Twas a hot September, the hottest I can remember
We took the children in the larder, and headed for the warm climbs of Odessa
I'd worked hard the whole season
Olga portrayed a tiredness which she strove to conceal
We stopped at an inn and took some lunch - some simple fare of cheeses and borshch
The bread tasted strange - Olga mentioned to me the old wives tale of 'bread mould madness'

I laughed and ate, and ate and laughed
The food did me good, the beer refreshed my dusty brow
It was as we reached Odessa that I started to feel
The strangest mood descend over me from nowhere

The sky changed colour
Vehicles on the road were a funfair
It struck me as being incredibly funny
That we four were in a tin can
Hiding ourselves from the cruel, harsh, alien world outside
I stopped the car in the middle of the intersection in the centre of Odessa
And stepped outside to dance and laugh at the insignificance of our ordered lives

The traffic built up and Odessa saw it's largest
Most confused and contorted traffic jam and I started to laugh
I laughed and laughed until I cried and cried
I cried and cried until I laughed and laughed

I laughed and laughed until I cried and cried
I cried and cried until I laughed and laughed