Asio Lyrics - Redgum Anthology 1976-1986 - Redgum

White door, ninth floor, silent number, it's autumn on a cold avenue 

Telex intercept, he sips a cigarette, warms up his V.D.U. 

He gets his kicks from microchips, orders from the C.I.A. 

Birobugs and lasers, casual surveillance, boardrooms and communiques 

Don't use your phone and don't use mine 

Don't speak treason, they're tapping the li-ine 

Break-in, stake out, tell it in code 

Everything is legal, anything goes 

The nights gettin' darker and the ill wind blows 

Your life's in a databank at ASIO 

Trained in the ghettos of the Lebanon, truncheons and an M16 

Selling skag, a U.N. flag, now he's trading in securities 

Darwin rendezvous, a B-52, trenchcoat slightly creased 

From a coup in Asia, A U.S. Air Force major 

Buying dirty laundry, swearin' it's for peace 

Infiltration, we'll never know 

Just like Chile but the bruises don't show-ow 

Break-in, stake out, tell it in code 

Everything is legal, anything goes 

The nights get darker and the ill wind blows 

Your life's in a databank at ASIO 

Spook behind the bar, unmarked car, rumour hangs like stale perfume 

Flushing under beds, sniffin' 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 door 

Rats on the table, blood on the floor-oor 

Break-in, stake out, tell it in code 

Everything is legal, anything goes 

The nights get darker and the ill wind blows 

Your life's in a databank at ASIO