I left my heart to the sappers round Khe Sanh

And I sold my soul with my cigarettes to the blackmarket man

I've had the Vietnam cold turkey

From the ocean to the Silver City

And it's only other vets could understand



About the long forgotten dockside guarantees

How there were no V-day heroes in 1973

And how we sailed into Sydney Harbour

Saw an old friend but couldn't kiss her

She was lined, and I was home to the lucky land



And she was like so many more from that time on

Their lives were all so empty, until they 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, paypacket lean

And the telex writers clattered where the gunships once had been

And car parks make me jumpy

And I never stopped the dreams

Or the growing need for speed and novacaine



So I worked across the country from end to end

Tried to find a place to settle down, where my mixed up life could mend

Held a job on an oil-rig

Flying choppers when I could

But the nightlife nearly drove me round the bend



And I've travelled round the world from year to year

Each one found me aimless, one more year the worst for wear

And I've been back to South East Asia

You know the answer sure ain't there

But I'm drifting north, to check things out again



Well the last plane out of Sydney's almost gone

Only seven flying hours, and I'll be landing in Hong Kong

And there ain't nothing 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

You know the last plane out of Sydneyc