khe sanh

i left my heart to the sappers round khe sanh

and i sold my soul with my cigarettes to the blackmarket man

i've had the vietnam cold turkey

from the ocean to the silver city

and it's only other vets could understand

about the long forgotten dockside guarantees

how there were no v-dayheroes in 1973

and how we sailed into sydney harbour

i saw an old friend but i couldn't kiss her

she was lined

and i was home to the lucky land

and she was like so many more from that time on

their lives were all so empty

until they found their chosen one

and their legs were often open

but their minds were always closed

and their hearts were held in fast suburban chains

and the legal pads were yellow

hours long

paypacket lean

and the telex writers clattered where the gunships once had been

and car parks made me jumpy

and i never stopped the dreams

or the growing need for speed and novacaine

so i worked across the country from end to end

i tried to find a place to settle down

where my mixed up life could mend

i held a job on an oil-rig

flying choppers when i could

but the nightlife nearly drove me round the bend

and i've travelled round the world from year to year

and each one found me aimless

one more year the worse for wear

and i've been back to south east asia

you know the answer sure ain't there

but i'm drifting north

to check things out again

well the last plane out of sydney's almost gone

you know there's seven flying hours

and i'll be landing in hong kong

and there ain't nothing like the kisses

from a jaded chinese princess

i'm gonna hit some hong kong mattress all night long

well the last plane out of sydney's almost gone

you know the last plane out of sydney's almost gone

and it's really got me worried

i'm goin' nowhere and i'm in a hurry

you know the last plane out of sydney's almost gone

well the last plane out of sydney's almost gone

you know the last plane out of sydney's almost gone

and it's really got me worried

i'm goin' nowhere and i'm in a hurry

you know the last plane out of sydney's almost gone