G'day ... I'm back again,

I guess that, since I published this song first - in , John Dengate, Bush Music Club, Sydney, Easter 1982, I should at least get John's original words down right.

BILL FROM ERSKINEVILLE
(John Dengate)

I'm pleased to meet you, my name's Bill,
I'm working in a factory in Erskinville.
You have to crawl and conditions are a crime
But you get a few dollars worth of overtime.
Hooray, ain't life grand;
I'm saving the deposit on a block of land.

I met a fellow selling real estate -
He's running from the coppers in another state.
And he's the friend of a generous gent
Who's lending money at twenty percent.
Hooray, life's a lark;
I'm swimmin' in the water with a finance shark.

I had a couple of dollars on a short-priced horse
Running in a welter on the Rosehill course
But too much weight and too little pace
And the bugger finished twelfth in a twelve-horse race.
Hooray faithful nag
Ferryin' the money to the bookie's bag.

I had a little flutter on the poker machines
And I won a dollar forty when it paid three Queens,
So I chases the aces around the wheels
Now I can't afford the money to pay for meals.
Hooray, feed the slot;
Haul upon the handle till you lose the lot.

Lottery tickets have me up shit creek;
I was twenty off a five-dollar prize last week.
The tyres on my car are all worn through
And the registration's overdue.
Hooray, hip-hurrah
For a worn-out, second-hand Holden car.

I said to my wife, "We've reached the stage
Where we cannot manage on a single wage."
Now she pulls beer in the pub saloon
And the kids run wild of an afternoon.
Hooray, name your brand,
I'm drinkin' the deposit for a block of land.

I'm pleased to meet you etc.

Since then the interest rates have gone up and down like a yo-yo, as we dance to the World Bank's tune, but the rest of the song stays all too true.

Regards,

Bob Bolton