Cold Chisel - Khe Sahn Lyrics

I left my heart to the sappers 'round Khe Sahn
And I sold my soul with my cigarettes, to a black market man
I've had to Vietnam cold turkey, from the ocean to the silver city
And it's only other vets could understa-and
'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
And 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 there 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 paypackets 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 novacaine

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, a-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-ear-ear
And each one found me aimless, one more year the worse for wear
And I've been back to South East Asia, you know the answer sure ain't there
But I'm driftin' north to check things out agai-ai-ain

Well the last plane out of Sydney's almost go-one
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 lo-ong

Well the last plane out of Sydney's almost gone-aca