Khe Sanh

Cold Chisel
Khe Sanh
Words and Music by Don Walker

I left my heart to the sappers round Khe Sanh
And I sold my soul with my cigarettes
To the black-market 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
And 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

And she was like so many more from that time on
Their lives were all so empty
Until 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, paypackets lean
And the telex writers clattered
Where the gunships once had been
But 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
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
You know the answer sure ain't there
But I'm drifting North, to check things out again

Well the last plane out of Sydney's almost gone
And only seven flying hours, and I'll be landing in Hong Kong
And 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
You know the last plane out of Sydney's almost gone
And it's really got me worried
I'm going nowhere and I'm in a hurry
You know the last plane out of Sydney's almost gone

Well the last plane out of Sydney's almost gone
(Yeah, yeah)
You know the last plane out of Sydney's almost gone
(Well) It's really got me worried
I'm going nowhere and I'm in a hurry
You know the last plane out of Sydney's almost gone




The above is as close as I can make it to what I hear--as sung by Jimmy--when I listen to this classic pub song; your mileage may vary... :)

For the "official" lyrics, follow this link (hosted on Cold Chisel's official site).

For a rundown on what some of the lyrics mean in the first verse, follow this link to a Wikipedia article about the song and its popularity and history.

And if you're really that curious to hear the song, you can watch it below... just ignore the slight time sync problem between the audio and video :)