Telegraph Road

A long time ago came a man on a track

Walking thirty miles with a sack on his back

And he put down his load where he thought it was the best

He made a home in the wilderness

He built a cabin and a winter store

And he ploughed up the ground by the cold lake shore

And the other travellers came riding down the track

And they never went further and they never went back

Then came the churches then came the schools

Then came the lawyers then came the rules

Then came the trains and the trucks with their loads

And the dirty old track was the telegraph road

Then came the mines - then came the ore

Then there was the hard times then there was a war

Telegraph sang a song about the world outside

Telegraph road got so deep and so wide

Like a rolling river

And my radio says tonight its gonna freeze

People driving home from the factories

Theres six lanes of traffic

Three lanes moving slow

I used to like to go to work but they shut it down

Ive got a right to go to work but theres no work here to be found

Yes and they say were gonna have to pay whats owed

Were gonna have to reap from some seed thats been sowed

And the birds up on the wires and the telegraph poles

They can always fly away from this rain and this cold

You can hear them singing out their telegraph code

All the way down the telegraph road

You know Id sooner forget but I remember those nights

When life was just a bet on a race between the lights

You had your head on my shoulder you had your hand in my hair

Now you act a little colder like you dont seem to care

But believe in me baby and Ill take you away

From out of this darkness and into the day

From these rivers of headlights these rivers of rain

From the anger that lives on the streets with these names

cos Ive run every red light on memory lane

Ive seen desperation explode into flames

And I dont wanna see it again

From all of these signs saying sorry but were closed

All the way down the telegraph road