The homecomer with a sun-tan   Smoking cigarettes from another land   They look so neat   And smell so sweet      Funny how the kids all dressed up and fine   Are standing in a line so the homecomer can say   They look so sweet   Measure them from head to feet      The Homecomer with a strawhat   Showing colour-slides of a viper and a bat   And where to go   And where it's at      Sitting drinking wine with the grown-ups by the fire   Telling all night 'bout the places he's been to   And the people there   Oh, the kids would love to hear   So they sneak up near      And I'll come home with a mind of my own   And a rucksack full of secrets I can show   While everyone tries to picture   What the homecomer's eyes have seen   The homecomer is what I always wanted to be      The homecomer with a strawhat   Finds his way without a map   On the countryside   Or in London town      Looking at the children with love in his face   Telling them softly when I was your age   I longed to be   Someone like me      The homecomer with a sun-tan   Touches his own face with the hands of a man   Something has changed   He's not the same      After an appointment with a very old friend   All good days must come to an end   So he goes to bed   And he closes his eyes      And I'll come home with a mind of my own   And a rucksack full of secrets I can show   While everyone tries to picture   What the homecomer's eyes have seen   A homecomer is what I always wanted to be      I'll come home with a mind of my own   And a rucksack full of secrets I can show   While everyone tries to picture   What the homecomer's eyes have seen   A homecomer is what I always wanted to be