Here's the version from The Eric Bogle Songbook (undated), which is the same as what I hear on Bogle's 1993 CD, When the Wind Blows. It's almost the same as what Susanne has in mysongbook.de. Susanne has a couple of interesting differences - in the two places I italicized, her transcription sounds closer to what I hear on the CD.


Hard Hard Times
(Eric Bogle)

Poor Jacky's on the street with his bottle of grog
Hard hard times
He'll try and bite you for a couple of bob
Hard hard times
His Dreamtime people run wild and free
Pinjara, Arunda and Gurinji (Aboriginal tribes)
But the Dreamtime's finished and so is he
Hard hard times

CHORUS
It's hard times living in the lucky country
Hard hard times
Black man say, "Poor fella my country"
Hard hard times

Poor Jacky's a stranger in his own land
Hard hard times
Livin in a world he can't understand
Hard hard times
Wrecked and drowning in a sea of grog
His pride and self-respect's been robbed
Worse off than a white man's dog
Hard hard times

CHORUS

The spirits have fled from the rocks and trees
Hard hard times
The land is sick from white man's disease
Hard hard times
The lust and greed does them betray
They rape the land to make it pay
The black man just got in their way
Hard hard times

CHORUS

The black man's Dreamtime's dead and gone
Hard hard times
The white man's Dreamtime marches on
Hard hard times
They try to make you civilized
They just don't seem to realize
What they touch, they bastardize
Hard hard times

CHORUS

What's the term "Dreamtime" mean in this context? Bogle uses it in at least one other song.