He just finished eating dinner
and stepped outside the cave to smoke
A cigarette he’d made from rolled up photo paper
They were pictures of things back on earth
He looked out on the greyish white expanse of
Uninhabited terrain he now called homeHe’d seen plenty of mirages and imaginary visitors up until then
So he wasn’t sure what to think when he saw swans
And they were wading on the shores of a pale white lake
That he’d never seen there before
And it was quite beautiful and it was far away
Cause everything beautiful is far awayHe knew he was as good as gone
But gone was somewhere he really didn’t mind going to
Since the shuttle had crashed many years had passed
And the pictures of his loved ones
That he drew on the walls of the cave had finally faded
He put out his smoke and proceeded toward the lake
Repeating to himself everything beautiful is far away.Grandaddy, Everything beautiful is far away, 1998
These lyrics echo a sentiment found in tango lyrics that to an emigrant lost on the far side of the world everything beautiful is far away.
And back in BsAs his Mum used to buy his brylcreem and take his suits to the cleaners …
Isn’t that always the case.
Or maybe it was his mother who emigrated and he is singing of a land that he has learned to long for but never seen.