Telegraph Road

A long time ago came a man on a track
Walking thirty miles with a sac on his back
And he put down his load where he thought it was the best
And 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 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 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'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 run 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 race between the light
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 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 river of rain
From the anger that lives on the streets with these names
'cos I've run every rod 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


Dire Straits (Love over Gold, 1982)