I left my heart to the sappers
'Round Khe Sahn
And I sold my soul with my cigarettes
To the black market man
I've had to Vietnam cold turkey
From the ocean to the silver city
And it's only other vets could understand
'Bout the long forgotten dockside guarantees
How there were no V-day heroes
In nineteen seventy-three
How we sailed into Sydney Harbour
I saw an old friend but I couldn't kiss her
And she was lined, and I was home to the lucky land
She was like so many more from that time on
Their lives were all so empty
Until they'd found there 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, pay-packets lean
And the telex writers clattered
Where the gunships once had been
The carparks made me jumpy
And I never stopped the dreams
Or the growing need for speed and Novocain
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
Flyin' choppers when I could
But the nightlife nearly drove me round the bend
And I've travelled round the world
From year to year-ear-ear
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 driftin' north to check things out again
Well the last plane out of Sydney's almost gone
And only seven flyin' hours
'Till I'll be landin' in Hong Kong
And there ain't nothin' 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