ramadan is over the new moon s showin her face i m halfway round the planet in a most unlikely place following my song line past bamboo shacks and shops behind a jitney packed like sardines with bananas piled on top i ran away from politics it s too bizarre at home away i flew tuned into blue maybe amsterdam or rome awakened by a stewardess with spain somewhere below on the threshold of adventure god i do love this job so so while i make my move on the big board game up and down that spanish highway some things remain the same girls meet boys and the boys tease girls i m headin out this morning for the far side of the world oh i believe in song lines obvious and not i d ridden them like camels to some most peculiar spots they run across the oceans through mountains and saloons and tonight out to the desert where i sit atop this dune i was destined for this vantage point though it s so far from the sea i ve lived it in the pages of saint exupry from paris to tunisia casablanca to dakar i was riding long before i flew through the wind and sand and stars caravan ride that hump and timbuktu s a jillion bumps sleeping bags and battle flags are coiled and furled that s the way you travel to the far side of the world a sunset framed by lightning bolts burns a lasting memory and a string of tiny twinkling lights adorn the sausage tree while the embers from the log fire they flicker fly and twirl then drift off toward the cosmos from the far side of the world  now it s christmas and my birthday and so to that extent the maasai not the wise men are circling my tent i teach them how to play guitar they show me how to dance we have rum from the caribbean and burgundy from france new year s eve in zanzibar with babu and his boys high up on the rooftop you can relish all the noise they are dancing on the tables people bouncing like gazelles 2 0 0 1 is ushered in with air raid horns and bells time to sing time to dance living out my second chance cobras and sleeping bags are coiled and curled that s the way it happens on the far side of the world back at home it s afternoon six thousand miles away i will still be there when i get through attending this soiree there are jobs and chores and questions and plates i need to twirl but tonight i ll take my chances on the far side of the world yes that s the way it happens on the far side of the world