Khe Sahn

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 the 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
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 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 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 Novocaine
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
And each one found me aimless, one more year the worse for wear
And I've been back to South East Asia, but 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