The Man Who Walked Toward The Music

by Clive James and Pete Atkin

The man who walked toward the music
Had never heard a noise like that before
He didn't know a Stratocaster from a nuclear disaster
But he liked the floating notes and couldn't wait to hear some more

So the man who walked toward the music
Asked the girl who was dancing in the dark
Who the band was that was playing
But the girl just kept on swaying
In the sea of sound that ran beneath the stars across the park

And as the sea is in touch with a sea-shell
Singing so far and yet so near
He could hear the drumming distance coming close beside his ear

Cataclysmic on the floorboards of the evening
Precision basses thumped through Marshall stacks
And the echoes and reverbs, ultrasonic spice and herbs
Made his uptight mental trolley come alive and jump the tracks

So the man who walked toward the music
Asked the girl who was dancing in the dark
Who the band was that was playing
But the girl just kept on swaying
In the sea of sound that ran beneath the stars across the park

And as the sea is in touch with a sea-shell
Singing so far and yet so near
He could hear the drumming distance coming close beside his ear

He thought that Rickenbacker was a pilot
He didn't know a Gretsch from a Les Paul
He couldn't tell a wah-wah from Akira Kurosawa
But he liked the way they played the way Natasha liked the ball

So the man who walked toward the music
Asked the girl who was dancing in the dark
Who the band was that was playing
But the girl just kept on swaying
In the sea of sound that ran beneath the stars across the park

And as the sea is in touch with a sea-shell
Singing so far and yet so near
He could hear the drumming distance coming close beside his ear

He could hear the drumming distance
Coming closer, coming closer, coming closer
Coming close beside his ear