1
A long time ago came a man on a track
Walking thirty miles with a sack on his back
And he put down his load where he thought it was the best
Made a home in the wilderness
Built a cabin and a winter store
And he plowed up the ground by the cold lake shore
The other travelers came walking 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 load
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
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 fly away from this rain and this cold
You can hear them singing out their telegraph code
All the way down the Telegraph Road
I'd sooner forget, but I remember those nights
Yeah, 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 just 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
'Cause I've run every red light on memory lane
I've seen desperation explode into flames
And I don't wanna see it again
From all of these signs saying, "Sorry, but we're closed"
All the way
Down the Telegraph Road
Walking thirty miles with a sack on his back
And he put down his load where he thought it was the best
Made a home in the wilderness
Built a cabin and a winter store
And he plowed up the ground by the cold lake shore
The other travelers came walking 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 load
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
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 fly away from this rain and this cold
You can hear them singing out their telegraph code
All the way down the Telegraph Road
I'd sooner forget, but I remember those nights
Yeah, 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 just 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
'Cause I've run every red light on memory lane
I've seen desperation explode into flames
And I don't wanna see it again
From all of these signs saying, "Sorry, but we're closed"
All the way
Down the Telegraph Road
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Considering current news on the Detroit Bankruptcy, just how brilliant and visionary does one have to be to write this song 30+ years ago????
@tman <br /> You are forgetting one thing: back in the 1980's, the economy was also down the drain, and this song is from 1982. <br /> In the UK you had Thatcher, who closed the mines and killed of thousands and thousands of jobs, killing the economy in a lot of small and medium towns, and redistributing the wealth to a few rich men who only got richer, and making the poor poorer. Just like Reagan did in the US, that's why they were such great buddies.
@tman So how's your musical carreer coming along?
@tman <br /> <br /> i always thought the song was about the decline of the uk also. this whole verse i seen as Thatcher talking and not the person of knoplers affection.<br /> <br /> But just believe in me baby and I'll take you away<br /> From out of this darkness and into the day<br /> From these rivers of headlights, these rivers of rain<br /> From the anger that lives on the streets with these names<br /> 'Cause I've run every red light on memory lane<br /> I've seen desperation explode into flames<br /> And I don't wanna see it again<br /> <br /> here thatcher is being interpreted as... trust me i can guide us through all this pain the song is so British protest, and i can see how some take the song as any rust belt city in USA<br /> <br /> just my take anyway
@tman take it back to the '67 Detroit Riots. Before that Auto strikes for better pay, and on and on.