Departures from Besta Venya by Nick Parker

The bus pulled into Heathrow and it left me on the street
I went to find departures and I had a bite to eat
Check-in wasn’t open so I had a little time
To get a pen and paper and to watch the world go by

The lady with the zimmer frame was first to catch my eye
Part of me was thinking that she’s far too frail to fly
The steward with her luggage clearly thought the same as me
As he struggled with her trolley he smiled and rolled his eyes at me
And daddy's in his Chelsea shirt it's bursting at the seams
There's sunburn where his hair should be I hope he's packed some cream
And Brandon's playing up again and Courteney's in a hess
And mother's doing all she can to stay inside her dress
And a bunch of lads are waving round a giant England flag
Most of them in matching shirts and one of them in drag
They've had a drink too many and they're getting out of hand
And now they're off to Amsterdam to represent our land

There's a girl who looks like Glastonbury with hair braids and a tan
And tickets from the festy from her elbow to her hand
She spent a year at uni and got lost along the way
And now she's off to India to find herself again
I'm trying to find a coffee coz my throat is getting dry
I'm holding out for a Nero, so I pass the others by
And I find a quiet table in the corner by the tree
And a yuppie (or whatever you call them now) sits down next to me
I'm really glad he did though as we had a lovely chat
He asked about the kids, the house, the dog, the car, the cat
And then he asked me what I really wanted from my life
And only then I realised he was hands-free to his wife

And there's a lady in her forties, she's crouching on all fours
With bottles creams and aerosols all strewn across the floor
She hadn't read the small print and she tried to take too much
And now instead of sailing through she's holding everybody up
And there's a final call for a Mr. Hall who's flying to Dubai
Followed by a red-faced fella swiftly skipping by
He'd been there for an hour or two, we met in Duty Free
He must have settled in the bar or drifted off to sleep
And there's a guy who looks like Rooney but with a couple extra pounds
Writing in his notebook and occasionally looking round
A strawberry blond with stubble and a double chin or three
Reflected in the window, I realise that guy is me

• Folk
• acoustic
• alt country
• country
• folk
• Bristol