a dream of different coloured shoes

i wander through the streets of this town
and feel my heart's no longer going down, down
down to the river where the water's fresh and cold
as it was in our youth, tho’ we never noticed, we were bold
when we jumped from the bridge to the currents there below
we were relieved to reach the surface, to float 'round those willows
to where our girls were laying on the grass, relaxing in the sun
when we emerged from the river, they stole our minds as one...

every summer-time, you can smell the pine for miles
wrapped in christmas lights, the city welcomes, smiles
you know you want to stay in these rustic dried out hues
but it's the mind that wins and the heart knows it will lose
while those that remain have a comfort we call peace
they see our travelling as a way of breaking lease
a gold coin spins on the blue cloth and then falls
hands high cover for the hearts that follow brake-lights small

you need a change before the change comes and summer is the time for you to
leave before autumn makes your skin as white as winter your heart black enough
to grieve stars over the river where our rope no longer swings we're letting go of
what we know
to find we want to go back in

and when your train pulls from the platform
we smile and wave, we both feel hurt
but we are not the only ones
one moving, one standing here, inert
in an uncertain future, you're in company if you're lost
out there along road and rail, this is the country's cost;
we were where we wanted to stay, though our hearts know how to lose
we've many friends in these footprints made by different coloured shoes

and like a corner shop my heart was closed
to the ghosts in the rain outside, walking 'round in clothes
when i heard a voice beside me i knew, you didn't want this any more
and when i felt your head on my shoulder, brother
i put my other shoulder to the door

let's go down to the river together
let's swing out over the river together
if we free ourselves, we'll be singing as we walk
whenever they sit us down, all we want to do is talk
of albury and the river and the heat and the lemonade
we share under the luminous green of trees that pepper shade
as we read between the centuries, our thoughts lost to the sun
when the girls emerge from the river, they steal our minds as one

every summertime, you can smell the land for miles
as if we've brought the rain with us, the country welcomes, smiles
everywhere, and from everywhere, to who we love and what we knew
we return to dream in different coloured shoes…

we wander through the streets of this town