The Idiot

I often take these night shift walks
When the forman's not around
I turn my back on the cooling stacks
And make for open ground
For out beyond the tank-farm fence
Where the gas flare makes no sound
I forget the stink and I always think
Back to that Eastern town
I remember back six years ago
This western life I choose
And every day the news would say
Some factory's going to close
Well I could have stayed to take the dole
But I'm not one of those
I take nothing free and that makes me
An idiot I suppose
So I bid farewell to the Eastern town
I nevermore will see
But work I must so I eat this dust
And breath refinery
Oh, I missed the green and the woods and streams
And I don't like cowboy clothes
But I like being free and that makes me
An idiot I suppose
So come you all fine young fellows
Who've been beaten to the ground
This western life's no paradise
But it's better than lying down
Oh the streets aren't clean and there's nothing green And the hills are dirty brown
But the government dole will rot your soul
Back there in your home town
So I bid fair well to the Eastern town
You never more will see
There's self-respect and steady check
In this refinery
You will miss the green and the woods and streams And the dust will fill your nose
But you'd be free and that makes me
An idiot I suppose
These are the words I tell myself
When I miss my own hometown
I tell myself that I'm doing right
By turning that welfare down
But now I see for you and me
That I want those woods and streams
For that I owe my life to this workers strife
Why can't I just be free