Lyrics copied from http://www.wongawillicolonialdance.org.au/page/AUSTRALIANFOLKSONGLYRICS/


AND WHEN THEY DANCE
Roy Abbott (of Mucky Duck Bush Band)

CHORUS: And when they dance, their dresses spin round,
They travel so light that they ne'er touch the ground,
And the smile on their faces will win every crowd,
The lasses who danced 'till the morning.

1. I've travelled about, yes, I've been all around,
From Perth in the west, to old Sydney town,
And it warms up my heart every time I look down,
At the lasses who danced 'till the morning.

2. I play for the gentry; I've played for them all,
From a small country gig to a debutantes' ball,
And it's one thing that joins them, the big and the small,
It's the lasses who danced 'till the morning.

3. At the end of the dance, the folk leave the floor.
Their feet must be tired, so tender and sore,
But who are the ones who call out for more?
It's the lasses who danced 'till the morning.

4. So long may I travel, and far may I roam,
From Darwin to Hobart, a long way from home,
And I'll stare at the people who I'll never know,
And the lasses who danced 'till the morning.

[Graeme Murray, of Wongawilli, added verse 5:]

5. And as they dance, men turn them around,
Lads all dressed up for a night on the town,
In their waistcoats and moleskins, it's a smile and a bow,
To the lasses who danced 'till the morning.


[Recorded by—
Mucky Duck Bush Band on "Three Ducking Decades"
Wongawilli Colonial Dance Club on "Australian Tradition"
Danny Spooner on "Emerging Tradition"]