on the dunes (kamakiriad)

.
on the dunes
.
drive along the sea
far from the city's twitch and smoke
to a misty beach
that's where my life became a joke
.
on the dunes
on the dunes
where rents are high
and seabirds cry
on the dunes
.
as you spoke you must have known
it was a kind of homicide
i stood and watched my happiness
drift outwards with the tide
.
on the dunes
on the dunes
.
it wasn't fair
it's brutal there
on the dunes
.
pretty boats
sweeping along the shore
in the faltering light
pretty women
with their lovers by their side
it's like an awful dream
i have most every night
.
in the summer all the swells
join in the search for sun and sand
for me it's just a joyless place
where this loneliness began
.
on the dunes
on the dunes
.
i'm pretty tough
but the wind is rough
on the dunes
.
by donald fagen
.
'on the dunes' is from fagen's 'kamakiriad' album.
'kamakiriad is an album of eight related songs. the literal action takes place a few years in the future (...) in the first song, "trans-island skyway," the narrator tells us he is about to embark on a journey in his new dream-car, a custom-tooled kamakiri. it's built for the new century: steam-driven, with a self-contained vegetable garden and a radio link with the tripstar routing satellite. the next six songs describe his adventures along the way. in the last song, ‘teahouse on the tracks’, the narrator lands in dismal flytown where he must decide whether to bail out or rally and continue moving into the unknown...
(from the liner notes of donald fagen’s ‘kamakiriad’)
.