As the Crow Flies

When that bird fell from its nest
Me and my sister did our best
To feed it earth worms everyday
After school we watched it fly away
And I miss my mother, my old room and the sound of the rain
As it fell on the rooftops and ran along the drains
Sometimes it feels like an ocean that railway line
Sometimes it feels like we’re living in darker times
I’m heading back home for a couple of days
And I can’t imagine all that much has changed
See that town moves with the colour of the sky
There’s a face I recognise as the crow flies
Well someones opened up a cafe on the river’s edge
«I would go there in the summer, rent some boats out» we said
Those kids grew up in the beat of the old bass drum
From son to father, from father back to son
That cat she used to run rings, always playing tricks on the dog
He’d be sitting in the kitchen, rolling around all covered in mud
Now they’re buried in the garden in the shadow of the hawthorn tree
Farewell travelers may your souls always be free
Well we always get together this time of year
Always wish I could tell them what they’re waiting to hear
But who said time moves in straight lines
At least I can say I tried as the crow flies
She said «you're drinking too much», I said «yes I probably am»
I find it easier to forget what I can’t understand
Like how all those snakes made it past the line so fast
And how the future turns so quickly into the past
Now the cafe by the rivers all boarded up
There’s an autumn wind blowing through the old horse chestnut
I saw him in a dream, says he’s doing alright
I can see him in your eyes as the crow flies, as the crow flies
But sometimes it feels like everything’s been done before
The same ideas and the same four chords
We’re still leaving in the morning for to cross the sea
Because not everything’s been done by me
I remember that boy in the fading August light
We watched that fledgling bird take its first flight
Well I hope that I have done you proud
And I promise to wake up and fight
On the roads that we travel, on the oceans we sail
In the jaws of the dragon, in the belly of the whale
I will always keep you by my side
We’ll get old and we’ll get wise as the crow flies
Anywhere, anytime as the crow flies