[Verse 1: Richard Dawson]
I've given the better part of my days
To the consideration of small things
Gingerly went unpicking the seams
Of a long dried-up stream (Ya-ho, ya-ho, ya-ho)
Dwelling at length inside the mad waltz
Of spores on a gust of the mind's hair
And when I dream I really go
To that ocean of stone (Ya-ho, ya-ho, ya-ho)

[Chorus: Richard Dawson]
In the shadowed shallows our spirit wells
Move closer, move closer
On the radio I hear the blue hills
Move closer, here and there

[Verse 2: Richard Dawson]
When I was young, thе better part of my days
Werе spent to the nursing of my mum
I found my pleasure whenever I could
In tennis and piano (Ya-ho, ya-ho, ya-ho)
And though we were half-broke
I managed to go
To study at the University of Melbourne
Melbourne
[Chorus: Richard Dawson]
In the shadowed shallows our spirit wells
Move closer, move closer
On the radio I hear the blue hills
Move closer, here and there

[Verse 3: Richard Dawson]
A week at sea, the better part of my days
Holed up in the cabin lost in boundless study
I'm on my way to the UK
With Ethel McLennan (Ya-ho, ya-ho, ya-ho)
Unfortunately the fungal cultures we brought with us
Have started to degrade

[Outro: Richard Dawson]
There are no birds
No bushes or trees
No beasts nor people
Only this single stem