| A long time ago came a man on a track |
| Walking thirty miles with a sack on his back |
| And he put down his load where he thought it was the best |
| He made a home in the wilderness |
| He built a cabin and a winter store |
| And he ploughed up the ground by the cold lake shore |
| And the other travellers came walking down the track |
| And they never went further and they never went back |
| Then came the churches then came the schools |
| Then came the lawyers then came the rules |
| Then came the trains and the trucks with their loads |
| And the dirty old track was the telegraph road |
| Then came the mines — then came the ore |
| Then there was the hard times then there was a war |
| Telegraph sang a song about the world outside |
| Telegraph road got so deep and so wide |
| Like a rolling river |
| And my radio says tonight it’s gonna freeze |
| People driving home from the factories |
| There’s six lanes of traffic |
| Three lanes moving slow |
| I used to like to go to work but they shut it down |
| I’ve got a right to go to work but there’s no work here to be found |
| Yes and they say we’re gonna have to pay what’s owed |
| We’re gonna have to reap from some seed that’s been sowed |
| And the birds up on the wires and the telegraph poles |
| They can always fly away from this rain and this cold |
| You can hear them singing out their telegraph code |
| All the way down the telegraph road |
| You know I’d sooner forget but I remember those nights |
| When life was just a bet on a race between the lights |
| You had your head on my shoulder you had your hand in my hair |
| Now you act a little colder like you don’t seem to care |
| But believe in me baby and I’ll take you away |
| From out of this darkness and into the day |
| From these rivers of headlights these rivers of rain |
| From the anger that lives on the streets with these names |
| 'cos I’ve run every red light on memory lane |
| I’ve seen desperation explode into flames |
| And I don’t wanna see it again |
| From all of these signs saying sorry but we’re closed |
| All the way down the telegraph road |