G'day Franz,
Ted's name of this song is actually a Song for Grace .
I seem to have misremembered its story … Ted wrote this song on the basis of the stories of his own mother Grace (neé Brennan). The story of his grandfather's stubborn grief reduced him to tears, at age 12, when his mother recounted it … and clearly stayed with him. Nerys certainly normally sings the song (and I haven't heard anyone else do it). I seem to have variations of this track on three Ted Egan CDs – it segues from a reminiscence of an old Digger (Australian soldier) on The Anzacs , TED005 and is presented straight on The Dover's Boy – A Celebration of Australian Women and his newest 2-CD set The Land Down Under, EVGR 001. The track has a light 'orchestral' backing … and finishes with a short bugle call: The Last Post - the normal last call of the military day … and military funerals.
I have scanned in Ted's own 'official' words from the book of The Anzacs - and I've inserted Nerys's departures within normal (round) brackets for extra words she uses and [square] brackets for variations. This ought to be sufficient to identify the track you have as hers or someone else's. Another point may be that the track is about 5' 55" long, in all instances.
A SONG FOR GRACE
Words & music: Ted Egan
I was a girl of thirteen when my three brothers went to the war;
Martin, (and) Robert and Jack, and as I waved from the door
I thought: 'Who in the world could have brothers as handsome as they?'
Three Australian Light Horsemen, I see their proud figures today.
Our parents were Irish, with no love for England at all,
But their sons were Australians, and each bravely answered the call,
In their turned-up slouch hats, and their feathers, and leggings, and spurs,
The Empire, as much as their [my] mother, knew these sons were hers.
CHORUS: And at the going down of the sun
And in the morning
We will (we'll) remember them
Lest we forget.
The mailman brought cards from Colombo, (and) then from Port Said.
Here's a photo of Jack, in Egypt his first camel ride
And look at young Bobby, in London here, crossing The Strand
And Martin writes: 'Mum and Dad, life in the army is grand'.
The same mailman brought us the news about our darling Jack,
'Regret to inform you your son John will never come back.
He died of his wounds at Gallipoli, so brave was he
He's awarded the Military Medal posthumously.'
CHORUS: And at the going down of the sun etc.
When the telegram came, my mother collapsed, and I had
The terrible task of breaking the news to my Dad.
With our old draught-horse, Punch, my father was ploughing the land
[When] I ran to the paddock, the telegram clutched in my hand.
The Irishman read it, said: 'Thank you, now leave me alone,
'Go on back to the house, help your mother, she's there on her own'
He called: 'Stand up, Punch; we have to get on with this job'
But I saw his slumped shoulders, and I heard his heart-rending sob.
CHORUS: And at the going down of the sun etc.
Well, Robert was gassed, and he always had pains in his head
(And) Martin was shell-shocked and he'd have been better off dead
And I - I'm just an old lady who watched them all go,
But I am the one you should ask about war for I know.
(That) All of these years have gone by, and I know the grief yet
Yes I will remember them - I can't forget
FINAL CHORUS: And at the going down of the sun
And in the morning …
(Bugle Call: The Last Post)
Here is the MIDI of the dots rendered in Alan of Australia's (no longer supported by Mudcat …?) MIDItext program. If you don't have a copy of this handy little app … at least you can extract the ABC component at the end and decode it with an ABC-Music program!
MIDI file: songgrac.mid
Timebase: 240
TimeSig: 3/4 24 8
Tempo: 128 (468750 microsec/crotchet)
Start
0360 1 62 080 0096 0 62 064 0024 1 62 080 0096 0 62 064 0024 1 62 080 0096 0 62 064 0024 1 74 080 0192 0 74 064 0048 1 74 080 0192 0 74 064 0048 1 74 080 0192 0 74 064 0048 1 74 080 0192 0 74 064 0048 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0168 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0168 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 69 080 0192 0 69 064 0048 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0168 1 64 080 0096 0 64 064 0024 1 62 080 1104 0 62 064 0336 1 74 080 0192 0 74 064 0048 1 74 080 0192 0 74 064 0048 1 74 080 0192 0 74 064 0048 1 71 080 0096 0 71 064 0024 1 71 080 0288 0 71 064 0072 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 67 080 0288 0 67 064 0072 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 72 080 0288 0 72 064 0072 1 71 080 0096 0 71 064 0024 1 69 080 1104 0 69 064 1416 1 69 080 0096 0 69 064 0024 1 69 080 0192 0 69 064 0048 1 76 080 0288 0 76 064 0072 1 76 080 0096 0 76 064 0024 1 76 080 0192 0 76 064 0048 1 76 080 0288 0 76 064 0072 1 76 080 0096 0 76 064 0024 1 76 080 0192 0 76 064 0048 1 76 080 0288 0 76 064 0072 1 76 080 0096 0 76 064 0024 1 76 080 0192 0 76 064 0048 1 76 080 0192 0 76 064 0048 1 74 080 0192 0 74 064 0048 1 72 080 0192 0 72 064 0048 1 69 080 1296 0 69 064 1344 1 69 080 0096 0 69 064 0024 1 69 080 0096 0 69 064 0024 1 69 080 0192 0 69 064 0048 1 69 080 0192 0 69 064 0048 1 69 080 0192 0 69 064 0048 1 69 080 0192 0 69 064 0048 1 69 080 0288 0 69 064 0072 1 69 080 0096 0 69 064 0024 1 71 080 0288 0 71 064 0072 1 71 080 0096 0 71 064 0024 1 69 080 0192 0 69 064 0048 1 71 080 0096 0 71 064 0024 1 73 080 0456 0 73 064 0024 1 76 080 0096 0 76 064 0024 1 74 080 1170 0 74 064 1590 1 62 080 0096 0 62 064 0024 1 74 080 0192 0 74 064 0048 1 74 080 0192 0 74 064 0048 1 74 080 0192 0 74 064 0048 1 74 080 0192 0 74 064 0048 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0168 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0168 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 69 080 0192 0 69 064 0048 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0168 1 64 080 0096 0 64 064 0024 1 62 080 1104 0 62 064 0336 1 74 080 0192 0 74 064 0048 1 74 080 0192 0 74 064 0048 1 74 080 0192 0 74 064 0048 1 71 080 0096 0 71 064 0024 1 71 080 0288 0 71 064 0072 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 67 080 0288 0 67 064 0072 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 72 080 0288 0 72 064 0072 1 71 080 0096 0 71 064 0024 1 69 080 1104 0 69 064 1416 1 69 080 0096 0 69 064 0024 1 69 080 0192 0 69 064 0048 1 76 080 0288 0 76 064 0072 1 76 080 0096 0 76 064 0024 1 76 080 0192 0 76 064 0048 1 76 080 0288 0 76 064 0072 1 76 080 0096 0 76 064 0024 1 76 080 0192 0 76 064 0048 1 76 080 0288 0 76 064 0072 1 76 080 0096 0 76 064 0024 1 76 080 0192 0 76 064 0048 1 76 080 0192 0 76 064 0048 1 74 080 0192 0 74 064 0048 1 72 080 0192 0 72 064 0048 1 69 080 1296 0 69 064 1344 1 69 080 0096 0 69 064 0024 1 69 080 0096 0 69 064 0024 1 72 080 0192 0 72 064 0048 1 72 080 0192 0 72 064 0048 1 72 080 0192 0 72 064 0048 1 72 080 0192 0 72 064 0048 1 69 080 0192 0 69 064 0048 1 71 080 0192 0 71 064 0048 1 72 080 0096 0 72 064 0024 1 69 080 0288 0 69 064 0072 1 71 080 0192 0 71 064 0048 1 72 080 0192 0 72 064 0048 1 71 080 0288 0 71 064 0072 1 69 080 0096 0 69 064 0024 1 67 080 1296 0 67 064 1224 1 62 080 0096 0 62 064 0024 1 62 080 0096 0 62 064 0024 1 62 080 0096 0 62 064 0024 1 62 080 0096 0 62 064 0024 1 67 080 0504 0 67 064 0096 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 71 080 0408 0 71 064 0072 1 74 080 0048 0 74 064 0012 1 74 080 0048 0 74 064 0012 1 74 080 1008 0 74 064 0072 1 74 080 0096 0 74 064 0024 1 74 080 0096 0 74 064 0024 1 76 080 0096 0 76 064 0024 1 74 080 0192 0 74 064 0048 1 71 080 1776 0 71 064 0144 1 76 080 0384 0 76 064 0096 1 76 080 0192 0 76 064 0048 1 74 080 0384 0 74 064 0096 1 72 080 0192 0 72 064 0048 1 72 080 1104 0 72 064 0096 1 72 080 0192 0 72 064 0048 1 69 080 0384 0 69 064 0096 1 71 080 0096 0 71 064 0024 1 67 080 1416 0 67 064
End
This program is worth the effort of learning it.
To download the March 10 MIDItext 98 software and get instructions on how to use it click here
ABC format:
X:1
T:
M:3/4
Q:1/4=128
K:C
D4DD|d2d2d2|d2GG3|G3GG2|A2G3E|D6|-D6|d6|-d2d2d2|
BB3G2|G3GGG|G2c3B|A6|-A6|A6|-A3A3|-A6|A4A2|
-A6|e6|-e3ee2|e3ee2|e3ee2|e2d2c2|A6|-A6|A6|
-A4A2|-A6|A5A|-A6|A6|-A2A2A2|A2A3A|B3BA2|
B^c4e|d6|-d6|d6|-d5D|-D6|D6|d6|-d6|d2d4|-d4d2|
d2GG3|G3GG2|A2G3E|D6|-D6|d6|-d2d2d2|BB3G2|
G3GGG|G2c3B|A6|-A6|A6|-A3A3|-A6|A4A2|-A6|
e6|-e3ee2|e3ee2|e3ee2|e2d2c2|A6|-A6|A6|-A4A2|
-A6|A5A|-A6|c6|-c2c2c2|c2A2B2|cA3B2|c2B3A|
G6|-G6|G6|-G3D3|-D6|D4D2|-D5D|DG5|GB4d/2d/2|
d6|-d3dde|d2B4|-B6|B6|e6|-e6|e4e2|-e6|d6|
-d4c2|c6|-c4c2|A4BG|-G6|G19/4||
If you really prefer a MIDI file (or can persuade me to render the CD track as an MP3 …) PM me and I can work out where to send what.
Regards,
Bob Bolton