Christmas Island

I volunteered for overseas
For I would not leave such friends as these
We hid our eyes from a thousand suns
But we faced the knife-wind [mad wind?], everyone
The cloud grew high as I hid a tear
For the weapon of peace was the tool of fear
On Christmas Island
I left the truth so far away
Christmas Island
Freedom took my soul away
I breathed the air, I tasted soil
Where the forests die and the harvests spoil
Now the horse is gone, you close the gate
Say my pain is a twist of fate
Well I took your wages, that is true
But you never warned of what you knew
On Christmas Island
I left the truth so far away
Christmas Island
Freedom took my soul away
I did my duty and it did me wrong
So the time I have may not be long
I will not leave here quietly
For the fallout fell and it fell on me