A song about riding across Afghanistan by motorbike at night.

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I wrote this song in May 2008 after seeing on TV the body of an Australian soldier arriving back in Australia after he had been killed fighting the Taliban..

This made me think of my own adventures in Afghanistan - riding across the country from East to West on a motorbike in 1969.

This came about because I met up with a Yugoslavian guy in Kabul who had driven all the way to India on his Jawa 250 and was on his way back home. He was looking for someone to share the ride and petrol costs for the trip back across Afghanistan. We were both on tight budgets so I agreed. I was on my way back to London from Kathmandu. I had crossed the Afghan desert previously from West to East on public buses - not an experience I would recommend!

We rode mainly by night since it was easier going and we had the amazing experience of a moonrise so bright that just before it came up we turned off the headlight since we didn't need it - we thought it was the dawn - and then not the sun but the moon appeared on the horizon... this memory was the inspiration for the song.

The trip actually took us three days since we had a breakdown.. Fortunately a Russian in a garage on the highway near Kandahar fixed us up and we got going again...

Arriving in Herat was a relief - but this was not the end of the story. My friend had been in trouble with the police in Kabul for carrying a gun and was now late leaving the country since his visa had been cancelled - he had been given 48 hours to leave - and the breakdown meant he had overstayed - it was a delicate moment. We spent a couple of hours sitting in a police station not quite sure what would happen next. Fortunately we talked our way out of it and crossed into Iran - only to be stopped and ushered into a cholera quarantine camp for the next 3 days... there had been an outbreak and everyone had to stay there till cleared before they could go on ... but that's another story.

I guess one of the things the song reflects on is the relative peacefulness of the country I saw in 1969 compared with the way it is now.... another thought in it is how all Afghanistan's visitors eventually leave - Alexander the Great, the British Raj - and one day even the Taliban - those twisted folk who thought it was a good idea to dynamite the extraordinary giant Buddha statues of Bamiyan...

Riding in the desert at night
The stars up above are so bright
I was on a motorbike with my buddy and my old guitar
Two hundred miles from Kabul - two hundred more to Kandahar

Days were too hot for moving
Nights were damn near freezing
I learned a lesson from the Buddha that gazes over Bamiyan
Nothing lasts forever in the deserts of Afghanistan

Moonrise in the desert
Moonrise – turn off the headlight and cruise by moonlight
Riding in the desert – riding in the desert at night

Jagged mountains on the horizon
Racing gainst the rising sun
Riding over scorpions – riding all the way to Iran
Heading back home – going back where we came from

When we rolled into Herat in the morning
Little kids were flying their kites
Running through the streets with two hippies on a motorbike
Straight out of the desert – man we were a terrible sight!

Moonrise in the desert
Moonrise – turn off the headlight and cruise by moonlight
Riding in the desert – riding in the desert at night

Now I’m sitting here in Annandale
Stars up above are so pale
There’s someone on the TV talking bout the Taliban
And they’re bringing back the bodies from the deserts of Afghanistan

Roll over Alexander
Blow away Bamiyan
Say goodbye to the Empire and its never-ever setting sun
There’ll be moonlight in the desert long after everyone’s gone

Moonrise in the desert
Moonrise – turn off the headlight and cruise by moonlight
Riding in the desert – riding in the desert at night
Riding in the desert – riding in the desert at night
Riding in the desert - riding in the desert at night

Keep on riding
Riding in the desert
Going home.....