Somewhere Over China

(album: Somewhere Over China - 1982)

Just a semi normal person
Thought he had the future planned
Then he won some silly sweepstakes
Now he had a hundred grand
Never stopped to think of taxes
He was gone before they knew
With a flair for old romantics
To the Orient he flew

When they fueled in Papeete
Place a call to Big Mamou
With an honest explanation
Just to tell the whole damn truth
It's his one chance in a million
Who'd deny the simple fact
Twas no use to talk it over
He'd be home when he got back

Now he's somewhere over China
Looking down on all the trails
On the mountains looking back at him
It's a real live fairy tale
Put a little distance
Between causes and effects
Like a day old fortune cookie
Asking who or what comes next

What the hell did Marco Polo think
When he ran into the wall
Or the crazy flying tigers
Doing spins and loops and stalls
Just a taste for something different
Perking up a boring day
Now our man from Louisiana
Feels exactly the same way

They're all somewhere over China
Shanghai or old Peking
On a plane or a boat in an envelope
Real adventure has it's ring
Just to put a little distance
Between fact and fantasy
Still six thousand miles away from
where I really want to be
How I would love to drive the shuttle
Just to feel the engines roar
And to operate the levers
That control the payload doors
I could buzz the Himalayas
Barrel roll above Hong Kong
Set her down in San Francisco
To the clanging of the gong

We're all somewhere over China
Heading east of heading west
Taking time to live a little
Flying so far from the nest
Just to put a little distance
Between causes and effects
Like an ancient fortune teller
Knowing who and what comes next