Bruce Cockburn - Tibetan Side of Town lyrics
[Bruce Cockburn - Tibetan Side of Town lyrics]
Through rutted winding streets of Kathmandu
Dodging crowded humans cows dogs rickshaws
Storefronts constellated pools of blue-white
Bright against darkening walls
The butterfly sparkle in my lasered eye
Still seems to hold that last shot of red sun
Through haze over jumbled roofs
Everything moves like slow fluid
In this atmosphere thick as dreams
With sewage, incense, dust and fever
And the smoke of brick kilns and cremations
Tom Kelly's bike rumbles down
We're going drinking on the
Tibetan side of town
Tom Kelly's bike rumbles down
We're going drinking on the
Tibetan side of town
Beggar with withered legs sit's
Sideways on skateboard, grinning
There's a joke going on somewhere
But we'll never know
Those laughing kids with hungry eyes must
Be in on it too
With their clinging memories of a culture
Crushed by Chinese greed
Pretty young mother by the temple gate
Covers her baby's face against diesel fumes
That look of concern you can see it still
Not yet masked by the hard lines
Of a woman's struggle to survive
Hard bargains going down
When you're living on the
Tibetan side of town
Hard bargains going down
When you're living on the
Tibetan side of town
Big red Enfield Bullet lurches to
A halt in the dust
Last blast of engine leaves a
Ringing in the ears
Fades into the rustle of bare
Feet and slapping sandals
And the baritone moan of long bronze trumpets
Muffled by monastery walls
Prayer flags crack like whips in the breeze
Sending to the world tonight
The message blows east
Dark door opens to warm yellow room
And there are these steaming jugs
Of hot millet beer
And I'm sucked into the scene like
This liquor up this bamboo straw
Sweet tungba sliding down
When you're drinking on the
Tibetan side of town
Sweet tungba sliding down
We're drinking on the Tibetan side of town
Dodging crowded humans cows dogs rickshaws
Storefronts constellated pools of blue-white
Bright against darkening walls
The butterfly sparkle in my lasered eye
Still seems to hold that last shot of red sun
Through haze over jumbled roofs
Everything moves like slow fluid
In this atmosphere thick as dreams
With sewage, incense, dust and fever
And the smoke of brick kilns and cremations
Tom Kelly's bike rumbles down
We're going drinking on the
Tibetan side of town
Tom Kelly's bike rumbles down
We're going drinking on the
Tibetan side of town
Beggar with withered legs sit's
Sideways on skateboard, grinning
There's a joke going on somewhere
But we'll never know
Those laughing kids with hungry eyes must
Be in on it too
With their clinging memories of a culture
Crushed by Chinese greed
Pretty young mother by the temple gate
Covers her baby's face against diesel fumes
That look of concern you can see it still
Not yet masked by the hard lines
Of a woman's struggle to survive
Hard bargains going down
When you're living on the
Tibetan side of town
Hard bargains going down
When you're living on the
Tibetan side of town
Big red Enfield Bullet lurches to
A halt in the dust
Last blast of engine leaves a
Ringing in the ears
Fades into the rustle of bare
Feet and slapping sandals
And the baritone moan of long bronze trumpets
Muffled by monastery walls
Prayer flags crack like whips in the breeze
Sending to the world tonight
The message blows east
Dark door opens to warm yellow room
And there are these steaming jugs
Of hot millet beer
And I'm sucked into the scene like
This liquor up this bamboo straw
Sweet tungba sliding down
When you're drinking on the
Tibetan side of town
Sweet tungba sliding down
We're drinking on the Tibetan side of town