Lament of the Chiming Wedgebill - The Lucksmiths

When the wind’s from the north, love

I can hear the railway line

That low, lonesome whistle

Comes floating through the night

And I dream of departure

Of a suitcase by the door

And I wake in the morning

As weary as before I fell asleep

When the wind’s from the west, love

I can smell the distant sea

And ten thousand teardrops

Come flooding back to me

I’d almost forgotten

How we spoke of setting sail

That evening gin-sodden

The moon a fingernail scratched in the sky

For we’d seen the sorrow summer brings

Where the chiming wedgebill sings

«Oh why did you get drunk?

Why did you get drunk?»

But when the wind’s from the south, love

You’re only half an hour from here

I hardly need pedal

And that hill just disappears

The silos stands silent

Down that endless railway line

The district’s deserted

The sunset might be mine

And yours, of course

But I’ve seen the sorrow summer brings

Where the chiming wedgebill sings

«Oh why did you get drunk?

Why did you get drunk?

Why did you get drunk?

Oh why did you get drunk?»