The Pros And Cons Of Hitchhiking    30th April 1984

“4:50 AM (Go Fishing)”     (Waters)

As cars go by I cast my mind's eye
Over back packs on roof racks
Beyond the horizon
Where dream makers
Working white plastic processors
Invite the unwary.
To reach for the pie in the sky
Go fishing my boy!

We set out in the spring
With a trunk full of books about everything
About solar devices
And how nice natural childbirth is
We cut down some trees
And we trailed our ideals
Through the forest glade
We dammed up the stream
And the kids cooled their heels
In the fishing pool we'd made.

We held hands and we exchanged bands
And we practically lived off the land
You adopted a fox cub
Whose mother was somebody's coat
You fed him by hand
And then snuggled him down
In the grandfather bed while I wrote
We grew our own maize
And I only occasionally went into town
To stock up on antibiotics
And shells for the shotgun that I kept around.

I told the kids stories while you worked your loom
And the sun went down sooner each day.

"Chapter six in which Eeyore has a birthday
And gets two presents".

"Daddy...come on dad".

"Eeyore the old grey donkey stood by the side
Of the stream and he looked at himself in the water".

"Pathetic" he said, "That's what it is"

"Good morning Eeyore" said Pooh.

"Oh" said Pooh, He thought for a long time.

The leaves all fell down
Our crops all turned brown
It was over.
As the first snowflakes fell
I realized all was not well in the camp.
The kids caught bronchitis,
The space heater ran out of diesel.
One weekend a friend from the East,
Rot his soul,
Stole your heart.
I said "Fuck it then,
Take the kids back to town,
Maybe I'll see you around".

And so...leaving all our hopes and dreams,
To the wind and the rain.
Taking only our stash,
Left our litter and trash,
And set out on the road again.
On the road again.
On the road again.

"Bye Bye Daddy, Bye Daddy".

"You can bring Pearl she's a darn nice girl,
But don't bring Liza".
Roger Waters - The Pros And Cons Of Hitchhiking