The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #168402   Message #4106726
Posted By: Stewie
19-May-21 - 08:13 PM
Thread Name: Mudcat Australia-New Zealand Songbook
Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
Staying on the subject of women in the bush, here's a good'un from the Prickle Farmer.

LETTER TO NARELLE
(Mike Hayes)

She sits down by the light of the kerosene lantern
And wearily brushes the moths from the glass
Takes her pen in her hand and she starts on a letter
To her girlfriend Narelle back at home from the past

They had grown up as one, they were schoolgirls together
Til time and the pull of her heart changed her life
Took her far far away from her friend and the city
To this bare backblocks kingdom she now rules as a wife

And she writes:
Dear Narelle, the drought's getting worse now
And I don't know if we're gonna make it this time
And I've been on my own since my man went a-droving
But, apart from these dust storms, everything's been fine

But oh dear Narelle, I wish you could be here
When the rain finally falls and the country turns green
And the wind moves the hills in an ocean of grasslands
And the gulleys sing loud with the song of the stream

And she writes how she misses the kids, off at school now
But she knows that it's better that they're both away
And she hopes the supply truck comes in with some stores soon
'Cos there's just one or two things that she ran out of today

And she writes:
Dear Narelle, it's been almost three years now
Since I shopped in the city or took in a show
But when my man's back and the bank gives us credit
He's promised me this time we'll definitely go

But oh dear Narelle, I wish you could see him
As he rides through the gate when the rains finally fall
With his old hat thrown back and his eyes warm and smiling
These long months on my own just won't matter at all

And oh dear Narelle, you should be here at sundown
When the easterly breeze hunts the heat from the day
And the stars shine like diamonds in a sky of black velvet
And I'm glad that my city life's far far away

And the moon rises softly like a far away bushfire
And I'm glad that my city life's far far away

Youtube clip

--Stewie.