Rhyme Of The Remittance Man

There's a four-pronged buck a-swinging

In the shadow of my cabin

And it roamed the velvet valley till today

But I tracked it by the river

And I trailed it in the cover

And I killed it on the mountain miles away

Now I've had my lazy supper

And the level sun is gleaming

On the water where the silver salmon play

And I light my little corn-cob

And I linger, softly dreaming

In the twilight, of a land that's far away

Well, this is the tale of a remittance man

I'm three sheets to the wind and

just a three days' sail from land

It's been ten years since I've crossed these shores

Don't know if I'll return

But if I keep my sails and liver wet

My soul ain't gonna burn

Far away, so faint and far

Is flaming London, fevered Paris

That I fancy I have gained another star

Far away the din and hurry

Far away the sin and worry

Far away - God knows they cannot be too far

Gilded galley-slaves of Mammon

How my purse-proud brothers taunt me

I might have been as well-to-do as they

Had I clutched like them my chances

Learned their wisdom, crushed my fancies

Starved my soul and gone to business everyday

Well, this is the tale of a remittance man

I'm three sheets to the wind and

just a three days' sail from land

It's been ten years since I've crossed these shores

Don't know if I'll return

But if I keep my sails and liver wet

My soul ain't gonna burn

Well, the cherry bends with blossom

And the vivid grass is springing

And the star-like lily nestles in the green

And the frogs their joys are singing

And my heart in tune is ringing

And it doesn't matter what I might have been

While above the scented pine-gloom

Piling heights of golden glory

The sun-god paints his canvas in the west

I can couch me deep in clover

I can listen to the story

Of the lazy, lapping water - it is best

While the trout leaps in the river

And the blue grouse thrills the cover

And the frozen snow betrays the panther's track

And the robin greets the dayspring

With the rapture of a lover

I am happy, and I'll nevermore go back

For I know I'd just be longing

For the little old log cabin

With the morning-glory clinging to the door

Till I loathed the city places

Cursed the care on all the faces

Turned my back on lazar London evermore

Well, this is the tale of a remittance man

I'm three sheets to the wind and

just a three days' sail from land

It's been ten years since I've crossed these shores

Don't know if I'll return

But if I keep my sails and liver wet

My soul ain't gonna burn

So send me far from Lombard Street

And write me down a failure

Put a little in my purse and leave me free

Say: "He turned from Fortune's offering

To follow up a pale lure

He is one of us no longer - let him be"

I am one of you no longer

By the trails my feet have broken

The dizzy peaks I've scaled, the camp-fire's glow

By the lonely seas I've sailed in

Yeah, the final word is spoken

I am signed and sealed to nature; be it so

Well, this is the tale of a remittance man

I'm three sheets to the wind and

just a three days' sail from land

It's been ten years since I've crossed these shores

Don't know if I'll return

But if I keep my sails and liver wet

My soul ain't gonna burn

Well, this is the tale of a remittance man

I'm three sheets to the wind and

just a three days' sail from land

It's been ten years since I've crossed these shores

Don't know if I'll return

But if I keep my sails and liver wet

My soul ain't gonna burn

Well, this is the tale of a remittance man

I'm three sheets to the wind and

just a three days' sail from land

It's been ten years since I've crossed these shores

Don't know if I'll return

But if I keep my sails and liver wet

My soul ain't gonna burn