the words you told me
They’re under my skin and on my mind

When I left home I drove my bargain hard
I said goodbye folks, I’m out to get what’s mine
Now I’m not so sure if goodbye’s too strong a word
Because you’re under my skin and on my mind

And it’s a waste of time..

When You Go Don't Leave A Note
(It's Written All Over Your Face)

I’m hangin’ like a rabbit on the fencewire
I’m cracking like a shirttail on the line
Nothing in my pockets cept a mortgage
And a photo of the girl I left behind

I’m hanging like a chicken on the clothesline
I’m drifting like a bottle on the tide
I’ve been here for years and still I’m restless
And how come they all leave when I arrive

And when you go, don’t leave a note, cause it’s written all over your face

He’s nasty as a redback in a tincan
She’s howling like a doggie at the moon
I don’t really like them but I love them
And I kinda feel they always leave too soon

I’m comfy as a sparrow with a blacksnake
I’m fading like as portrait of the queen
You never know your luck until you lose it
When you find it well you don’t know where it’s been

I’m rattled like venetians in a cyclone
I’m flatter than a frog on highway one
They’re telling me I need a new umbrella
While they’re all finding places in the sun

Yass, 4am

Maybe the phone’s been disconnected
Maybe the mail was not collected

Maybe she’s just run out of gas
Maybe my watch is just fast
Maybe the moon’s made of glass

Maybe her judgement was affected
Maybe the error's been corrected

Maybe she’s just run out of gas..
Maybe my watch is just fast
Maybe the sun’s made of brass

But I’m sitting on a platform in Yass at 4 am
Yeah I’m sitting on a platform in Yass at 4 am

ooh ooh ooh

Now I’m sitting on a platform in Yass at 4 am.

All songs, lyrics  © Tim Gooding for the world, with the exception of *