G'day,
I seem to have been volunteered by the person who has my Lawson book!!!

However I do have a file so I suppose that's why. Cut&paste follows:-

THE OUTSIDE TRACK

Words: Henry Lawson
Tune: Gerry Hallom

(First verse usually omitted

There were ten of us there on the moonlit quay,
And one on the for'ard hatch;
No straighter mate to his mates than he
Had ever said: "Len's a match!"
'Twill be long, old man, ere our glasses clink,
'Twill be long ere we grip your hand!-
And we dragged him ashore for a final drink
Till the whole wide world seemed grand.)

The (D)port-lights (Em)glowed in the (D)morning mist
That (G)rolled from the waters (D)green;
(A7)And (D)over the (Em)railing we (D)grasped his fist
As the dark tide came be(A)tween.
We (G)cheered the captain and (D)cheered the crew
And our mate times out of (A7)mind;
We (D)cheered the (Em)land he was (D)going (G)to
And the (D)land he had (A7)left be(D)hind. (G D)

For they (D)marry and go as the world rolls back,
They marry and vanish and (A7)die;
But their (D)spirit shall (Em)live on the (D)outside (G)track,
As (D)long as the (A7)years go (D)by. (G D)

We roared Lang Syne as a last farewell
But my heart seemed out of joint;
I well remember the hush that fell
When the steamer passed the point.
We drifted home through the public bars,
We were ten times less by one,
Who had sailed out under the morning stars
And under the rising sun.

And one by one, and two by two,
They have sailed from the wharf since then;
I have said good-bye to the last I knew,
The last of the careless men.
And I can't but think that the times we had
Were the best times after all,
As I turn aside with a lonely glass
And drink to the bar-room wall.

But I'll try my luck for a cheque Out Back,
Then a last good-bye to the bush;
For my heart's away on the Outside Track,
On the track of the steerage push.

For they marry and go as the world rolls back,
They marry and vanish and die;
But their spirit shall live on the outside track,
As long as the years go by.

Cheers,
Alan