The Herd: States Of Transit

You smile to yourself as you ride past the panel beaters
new piece since last night, early morning on the bike
8 hours in the shop most days of the week
maintaining food on your plate
and your place in the street
keep one eye on the clock until you're ready to bail
learned long ago never to rely on City Rail
When you ride the Sydney system, you're up there with the best
laughing out loud at that ridiculousness

Past the park with the Tai Chi stretchers and yoga heads
and the people with the bottles and the benches for beds
Hell for leather down Crown, hold your breath at the lights
Keepin oxide from your your lungs and keep it fresh for the mike
Band practice tonight to try and keep the set tight
But before then spend time with the love of your life
Got priorities right, maintaining love with respect
There's a thousand roads to travel but you know your direction

Same line, same day, all on the same track
We cross paths but barely interact
You've got no time to chit chat, got a schedule to keep
Shooting straight across the city and you're dodging the sheep
Its the same line, same day, all on the same track
We cross paths but barely interact
One more 24 hour stretch, from daylight to dusk and dusk down to desk

Waiting for the 428, ragged old suit, briefcase looks much older than his age
Like to catch the bus home, not concerned by the traffic and the lights and the ticket price hikes,
Kinda, like the bus, no one talks that much
Keep the conversations hushed, the citys pretty at dusk
Most faces are expressionless, pressing the bell
while peek hour breathes perfume that you just can't sell
From Central, up to King St
Window washers hustle all the cars,
the bus driver just looks and laughs
I pass pools and parks and pass people by
He's content, never meeting with no reason why
He has a cold yet comfortable welcome at home
A little bachelor pad, a goldfish and a phone
Where he'll go back to sleep and dream and wake up at 8
get prepared, catch the bus back to work again

Its like same line, same day, all on the same track
We cross paths but barely interact
One more 24 hour stretch, from daylight to dusk and dusk down to desk
Same line, same day, all on the same track
We cross paths but barely interact
Its all I ask of this complex town,
share a tale or two and watch the sun go down

The sun set so fast I didn't see it happen
Like I look back on days just to see the patterns
See the way the last rays of the day are scattered
in such a different way to when I first sat here
Another beer?
You know the more some things change
the more some things are bound to stay the same
Its a shame about those units across the street though
We used to get that much more light in the arvo
Still its still a good place to sit for a while
Even if these days I don't quite fit the style
Its the people I come here for though, not the decor
And they don't seem to think of me as too much of an old bore
I used to live round the corner
but then the rent got too dear, so I moved from here
Still its not so far to come for a beer
I'm not a local, but I'm still a local here

Same line, same day, all on the same track
We cross paths but barely interact
You've got no time to chit chat, got a schedule to keep
Shooting straight across the city and you're dodging the sheep
Same line, same day, all on the same track
We cross paths but barely interact
Its all I ask of this complex town,
share a tale or two and watch the sun go down