With the few hundred Escudos he had left
He bought local, low nicotine cigarettes
Stood by the window and watched the smoke of the jets…
  He leaned between the European winters
  And the warmth of the African sun
  Touched a small piece of heaven with his little thumb
He had come to conquer the world
With his dreams and his music and his words
And the gift of the watch on his wrist said: Time is all that you have…

Two hours and forty minutes from Lisbon
The future is blown by the windmills
And soon you’ll be home with the people you know in Amsterdam…
 
He thought of his home by the bay
Where the sea was just a stone-throw away
And the future seemed like a pane of glass he couldn’t see through… do you?
  He wondered where all those hours went
  The happy and good times that he’d spent
  And the one who whispered: “I’ll write, I love you - I swear that I do…”  
  (And it was true)
There are too few “hellos” - too many “good-byes”
Too much drought and hunger inside
And you can’t cross the ocean without their tears in your eyes – go on and cry

Somewhere far off the Indian Ocean roared
As the loudspeakers announced: “Time to board...”
And he looked through the window and noticed – the sun had gone down…way down

The mountains lay covered in snow
But the cameras zoomed in so low
And the incident went down in history as one of the worst the world had ever known
  They found the debris of the wreck
  And a burnt pack of Portuguese cigarettes
  And a letter in a post-box which read: “I feel so alone… baby, come home!”

He had left to conquer the world
With his dreams, his music and his words
And the gift of the watch on his wrist said: Time is all that you have...
(Use it wisely, my friend)

Thirty seven minutes from Lisbon
The future is still blown through the windmills
And now you are back with the people you love in Amsterdam…

 Lyrics and music by Pete Klimek

Written in Portugal, recorded in Holland, best listened to in the bath with a good glass of wine...