The Well-Travelled Man Lyrics

Seems so many years now since he set off down the road
For the bright lights of the city and his story to unfold
No strings, no family plans, no ties to hold him down
His first avowed intent, to leave this dormitory town

At first, he lay just dreaming till he hit upon a plan
To be a true civilian and a well-travelled man

His father told him: “Listen son, the world lies at your feet
Great lands of opportunity and strangers all to meet”

So seize the day, go make your mark,
‘cause fortune loves the brave
So many places to be seen
Before you see your grave

See the stars shoot over Cape Town
Where the oceans all converge
Ride the desert train at midnight
Even sail the universe

Gather round, come one, come all
Listen best ye can
Raise a glass and give a cheer
You can see all at once he’s a well-travelled man

That long and dusty trail, it ran to anywhere but home
Dined equally with pagan chiefs and emperors of Rome
Through ages dark and winters long, lost in the strangest lands
Through countless revolutions saw man’s cruelty to man

Been a butcher, been a saviour
Been a friend you wouldn’t choose
Built temples and filled graveyards
For the side that couldn’t lose

Would you walk with him as spirits
In the quiet of the night
And seek to have the power
For to set the world to right?

Gather round, come one, come all
Listen best ye can
Raise a glass and give a cheer
You can see all at once he’s a well-travelled man

Gather round, come one, come all
Listen best ye can
Raise a glass and give a cheer
You can say what you like, he’s a well-travelled man

Seems so many years now since he set off all alone
To see the wonders of this world, prove the stories he’d been sold
Seeks the “milk of human kindness” and he takes it where he can
From the yachts of Monte Carlo to a teahouse in Japan

But now, he sits forsaken with a beer glass in his hand
Won’t anybody listen to the well-travelled man?