TUMBA-BLOODY-RUMBA
Traditional

He looked for work at muster-time. We tried him as a rider,
We tried him as the rouseabout, and as the cook’s off-sider.
He said he'd sailed the seven seas, he’d been up in Alaska,
He’d been in every western state from Texas to Nebraska.

Chorus (after each verse):
He said he’d shorn a sheep or two, and cut a bit of lumber,
And waged war on the kangaroos, at Tumba-bloody-rumba.

We tried him as a shearer, we tried him as a stacker,
We tried him digging rabbits out. He wasn’t worth a cracker.
He had a shop in Singapore, he owned a pearling lugger,
He was a champ at baccarat, Australian rules and rugger.

He never showed his aptitude at jobs he was allotted,
But showed his skill upon the booze, and cigarettes he blotted.
He said he’d climbed the Matterhorn, he’d been a union leader,
And years ago in Adelaide he was a pigeon breeder.

We tried him digging fencing posts, we tried to find his caper,
Until that happy pay-day when he got his piece of paper.
I wonder where he is now, perhaps back on the lumber,
Or shooting kanga-bloody-roos at Tumba-bloody-rumba.

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Recorded by Warren Fahey.