Abney Park
The Travelers' Curse
I was born in a house rimmed with trees
Between the mountains and the seas
So now when I think of home I believe
It needs mountains and trees, forest and seas

Then we lived off Waikiki
Surf and the sand became part of me
And banyans and tiki and all the rest
Now must adorn my final nest

The Travelers' Curse is a pain in your soul
It bores in your heart an unfillable hole
The Travelers' Curse is a pain in your soul
It bores in your heart an unfillable hole

Then I traveled too far, India
Saw castles built for the maharaja
Jungles of vines, and monkeys too
The list of my home just grew and grew

In the far north I saw fields of ice
The people there were very nice
The space went on for forever plus two
And I thought that I need this much space, and I do!

The Travelers' Curse is a pain in your soul
It bores in your heart an unfillable hole
The Travelers' Curse is a pain in your soul
It bores in your heart an unfillable hole

In Thailand I rode a motor bike
Between the rickshaws and tuktuks alike
Elephant back across fields of rice
And I thought all of this is very nice!

In Barcelona I showed libraries old
Saw elegant buildings embellished with gold
Sipped Spanish wine around fountains in squares
And thought that I could be happy there

The Travelers' Curse is a pain in your soul
It bores in your heart an unfillable hole
The Travelers' Curse is a pain in your soul
It bores in your heart an unfillable hole

Now as I search for the perfect home
My list of features barely fit this poem
I need elephants, mountains, and sands, and seas
Castles, and tuktuk, and chimpanzees
Museums, and nightclubs, and my motorbike
Rickshaws, and jungles, and banyans I like
Libraries of books and ancient tomes
Fountains in squares all feel at my home

And I see my curse that I've built as I roam
A traveler is never content in one home