Tom McRae
Fifteen Miles Downriver
The snakeskin bracelet on your wrist always came undone
And it’s strange the little things the mind remembers
When the big things in love have gone
And all motion it seems is a relative thing
But I can’t tell who’s further from whom
Sometimes I think I’m flying into the distance
Sometimes I think it’s you
And fifteen miles downriver
Fifteen miles downriver I’ll find the truth
Outside the waitress smokes a cigarette
For a minute she feels free
But the river pays no mind, indifferent to time
Puts distance ‘tween me and you
And I’ve swum against tide
And been breathless all my life
Now I’m drifting free
And it’s time I realised a man can’t fight the tide
And the moon has more influence than me
And fifteen miles downriver
Fifteen miles downriver’s where I wanna be
The final conversation is ringing in my ears
Like the dying chords of a song
And in a pillar of fire thought I saw your face
It’s just a lightning storm
And the lights of these towns fade up and fade down
And they all look the same from here
So I’m digging my nails into the palm of my hand
Not gonna show you my tears
‘Cause fifteen miles downriver
Fifteen miles downriver that rain’ll clear
The walls of the harbour have fallen behind
That river proved to short
And fifteen miles was never that far
Now a thousand don’t seem much
So I threw away the map and now I’m sailing by the stars
But the stars can be liars too
So I raise my flag and sit back down
Let the wind blow where it will
'Cause a thousand miles of ocean’s calling me
Yeah a thousand miles of ocean’s where I’ll find peace
I’ve crossed a thousand miles of ocean
Is that a river I see