Reckless

SO this seems to be yet another song about heroin. I'll go through the lyrics line by line but first I'll summarise. The song tells of the morning journey from Manly to the city (and presumably Kings Cross) to 'get on' (buy a hit). The experience of the addict standing apart from the people commuting to work, and the daily wrestle of trying not to use heroin when they are addicted are part of the song,

Meet me down by the jetty landing Where the the pontoons bump and sway

The song locates us, waiting for the ferry. You may be in a hurry but you can't go anywhere while you wait. A bit like waiting for a dealer. The pontoons bumping and swaying makes me think of a live crowd at a gig.

I see the others reading, standing As the Manly Ferry cuts its way to Circular Quay

The singer is apart from normal people who don't do what he does. The are standing where he is sitting or fallen in a sense. Presumably he is 'hanging out', feeling sick until he can get on. But more so, he is a failure compared to the people with jobs and healthy lives.

Hear the Captain blow his whistle So long she's been away

'She' is heroin and he is hanging out. The captains whistle conveys the urgency of the trip and its progress into the busy Circular Quay area.

I miss our early morning wrestle Not a very Happy way to start the day

Waking up, hanging out and deliberating about getting on, is not fun. Maybe he misses it because there is no deliberating these days. He has to use every day.

She don't like That kind of behaviour She don't like That kind of behaviour

Heroin is in charge now and she doesnt like him thinking that he can not use for a day. The drug is portrayed like an aggressive dominatrix.

So, throw down your guns Don't be so reckless Throw down your guns Don't be so

The singer is telling the listener not to toy with heroin. Put down the needle before you start and certainly before she takes control.

Feel like Scott of the Antarctic Base camp too far away A Russian sun beneath the Arctic

He is cold, desperate, dying, isolated from humanity and there is a kind of dead headedness i think in active heroin and methadone addiction that could be like having a polar ice cap over you and between you and the sky

Burke and Wills and camels Initials in the tree

He is too far from help and out of the living water

She don't like That kind of behaviour She don't like That kind of behaviour

So, throw down your guns Don't be so reckless Throw down your guns Don't be so

So the title of the song relates to what gets people in trouble with drugs despite being warned - they think "it wont happen to me" but like an explorer exploring drugs, they can recklessly push to a point where they are beyond help.

I think this is a very powerful song with real investment by the writer.