Christmas On the Mekong Lyrics

It's Christmas on the Mekong and it feels pretty far

But not too far for the old kitsch to find ya

There's songs from the mall back home playing at the bar

And they're wearing LED Santa hats made in China

I'm stumbling down the banana pancake trail

I can count my friends here on one hand

But I'm more of a tourist than a traveller

You can tell by the lines of my tan

I was down on the Andaman, where the happy milkshakes are

And you can hear the call to prayer from the bamboo bar

Now I'm up here in Laos where the muddy rivers wind

Hearing songs about peace on earth and goodwill to humankind

In the market there's jewelry made out of bombs

From a war out of mind and out of sight

Half a million sorties we sent our boys on

Flying secret as Santa in the middle of the night

And the countryside groans with the weight

Of all the shiny stuff they piled

Two thousand pounds of ordnance

For every man, woman and child

But people can't help hoping, and life just goes on

And someone made a barbecue from an American bomb

And gathering around it, like always we find

Nothing but peace on earth and goodwill to humankind

Back at the guesthouse, Muan offers me a seat

Where they're drinking all slow and distinguished

And we take turns with one glass, drain it down and repeat

And they do me the favour of speaking English

Their calendar counts from when Buddha died

Long before baby Jesus was born

I say"sok dee", they say"Merry Christmas!"

In the year 2561

And the Mekong is gleaming under an eyelid moon

There's a sleeper bus nightly, I'll be leaving soon

I'll be changing my money, still working on my mind

Trying to learn peace on earth, and goodwill to humankind