ASIO lyricsOn Frontline (1984), On The Frontline (1984), Anything's Legal, Anything Goes (1985), If You Don't Fight You Lose (1985), The Very Best of Redgum (1987), Against The Grain (2004) and The Essential Redgum (2011)
ASIO (Michael Aktinson) White door, ninth floor, silent number. It’s Autumn on a cold avenue. Telex intercept, he sips a cigarette, And warms up his VDU. Gets his kicks, from microchips, His orders from the CIA, Birobugs and lasers, casual serveillance Of boardrooms and communiques. Don’t use your phone, don’t use mine. Don’t speak treason, the’re tapping the line. Break-in, stake out, tell it in code. Everything is legal, anything goes. The nights get darker and an ill wind blows. Your life’s in a databank at ASIO Trained in the ghettos of the Lebanon. Truncheons and an M16 Shelling skag, a UN flag, Now he’s trading in securities. Darwin rendezvous, a B-52. A trenchcoat slightly creased From a coup in Asia, a US Air Force major, Buying dirty laundry, swearing its for peace. Infliltration, we’ll never know. Just like Chile but the bruises don’t show Break-in, stake out, tell it in code. Everything is legal, anything goes. The nights get darker and an ill wind blows. Your life’s in a databank at ASIO Spook behind the bar, unmarked car, Rumor hangs like stale perfume. Flushing under beds, sniffing out the reds, Nobody can feel immune No names, no stress, no blame, no press. Clean when the dirty work’s done. Allocate a budget, special branch thugs, Do it for the practice, do it for the fun. Midnight, flashlight, crash on the floor. Rats on the table, blood on the floor. Break-in, stake out, tell it in code. Everything is legal, anything goes. The nights get darker and an ill wind blows. Your life’s in a databank at ASIO |
Live at the "On The Frontline" concert, Sydney Entertainment Center April 24 1984
1984 Frontline album version
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