The Idiot

Verse 1 I often take these night shift walks When the foreman’s not around I turn my back on the cooling stacks And make for open ground Far out beyond the tank-farm fence Where the gas flare makes no sound I forget the stink and I always think Back to that Eastern town Verse 2 I remember back six years ago This western life I chose And every day the news would say Some factory’s going to close Well, I could have stayed to take the dole But I’m not one of those I take nothing free, and that makes me An idiot, I suppose Verse 3 So I bid farewell to the Eastern town I never more will see But work I must so I eat this dust And breathe refinery Oh I miss the green and the woods and streams And I don’t like cowboy clothes But I like being free and that makes me An idiot, I suppose Verse 4 So come all you fine young fellows Who’ve been beaten to the ground This western life’s no paradise But it’s better than lying down Oh the streets aren’t clean, and there’s nothing green And the hills are dirty brown But the government dole will rot your soul Back there in your home town Verse 5 So bid farewell to the Eastern town You never more will see There’s self-respect and a steady cheque In this refinery You will miss the green and the woods and streams And the dust will fill your nose But you’ll be free, and just like me An idiot, I suppose