NEWELL HIGHWAY
(J.Warner/G.Parry)

Awake before the dawn, within the spires of range
Where magpies ornate melodies
Engrave the chilly morning breeze
Beneath the towering stone
Beneath the towering stone

On nights of silver moon, too rich to waste on sleep
In silence make your way to seek
The choirs of frogs in swamp and creek
That sing beneath the stars
That sing beneath the stars

Out on the Western Plain beside the roaring road
Where trucks snarl by without a care
Are billabongs with ibis there
And wedge-tail eagles soar
And wedge-tail eagles soar

All you that love the earth and make her ways your choice
Cry out against the noise of trade
Demand that silence should be made
So that all may hear her voice
Her ancient, matchless voice

Recorded on Danny Spooner 'Emerging Tradition'.

Danny noted:

John Warner penned this piece in 1985, after a visit to the Warrumbungle Mountains in inland New South Wales. A committed conservationist, John borrowed the tune of the well-loved Anglican hymn 'Dear Lord and Father of Mankind' (G.H.H. Parry) to remind us how ‘progress’ has encroached upon and damaged some of our most precious assets and continues to do so.

--Stewie.

Recording by Kerr, Fagan, Harbron.