Lyrics
Met a young bloke by the Yarra Where the trams rolled through the rain He said, mate, you're scared of shadows Words don't carry ball and chain
He turned his phone around between us Like the answer waited there Look it up, it's just economics Tell me what there is to fear
I said, words can name a bottle They can't tell you what you drank Call the poison Sunday dinner It won't thank you when you sink
You can call a chain protection You can paint a prison white But changing what we call a thing Doesn't change the thing inside
There's the word And there's the deed There's what sounds good And what it means
Oh, the dictionary won't save you When the words are wearing thin You can paint a lock as freedom Doesn't mean it lets you in
You can call the fire mercy It'll burn you just the same When the truth comes through the doorway It won't stop to ask its name
No, the dictionary won't save you
Every morning someone's welding Someone's pulling on their boots Someone's opening up the bakery Someone's planting winter roots
Someone writes a line of code out Someone drives the midnight road Every thought that turns to something Carries someone's life and load
So don't tell me work is separate From the freedom of a man Time is all that life has given Work is time held in your hands
If you own the hours Own the scars Surely something that they make Is yours
Oh, the dictionary won't save you When the words are wearing thin You can paint a lock as freedom Doesn't mean it lets you in
You can dress control as kindness You can give the chains new names But the truth beneath the language Keeps on stubbornly the same
No, the dictionary won't save you
Then he pointed north to Sweden Said, well mate, explain me that People build and trade in Stockholm Own the shop and own the flat
Same beneath our southern sunrise From the mine gate to the farm From the plumber out at daybreak To the girl who runs the bar
There's an old horse pulling freight there Muscle underneath the load Don't mistake the leech upon him For the reason that he goes
For the reason that he goes
First a letter Then a warning Then a number you must pay
Then an audit Then a summons Then a court decides the day
Then a knock comes at the doorway If you still refuse the call A law is more than words on paper There is force behind it all
And there's a world of difference Between the hand that guards your door And the hand that comes to take from you What you worked your lifetime for
I don't need a world of islands Every man alone and cold Neighbours carried neighbours through fires Long before they could be told
Give your time and give your money Raise a roof or share your bread Kindness freely given means something That compulsion never can
I'll help you when you're hurting You'd do the same for me But a favour with a fist behind it Isn't generosity
Let me choose Let me give Let me build Let me live
Oh, the dictionary won't save you When the words are wearing thin You can paint a lock as freedom Doesn't mean it lets you in
You can call the fire mercy It'll burn you just the same Truth was true before we named it Truth remains when names have changed
Oh, the dictionary won't save you When the promises all break There's a line between compassion And deciding what you'll take
So I'll keep the right to build here And I'll grant the same to you We can trade and give and differ Like free people ought to do
No, the dictionary won't save you
A word can hide a chain
But it can't make the chain go away
No, the dictionary won't save you