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.