long time ago came a man on a track 
Walking thirty miles with a pack on his back 
And he put down his load where he thought it was the best 
Made a home in the wilderness 
He built a cabin and a winter store 
And he ploughed up the ground by the cold lake shore 
And the other travellers came riding down the track 
And they never went further, no, they never went back 
Then came the churches then came the schools 
Then came the lawyers then came [bad word] 
Then came the trains and the [bad word] with their loads 
And the dirty old track was the telegraph road 
Then came the mines - then came the ore 
Then there was the hard times then there was a war 
Telegraph sang a song about the world outside 
Telegraph road got so deep and so wide 
Like a rolling river. . . 
And my radio says tonight it's gonna freeze 
People driving home from the factories 
There's six lanes of traffic 
Three lanes moving slow. . . 
I used to like to go to work but they shut it down 
I got a right to go to work but there's no work here to be found 
Yes and they say we're gonna have to pay what's owed 
We're gonna have to reap from some seed that's been sowed 
And the birds up on the wires and the telegraph poles 
They can always fly away from this rain and this cold 
You can hear them singing out their telegraph code 
All the way down the telegraph road 
You know I'd sooner forget but I remember those nights 
When life was just a bet on a race between the lights 
You had your head on my shoulder you had your hand in my hair 
Now you act a little colder like you don't seem to care 
But believe in me baby and I'll take you away 
From out of this darkness and into the day 
From these rivers of headlights these rivers of rain 
From the anger that lives on the streets with these names 
'cos [bad word] every red light on memory lane 
I've seen desperation explode into flames 
And I don't want to see it again. . . 
From all of these signs saying sorry but we're closed 
All the way down the telegraph road