Khe Sanh - Jimmy Barnes

I left my heart to the sappers round Khe Sanh

And my soul was sold 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

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

Till 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, pay-packets lean

And the telex writers clattered

Where the gunships once had been

But the car parks made me jumpy

And I never stopped the dreams

Or the growing need for speed and Novocain

So I worked across the country 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

And each one found me aimless

One more year the worse for wear

And I’ve been back to South East Asia

But the answer sure ain’t there

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

You know the last plane out of Sydney’s almost gone

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

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

Yeah the last plane out of Sydney’s almost gone

And it’s really got me worried

I’m goin' nowhere and I’m in a hurry

And the last plane out of Sydney’s almost gone