This song is a favourite with Alice Springs folkies. OLD BAMBOO CHAIR (Alan Hughes) He sits on his porch in his old bamboo chair, his old eyes straining to see The smoke curling up from a campfire so clear as the sun rose on men making tea He could see the first rays strike the wattle in bloom, he could smell the sweet tang of the trees Don’t pity this tired old man who is blind for he surely sees more than we see Chorus: For he’s been around, he’s walked to the gulf, he’s driven a steer or two From Barcaldine down to Narromine, he’s seen a lot it’s true He’s a bushy, a drover, a man of the land, a poet and a sage Now he sits on his porch in his old bamboo chair for his eyes have died of old age Now pity is not what this old man needs, he needs time for memories to flow He can still hear the cracks of the whips in the hills, the snorting of cattle in snow And the old blue dog running with joy at the heels of the pony he’s had for so long And young Sandy Duggin edging the herd, crooning the cattle a song Chorus His mind wandered back to those days long gone by and the mates that he knew e’er so well To the stock camps and shearing sheds out to the west on the plains where the summers are hell To the high country streams with their tinkling sweet wine and mountain ash grow straight and tall His mind drew him back to a vision sublime, but his eyes would not heed the call Chorus Now far, far away from the outer Barcoo in a township down by the sea This weary old man sits alone on his porch and dreams of black billy tea And he dreams of returning to those rolling plains where the myall and sheoak still stand And his heart swells with pride as he recalls his life in that wide and wonderful land Chorus Youtube clip --Stewie.
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