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Seems so many years now since he set off down the road |
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For the bright lights of the city and his story to unfold |
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No strings, no family plans, no ties to hold him down |
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His first avowed intent, to leave this dormitory town |
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At first, he lay just dreaming till he hit upon a plan |
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To be a true civilian and a well-travelled man |
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His father told him: "Listen son, the world lies at your feet |
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Great lands of opportunity and strangers all to meet |
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So seize the day, go make your mark |
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'cause fortune loves the brave |
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So many places to be seen |
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Before you see your grave |
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See the stars shoot over Cape Town |
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Where the oceans all converge |
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Ride the desert train at midnight |
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Even sail the universe" |
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Gather round, come one, come all |
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Listen best ye can |
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Raise a glass and give a cheer |
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You can see all at once he's a well-travelled man |
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That long and dusty trail, it ran to anywhere but home |
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Dined equally with pagan chiefs and emperors of Rome |
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Through ages dark and winters long, lost in the strangest lands |
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Through countless revolutions, saw man's cruelty to man |
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Been a butcher, been a saviour |
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Been a friend you wouldn't choose |
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Built temples and filled graveyards |
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For the side that couldn't lose |
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Would you walk with him as spirits |
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In the quiet of the night |
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And seek to have the power |
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For to set the world to right? |
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Gather round, come one, come all |
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Listen best ye can |
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Raise a glass and give a cheer |
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You can see all at once he's a well-travelled man |
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Gather round, come one, come all |
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Listen best ye can |
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Raise a glass and give a cheer |
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You can say what you like, he's a well-travelled man |
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Seems so many years now since he set off all alone |
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To see the wonders of this world, prove the stories he'd been sold |
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Seeks the milk of human kindness and he takes it where he can |
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From the yachts of Monte Carlo to a teahouse in Japan |
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But now, he sits forsaken with a beer glass in his hand |
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Won't anybody listen to the well-travelled man? |