Lyr Req: A Tale They Won't Believe

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Tale You Won't Believe
From: GUEST,cStu
Date: 17 May 08 - 06:40 PM

Excellent. I first heard this from the singing of (no really) a printer from Halifax, (Yorks., England) while in Peshawar, NW Pakistan in the early nineties. He was also very taken with their song "Saturday Night In Halifax" though that was about Nova Scotia. I remember it well. Well enough to remember it anyway.

Thanks for the heads up to Amazon. (doh!)

Subject: Lyr Add: A TALE THEY WON'T BELIEVE (Mick Thomas)
From: quokka
Date: 17 May 08 - 11:08 AM

A TALE THEY WON'T BELIEVE
Weddings Parties Anything
(Mick Thomas)

We left Macquarie Harbour, it was in the pouring rain
None of us quite sure if we would see England again
And some fool muttered 'death or liberty!'
There was six of us together, a jolly hungry crew
And as the days went by, you know, our hunger quickly grew
And some fool muttered 'death or liberty!'

So that night we made fires out of twigs and out of bark
And our stomachs they were rumbling all through the night so dark
We were only trying to keep ourselves alive
But when the sun came up next morning? Well the six had turned to five!

And I said, right there's another one, don't you frown,
Chew the meat and hold it down
It's a tale they won't believe,
When I get down to Hobart town

All five of us were nervous and I'll tell you that's a fact
But you should have seen the bastard who was carrying the axe
He was a sick man he had murder in his heart
And then we reached the Franklin River, it took two days to cross
We were wet and almost starving and for food were at a loss
We were hungry men with murder on our minds.

So that night we made a fire out of twigs and out of bark
And our stomachs they were rumbling all through the night so dark,
They were making noises the dead could not ignore
And when the sun came up next morning, well the five had turned to four!

And I said, right there's another one, don't you frown,
Chew the meat and hold it down
It's a tale they won't believe,
When I get down to Hobart town

Well the four of us kept marching to a place called Western Tiers
A country full of tasty game but for us it held no cheer
We had no guns, we were traveling without hope.
But the axe it loomed so ominous and God's hand was at play
A sick man is a type of game which can not run away
So stay easy, my poor man, your time's at hand.

So that night we made fires out of twigs and out of bark
and our stomachs they were grumbling all through the night so dark
I can't say I feel guilty, after all it wasn't me
but when the sun came up next morning the four had turned to three!

And I said, right there's another one, don't you frown,
Chew the meat and hold it down
It's a tale they won't believe,
When I get down to Hobart town

Well the three of us kept moving but one was fading fast
He had been bitten by a snake and you could see he would not last
Stay easy, my good man, your time's at hand
And when he could last no longer his days were fading fast
We were far too weak to carry him, subsistence it comes first
Stay easy, my good man, your time is at hand.

So that night we made fires out of twigs and out of bark
and our stomachs they were grumbling all through the night so dark
It was a messy job but it was one we had to do
but when the sun came up next morning the three had turned to two!

And I said, right there's another one, don't you frown,
Chew the meat and hold it down
It's a tale they won't believe,
When I get down to Hobart town

Now he had been looking at me funny, sort of eyeing me for days,
And you would not need to be too bright to know that bastard's ways:
He was a sick man, he had murder in his heart.
But even bastards have to rest, and even bastards have to sleep,
And when he was in the land of Nod straight over to him I creep,
And the axe that he had wielded now was mine!

So that night, I made the fire, out of twigs and out of bark,
and my stomach it kept rumbling all through the night so dark.
I can't say that I enjoyed it, and it wasn't exactly fun,
but when the sun came up next morning, the two had turned to one!

And I said, right there's another one, don't you frown,
Chew the meat and hold it down
It's a tale they won't believe,
When I get down to Hobart town

Well now history is a pack of lies, as any fool can tell
And when I got down to Hobart Town I told my story well,
But do you think they would believe one word I said?
For they thought that I was covering for my mates still at large,
Said they'd be roaming in the bush so wild and free
And back to old Macquarie Harbour they sent me.

But I remember the fires made out of twigs and made of bark
and my stomach it was grumbling all through the night so dark
And this young fool, he just said to me 'It's liberty or death!'
And he looked a rather tasty one, I just could not help it –

Singing, right there's another one, don't you frown,
Chew the meat and hold it down
It's a tale they won't believe
When I get down
When I get down
When I get down to Hobart town

Subject: RE: A tale you wont believe-WPA, anyone know
From: GUEST,dave, again, manchester, england
Date: 10 May 00 - 07:09 PM

Callie, can you help with the lyrics? it would be greatly appreciated. I've also took your advice and ordered some WPA CD's from Amazon. you should be on a commission !!

Subject: RE: A tale you wont believe-WPA, anyone know
From: GUEST,emily b
Date: 09 May 00 - 05:52 PM

Thanks, Callie for steering me to amazon.com and Roaring Days. I just ordered the CD.

I can't believe it never occured to me to check at amazon. I suppose I never knew just how big a band WPA was and after reading so many glowing reviews, how lucky I was to have caught them live. They grabbed a piece of me that Spring back in the 80's and never completely let go.

I can't wait for the CD.

Thanks again,

Emily

Subject: RE: A tale you wont believe-WPA, anyone know
From: Callie
Date: 08 May 00 - 12:33 AM

I'll post the lyrics to the song later tonight.

The group has split up, but there is a live CD available, and Michael Thomas (the lead singer) has been doing lots of pub gigs of late.

Emily: all of their CDs are still readily available (try searching through Amazon). My personal favourite is "Roaring Days" and some of those "middle period" ones.

My group has just strated doing their song "Summons in the Morning" about the band member who gets caught gluing a poster on a wall.

--Callie

--Callie

Subject: RE: A tale you wont believe-WPA, anyone know
From: GUEST,emily b
Date: 05 May 00 - 11:21 AM

I fell in love with this band when they were here in Houston about 13 or so years ago. They were one of the featured bands at our annual International Festival. I lucked into hearing them during my lunch hour, went to see them that night all by myself and danced all night. I met some great people that night, too.

I have always wondered where they were, who they were, etc. Do they have recordings that can still be ordered? I'm sorry to hear they've split up. I'd appreciate any information any of you might have.

Thanks for bringing back some great memories.

emily

Subject: RE: A tale you wont believe-WPA, anyone know
From: Callie
Date: 05 May 00 - 10:12 AM

Funnily enough, I was just listening to this today! I don't know the words off by heart - would have to go through the tape I have word for word. If you get really stuck, I'm happy to do this.

--Callie

Subject: A tale you wont believe-WPA, anyone know
From: GUEST,Dave Wilde
Date: 05 May 00 - 08:45 AM

Anybody know the lyrics to this , I love the song by Weddings, parties , Anything, a (sadly) ex-Aussie band