[Verse 1] Mr Skiffington took the 6:10 with a canvas bag and a dented tin He said, "I’m done with my desk, my tie, my queue" and booked a room where the map turns blue [Chorus] Mr Skiffington, take me along out past the timetable, off the lawn One small bag and a grin that says you don't need much to get yourself gone [Verse 2] Zanzibar hit him with salt and spice a taxi horn, and a man selling limes He bought a shirt with parrots on it and a hand-drawn tour from a kid named Kit [Chorus] Mr Skiffington, take me along out past the timetable, off the lawn One small bag and a grin that says you don't need much to get yourself gone [Verse 3] He got lost by the fish market, twice walked past crates of cloves and a stack of ice A goat stole bread from his paper plate while he laughed too loud at the harbor gate [Chorus] Mr Skiffington, take me along out past the timetable, off the lawn One small bag and a grin that says you don't need much to get yourself gone [Verse 4] By sunset he was on a roof downtown watching dhows cut slow through the brown He sent one postcard, no big speech: "Turns out I needed a place like this" [Chorus] Mr Skiffington, take me along out past the timetable, off the lawn One small bag and a grin that says you don't need much to get yourself gone [Verse 5] Now back home with sand in his cuff he keeps that shirt and it’s enough When the rain taps hard on his flat in town Mr Skiffington still smiles and sits back down
