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 plowed up the ground by the cold lake shore

And the other travellers came walking down the track

And they never went further no

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

Like a rolling river

And my radio says tonight it's gonna freeze

People driving home from the factories

Six lanes of traffic

Three lanes moving slow

I used to like to go to work

But they shut it down

I've got a right to go to work

But there's no work here to be found

Yes and they say

We're gonna have to pay what's owed

We're gonna have to reap

From some seed that's 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

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 don't seem to care

But just believe in me baby and I'll 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 I've run every red light on memory lane

I've seen desperation explode into flames

And I don't wanna see it again

From all of these signs saying sorry but we're closed