A long time ago came a man on a track
walking thirty miles with a pack on his back
and he put down his load where he thought it was
the best
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, 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 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 it's gonna freeze
people driving home from the factories
there's six lanes of traffic
three lanes moving slow. . .

I used to like to go to work but they shut it
down
I 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
all the way down the telegraph road

You know I'd 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 don't seem
to care
but 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 want to see it again. . .

>From all of these signs saying sorry but we're
closed
all the way down the telegraph road