Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 25 Dec 20 - 10:44 PM I recall singing this number in one annual MayDay Choir in Darwin, early 90s! SPIRIT OF THE LAND - [1st version] Martin Kellock When you look around, look at how we're living And you see the way that we treat those who stand in our way Always taking more, never ever giving Don't you feel ashamed, of what we're doing today? Wish I could repay, all our acts of desecration European eyes couldn't see beyond their own greed All the tribal land, all the native population How long must it go on, how long can they bleed? Chorus : Oh I, wish we could remember Maybe, then we'll understand They know, where the wealth is hidden They know, Spirit of the Land. Spirit of the Laa-and !!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mo61FNMTHSY Spirit of the Land from Ross Hannaford’s Lucky Dog; lead vocal by composer Martin Kellock. The late, talented and zany, Ross Hannaford, now much missed. His best-known group was probably Daddy Cool but he was also a much sought-after session guitarist : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Hannaford “….. Ross at his best was a uniquely sublime musician, and the best I ever heard from him was always live. In his last few years he played superb R&R/R&B etc. at the St Andrews Pub with The Useful Members of Society - his solos on Neil Young's On The Beach in particular were as inspired, innovative and expressive as any electric guitar of that kind ever played by anyone ever, anywhere; and with his duos, trios and quartets at the hole in the wall venue of Claypots in Barkly Street St Kilda around the same time, his ineffably ethereal extemporisations on his own original themes were indescribably transporting…. “ Jacob Marley, YouTube channel. R-J |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 24 Dec 20 - 06:52 PM that must have been a looooong time ago ... |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: GerryM Date: 24 Dec 20 - 05:58 PM Sandra, I have the vinyl from back-in-the-day. But if the Fossickers have something they can put online, that would be excellent. Marg Walters ran a monthly singaround back then. For a while, the venue was Craig's place. Daisy was a baby then. |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 24 Dec 20 - 09:01 AM THE BATAVIA SHANTY John Warner’s song of the tragic and grisly tale of shipwreck, mutiny and slaughter in Houtman’s Abrolhos, a group of islands off the central coast of Western Australia, in 1629 by renegade sailors of the Dutch East India Company. Nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, tea Heave and fall on the southern swells Fill the holds of the VOC Roll Batavia down But down in stout Batavia’s hold There’s a massive weight of jewels and gold Quarter-million guilders worth, all told Roll Batavia down. For months the murderous plot’s been laid Heave and fall on the southern swells To slip away from the ships of trade Roll Batavia down Make passage south to the unknown land Turn buccaneer as the skipper has planned Slaughter all others out of hand Roll Batavia down. What’s that gleam on the larboard quarter? Heave and fall on the southern swells Moonlight glinting on the water Roll Batavia down No moonlight here, but the crashing wave The lookout cries too late to save Batavia from her island grave Roll Batavia down Now some did drown and some made land Heave and fall on the southern swells But few can hide from death’s cold hand Roll Batavia down The sword and dagger do their work Who knows where bloody murderers lurk To silence traitors with a dirk Roll Batavia down The commander’s gone and the captain too, Heave and fall on the southern swells Along with the best of the barge’s crew Roll Batavia down Protection that they might have made By this desertion is betrayed Throats stretched to the slaughterer’s blade Roll Batavia down The rescue ship has come too late Heave and fall on the southern swells For those who met a bloody fate Roll Batavia down The thieves have paid for their plunder dear Trial and torture, pain and fear Death for every mutineer Roll Batavia down Stark the creaking scaffolds stand Heave and fall on the southern swells The dead swing over the blowing sand Roll Batavia down They say that dead men tell no tales Who knows but many a spirit wails In the cold lament of the southern gales Roll Batavia down Batavia : Words and Tune : John Warner “The Batavia sailed with a convoy to Java on her maiden voyage in 1628, laden with jewels and gold for the Dutch East India Company (the VOC). In a plot by Jeronimus Cornelisz the vessel was parted from the fleet and inadvertently wrecked on the Houtman Abrolhos Islands off the coast of Western Australia. [While Captain Pelsaert and some crew sailed a longboat to Java to get help,] Over a two-month period Cornelisz and his companions slaughtered 125 of the 200 survivors of the wreck, planning to seize the rescue vessel and turn pirate. They were foiled by a group of loyal soldiers led by Wiebbe Hayes and [when Pelsaert returned,] a dreadful justice was finally meted out to Cornelisz and the other mutineers.” https://40degrees-south.com/cds/life-of-brine/notes/#2 The WIKI Tale : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batavia_(1628_ship) : of the 332 originally on board, 122 people made it to Java. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3ecidTxr18 – Daniel Kelly sings JW’s Batavia Shanty R-J |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 24 Dec 20 - 05:11 AM Gerry, The Fossikers sing 'Used to be a River' as Craig's daughter is a member. I can ask them if they have a recording sandra |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: GerryM Date: 24 Dec 20 - 04:21 AM SALVATION JANE words and music: Fay White (With some changes made by the folk process. It thanks John Warner) In the Flinders Ranges grows a flower glorious to see Pink and purple, paddocks full, a goldmine for the bee For its nectar yields a blending honey and its pollen's a link in the chain Giving food for the hive so the bee-keeper blesses it And calls it Salvation Jane But across the border in New South Wales it's a different kind of scene For the flower infests the western plain - down to the Riverine And it gives the cattle a liver disease that affects the grazier's purse So he sees the weed with a jaded eye And calls it Paterson's Curse Salvation Jane, Salvation Jane Adverse? Converse?, is it Paterson’s Curse Or is it Salvation Jane? Cross the border again to South Australia for the farmer's voice to hear He says that the weed grows greener longer and later in the year So it feeds your cattle in droughty weather and fattens them nicely too It's no great trouble if you manage it well Just depends on your point of view Well I know some folks whose hearts are like a paddock ploughed and bare Fertile ground for growing good grain and reaping a harvest there But with constant, constant care they’re watering seeds of pain And they’re reaping a crop of Paterson's curse And not Salvation Jane Salvation Jane, Salvation Jane, For better or worse, turn Paterson's Curse Into Salvation Jane. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Fay White writes, "Salvation Jane/Paterson's Curse is a harmful pasture weed in eastern Australia but it sustains livestock in times of drought. The ambivalent nature of this biennial plant gives us a quaint metaphor for how we handle our lives - happiness and excess grief aren't dealt out by fate, but are choices we make ourselves." Recorded by Jill Stevens on the album Desert Rain, Restless RRP016. No recordings available online, so far as I know. My thanks to Margaret Walters for contacting Fay White, and to Fay White for her permission to post these lyrics. |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: GerryM Date: 24 Dec 20 - 04:03 AM The Garden (Kate Fagan) I knew a woman who lived alone, Saving seeds and lifting stones, Watching leaves and moving(?) bones Until she built a garden. A garden for her broken heart , A garden like a poet's art, Lines of flowers to stop and start The seasons in her garden Calling all you women, calling all you men. The garden of our future is planted in our names. Food to feed the many, birds to sing a song. It's a garden for our children even if we plant alone I knew a woman who loved to sing, She had a song for everything. A song for Winter, a song for Spring, A song to fill a garden. Even when the sky was gray She'd find a verse to greet the day, A tune to see her on her way, To carry in her garden Calling all you women, calling all you men. The songs that we remember, we sing them in our names. Words to hold the many, music to bring us home, They're stories for our children even if we sing alone. I knew a girl who loved to dance, Held the world in both her hands, Every flower, every plant She tended in her garden. Roses for her mother's heart, A friesia by the circle path, Bluebells, daffodils, sweet blue grass, She planted in her garden Calling all you women, calling all you men. The garden of their future is planted in our names. Food to feed the many, birds to sing a song, It's a garden for our children even if we plant alone Calling all you women, calling all you men. The garden of our future is planted in their names. Food to feed the many, birds to sing a song, It's a garden for our children that we never plant alone. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Recorded by Margaret and Bob Fagan on the 2019 CD, Landmarks on the Journey, FMCD007. Not on the internet, so far as I know. |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: GerryM Date: 24 Dec 20 - 03:55 AM Shelter Eric Bogle I'm drowning in the sunshine as it pours down from the skies There's something stirring in my heart, bright colours fill my eyes As from here to the far horizon your beauty does unfold And oh, you look so lovely, dressed in green and gold And I can almost touch the ocean, shimmering in the distant haze As I stand here on this mountain on this loveliest day of days Round half the world I've drifted, left no wild oats unsown But now my view has shifted and I think I've just come home To the homeless and the hungry, may you always open doors May the restless and the weary find safe harbour on your shores May you always be our dreamtime place, our spirit's glad release May you always be our shelter, may we always live in peace I'm drowning in the sunshine as it pours down from the skies There's something stirring in my heart, bright colours fill my eyes As from here to the far horizon your beauty does unfold And oh, you look so lovely, dressed in green and gold Here's a recording. |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: GerryM Date: 24 Dec 20 - 03:47 AM Used to Be a River Craig Edmondson 1. This used to be a river (used to be a river) But now it is a sewer (now it is a sewer) But it used to be a river, And I wonder where the river got to go. Chorus: These changes, I have seen, I have seen To the people and the places Dear to me, dear to me. 2. This used to be a mountain (used to be a mountain) But now it is a golf course (now it is a golf course) But it used to be a mountain, And I wonder where the mountain got to go. Chorus 3. This used to be a forest (used to be a forest) But now it is a Kmart (now it is a Kmart) But it used to be a forest, And I wonder where the forest got to go. Chorus 4. You used to be my baby (used to be my baby) But now you are a stranger (now you are a stranger) But you used to be my baby, And I wonder where my baby got to go. Chorus &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Recording by Craig Edmondson, from the 1987 vinyl Bondi Road, Restless RRP019. |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: GerryM Date: 24 Dec 20 - 03:41 AM And the Band Played "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" Tony Miles When I was a young man and played a guitar I lived the free life of a rover. From Brisbane's green river to dusty folk clubs I waltzed my old Martin all over. And at each club I played, the people said ‘Son, We do like your songs’, but when I was done They'd leap on the stage saying "Now I'll sing one" And this is the song that they'd sing. 1st Chorus: 'And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda', Then the audience soon forgot me And amidst all the tears, flag waving and cheers, I'd slip to the loo for a pee. How well I remembered that terrible day, How my blood boiled much hotter than water. For up to that time I'd been well on the way To winning the publican's daughter. Johnny Turk, he was singing and sang the song well, I showered him with insults and truth is to tell, I wished Eric Bogle had gone straight to hell And never had come to Australia. 2nd Chorus: 'And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda' was such a well loved refrain that when Johnny Turk had finished the berk Started all over again. And now every April I sit on my porch And watch my past life pass before me. And I wished I had written that rambling song That brought Eric Bogle such glory. And the songs what I wrote, I don't sing them no more They're tired old songs from a tired old bore And the young people ask ‘What did he write them for?’ And I ask myself the same question. 3rd Chorus: 'And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda' - How the singers respond to that call, And as year passes year all my hopes disappear That no one will sing it at all |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 24 Dec 20 - 03:15 AM NOTE TO FOLLOWERS OF THIS THREAD : Sorry for promising the new spreadsheets of the thread's CONTENTS up to the Solstice, but I figured most folks will be off celebrating the coming of this year's end (!) and it makes more sense to close off Edition One on Dec 31st. As Sandra said previously, if you'd like a copy of the two emailed spreadsheets, just PM me (or her) with an email addy (or post it here in code, LoL) Seasons Greetings, R-J :) |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 24 Dec 20 - 02:45 AM Further to yesterday’s song about The Female Factory, here is a composition from Canadian?? singer-songwriter Catherine Doucet (yes very Joni-like!), Mary Hindle: Ballad of a Female Convict Down Under https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9fl_ZAQCnE “This song is based on research of the life of Mary Hindle, a young woman falsely accused of a crime and sent to the penal colony of New South Wales, Australia in 1826. Her punishment was hard labour at the Parramatta Female Factory. 15 years into her sentence, her family died. Shortly thereafter, she took her life.” Today, I came across this most interesting website and research by Dr. Heather Blasdale-Clarke : http://www.colonialdance.com.au/ Australian Colonial Dance : The History of Music and Dance in Australia 1788-1840 and some pages regarding Song and Dance in the Convict Realms : http://www.colonialdance.com.au/convict-research and these song links on the pages make interesting reading (well, what else is one to do on The Eve of Merry Bah-Humbug, Down Under?!) : Auld Robin Grey Drops of Brandy King of the Cannibal Islands Michael Wiggins Off She Goes Tekeli Apparently the song “King of the Cannibal Islands” [i.e. FIJI - and referenced in a number of the Old Sydney Town police reports included here] fell out of currency in Australia, but continues in America …………………….. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNnl63U4bTA You will note that the female of the species received harsher sentence for disturbing the peace by Singing; namely lengthy times in Mrs Gordon’s establishment (i.e. The Female Factory), whereas the menfolk copped a small fine or a few hours in the stocks. Such was Life. HOWEVER, some of the Dancing men were “Sentenced to dance the mazy round of Mr. Murray’s spiritual rectifier [aka the treadmill]” for a few days - not so good :( But all-in-all, the website does give evidence of another side to early Colonial life, for “the lower orders”!! R-J |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 23 Dec 20 - 08:36 AM THE FEMALE FACTORY John Hospadaryk Monday morning, Old Stringybark comes out to take a peep At the best-behaved girls who stand in line like dirty sheep It’s one way to get a pardon by being sold, by being married off to some cove who’s far too old Might be better than this place of infamy Might be better than this stinking hole : The Female Factory. Within the hour the Reverend Marsden will have you given away Oh, you’ll be taken up- country somewhere ‘fore the end of the day And when you think about it, it could have been a lot worse For the Authorities there, they were not averse to using the Cat o’ Nine Tails or shaving your head And you personally knew some girls who made sure they left that place dead. Let’s not mince words : if you’re not high-born, you’re a whore And the best that you’ll be called is ‘unfortunate wretch’ and nothing more You were savaged on the transport ships, you were raped in Sydney Town You were forced to give them favours on the barge that brought you down You were forced to live in filth, but what is even worse is that your sex and class have no redress Small wonder that you curse. Monday morning, Old Stringybark comes out to take a peep. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSZB-52gdg Chloe & Jason Roweth (BATTLER’s BALLAD), in 2012. WIKI : “Female factories were based on British bridewells, prisons and workhouses. They were for women convicts transported to the penal colonies of New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land. An estimated 9,000 convict women were in the 13 female factories, in the colonies of NSW and Van Diemen's Land. This spanned a period of 52 years -1804 to 1856. An estimated 1 in 5 to 1 in 7 Australians are related to these women. The factories were called factories because each was a site of production. The women produced spun wool and flax in all the factories. In the main factories other work was undertaken such as sewing, stocking knitting and straw plaiting. Hard labour included rock breaking and oakum picking.[1] Women were sent to the female factories while awaiting assignment to a household or while awaiting childbirth or weaning or as punishment.” https://femalefactoryonline.org/about/history/parramatta-female-factory/ R-J |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 23 Dec 20 - 07:41 AM WINTER IN AMERICA (1976) (orig. Leave Love Enough Alone, 1974) Doug Ashdown & Jimmy Stewart The harbour's misty in the morning love Oh how I miss December The Frangipani opens up to kiss the salty air I know you're getting ready for the office I suppose he's still there With you, sharing our morning sun. ch: Winter in America is cold And I just keep growing older I wish I could have known Enough of love to leave love enough alone. I've learned something of love I wish I’d known before you left me But it's funny how you don't know what you've got Until it's gone And I hope you're getting all the love you’ve ever wanted But I wish I was there With you, sharing our morning sun. I wake into the sadness of the rain And making love to strangers And wishing I had known Enough of love to leave love enough alone. Winter in America is cold And I just keep growing older I wish I could have known Enough of love to leave love enough alone. Winter in America is cold And I just keep growing older I wish I could have known Enough of love to leave love enough alone. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fi12rCeWD1A : Doug Ashdown, c. 1976 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Ashdown Version by Australia’s Margret RoadKnight (and a Mudcatter!) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1npgoO0mL0k R-J |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 23 Dec 20 - 07:00 AM ANTIQUE ANNIE'S MAGIC LANTERN SHOW (Jimmy Stewart & Doug Ashdown) Porcelain plates and penny-farthings Places you can visit now from long ago Ruby rings and old brass hearthings Chippendale, mahoganies that glow Children's music, box-ed cameos At ‘Antique Annie's Magic Lantern Show’ Come and see her wares Climb three flights of stairs Come and see her face at a place They call Antique Bentley-driven Edgecliff ladies Touch and tease, and toil and spoil her show Dainty, dusty, Dresden dancers Answers Annie sweetly, bowing low Annie answers all that you wish to know At ‘Antique Annie's Magic Lantern Show’ They bought her coloured glass They thought that they’d bought her past Through the silver and the lace at a place They called Antique Chippendale, mahoganies that glow Children's music, boxed cameos At ‘Antique Annie's Magic Lantern Show’ Come and see her wares Climb three flights of stairs Come and see her face at a place They call Antique …. Antique https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEA-40wWa7M Marian Henderson’s beautiful rendition from her 1970 “Cameo” album, which became ‘collectable’ (I still have my LP!) Here is the version by co-writer, Doug Ashdown, an Adelaide boy, from his 1970 album “The Age of Mouse” : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mROiP4s2u1c R-J |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 23 Dec 20 - 05:11 AM Thanks for posting John’s Fitzgerald Inquiry song, Sandra! Yes, sadly The Bellevue is merely one of MANY heritage buildings throughout Australia, destroyed (IMHO) mostly by greedy Councils and State Govts in the pockets of Developers – and mostly they seem to be replaced by buildings of absolutely ZILCH architectural qualities etc ….. (IMHO, of course!) Back to the Song Posts : I think we’re overdue for a WARHORSE, and I don’t think we’ve had this one yet : THE CONVICT MAID trad You lads and lasses all attend to me While I relate my tale of misery By hopeless love was I once betrayed And now I am, alas, a convict maid. To please my lover did I try full sore I spent upon him all of my master’s store Who in his wrath did so loud upbraid And brought before the judge this convict maid. The judge his sentence then to me addressed Which filled with agony my aching breast To Botany Bay you must be conveyed For seven long years to be a convict maid. For seven long years I toiled in pain and grief And cursed the day that I became a thief Oh had I stuck by some honest trade I’d ne’er have been, alas, a convict maid. This is, I think, the most basic version of the story (it’s the one I remember singing in my youth, anyway!) In those days it was sung to good effect by Marian Henderson, as in this clip : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbct0Jd5X6g The tune is also known as “The Croppy Boy” & “McCaffery” and even “Lord Franklin” is related …. AND THEN THERE’S THIS VERSION : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEE7mQ0fAzQ by Melbourne trio, “BUSH GOTHIC” “Bush Gothic wander through the dankest, weirdest corners of the trad song books and emerge as post modern slash anti establishment slash folk feminists. Are they outsiders, lurking on the cultural fringe? Or have they penetrated to the inner core of Australian identity? BBC Music Magazine gave them FIVE STARS and they are multiple Best Music Award winners at The Adelaide Fringe.” ‘Rising folk stars, inventive and edgy’ - The Guardian 'Extraordinary, even revolutionary. Unforgettable folk.' - The Canberra Times 'Rescues Australian folk from the world of beards and blue jeans.' - The Age From their website bio. R-J |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 23 Dec 20 - 02:25 AM BICYCLE BUILT FOR THREE by Noel Gardner, 2016. winner of the 2018 Dengate Parody Competition, Illawarra Folk Festival. Malcolm, Malcolm give us some answers do We thought, you had principles, but I guess we hadn’t a clue It seemed like a stylish marriage, leather jacket and gold carriage But now your, not so sweet, upon that seat, with Pauline and Tony to Malcolm Malcolm, the blue sweater is more your style Mr Harbour Side Mansion, making money and flashy smile Trusts and Cayman havens, reduced tax, with offshore trading You slather your mates, reduce welfare rates, a right wing repertoire Malcolm Malcolm, the vision you sold was a lie Your born to rule mentality, is now well magnified You sold us a pup for powe, as you climbed your way up the tower As the walls cave in, you morph into spin, with shallowness quantified Malcolm Malcolm, how far right, are you willing to go To outflank Pauline, and appease your bed fellows Refugees are now dispensable, your lack of caring, reprehensible Your appeasement to win is such a sin, clearly you were all show Malcolm, Malcolm you really are such a hack Rupert’s lap dog, Mr Elite just spreading his crap You spruik the coal companies message, attack renewable energy You banker toff why don’t you piss off, and give us our future back Malcolm, Malcolm give us some answers do We thought, you had principles, but I guess we hadn’t a clue It seemed like a stylish marriage, leather jacket and gold carriage But now you're not so sweet, upon that seat, with Pauline and Tony too Noel Gardner 1/11/16 |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 23 Dec 20 - 02:01 AM Queensland policeman (Fitzgerald Enquiry) by john Dengate. Tune New England Cocky, 'Twas a Queensland policeman, or so I've been told Whose pockets were bulging with ill-gotten gold. Though his salary was modest, his rake-offs were big: Corruption had made him a very fat pig. He did not build his house out of sticks or of straw; He built it of bricks and he dead-locked the door. But when the big bad wolf enquired at his gates, The pig got so scared that he dobbed in his mates. "Well, I may be a pig, but my voice is in key, A bloody canary's got nothing on me." And his song was so long, by the end of the day, He had sung the Commissioner's super away. Well he dobbed and he snitched and he warbled and trilled Till right across Queensland his guts he had spilled. From Brisbane to Cooktown his singing was heard And Mr Fitzgerald wrote down every word. Now all you bent coppers, take warning from me, Steer clear of the brothels, the drups and the S.P. though the wages of sin are exceedingly great; Remember the bagman and don't trust your mate. John's note - Inspired by a comment of an ex-wharfie mate of mine: "I couldn't care less about the corruption; it's the dobbing I can't stand". page 45 'My Shout again', Malaney, Qld, 1989 dobbed/snitched - told tales, (a great sin in all circles, whether it is the innocent, foreign-born child telling the teacher she was blaming the wrong pupil & naming the one who misbehaved, or in adult circles, both suburban or criminal) super - Superannuation/pension S.P. - Starting Price, gambling on horses, an illegal activity |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 23 Dec 20 - 01:41 AM I've just delved, & wow! I was in Brisbane in August 79, just before the Bellevue Hotel was destroyed - Bellvue hotel demolition I was visiting a friend & she drove me past the gutted, balcony-less building. |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 23 Dec 20 - 12:23 AM Thanks Stewie, for The Hills of Coromandel – the late Phil Garland is certainly an ENZED National Treasure. My last posting of “Brisbane Blacks” c.1982 reminded me that I had recently come across this number - “PIG CITY” by The Parameters, 1983 - in the notorious JOH (Bjelke Peterson) ERA. In an earlier time, a protest song like this would surely have come from The Folk Movement!! I have just ordered Andrew Stafford’s publication of the same title, which should make interesting reading!! Here is Pig City : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ehx4CZSsojI [and where a Commenter observed : “The not so funny thing was that neither Goss [next Labor premier] nor the Fitzgerald Enquiry, gaoled a single member of the various arms of Joh's secret police” …………] I will post the lyrics “next year” when I further research songs of that very lengthy tyranical and corrupt era. I look forward to delving into this website : http://radicaltimes.info/ Radical Times Archive : "Collect, Preserve, and Share" “An audio-visual archival resource focusing on radical activism around Australia, particularly during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s (although resources are not restricted exclusively to this time period). The archive recovers "lost" and rare independent Australian documentaries (also vérité footage of historical significance) in order to preserve these films, videos and audio for posterity before they reach end of life and disappear permanently. The focus is on visual/aural material.....the archive currently has 204 film streams and 91 audio streams. While the focus is on Australian resources, there is an international section featuring films made outside Australia by Australians. To round out the collection and provide context, printed matter, photos, and other images are included where possible. Not only is this archive designed as a tool for appreciating and understanding the past, it is also hoped it will provide perspective and ideas for future endeavours for social and political action.” R-J |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 22 Dec 20 - 11:46 PM BRISBANE BLACKS Dennis ‘Mop’ Conlon {Verse 1} On TV I saw a story, of the Brisbane Blacks A story that is touching, a story that is right In the story, a group of people sitting in a park Drinking in harmony, drinking until dark {Chorus 1} You wonder why they’re like that Those so-called “drunken blacks” They know that they’ve done no wrong But the pressure from society is strong {Verse 2} Every day, each passing day, our culture slowly dies Like a piece of paper thrown onto a fire Now all we’ve got is ancient weapons, now is our only trade Compared to all the immigrants, look how much we’ve made {Chorus 2} You look down through your noses to see The Black-man problem down at your feet With weary eyes looking up at you Waiting for the message to get through {Verse 3} Now it’s time for them to sleep, and it’s not in a bed But in some warm surroundings, in a park or in a shed Warmed only by the grog that’s been drunk through the day Warmed only by the grog, the killer of his mates {Chorus 3} The very first Australians around The very first people to be down And why we fight, is to be recognised Only to be felt by your blind eyes Yes, only to be felt by your blind eyes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAIZIPvuKrE&t=20s Brisbane Blacks: Mop and the Dropouts (aka Denis Conlon and the Magpies) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSMIVejAQt0 Brisbane Blacks: The Story of Mop and the Dropouts ..... a video by Ben Carr, 2010 (10mins13secs) “Brisbane 1982: The Commonwealth Games were on. A land rights movement was taking place, and a little known band from Cherbourg was about to make history. Despite what Dennis 'Mop' Conlon knew when writing the song Brisbane Blacks, he could not have anticipated it would go on to become an anthem and define a period in time. Looking back on the history of the band, but also the political and social climate of Brisbane in the 1970's and 80's, the film delves into why Aboriginal people needed a voice to stand up against a conservative and racist government. As Dennis Conlon says, "We're not into politics, we play music." However, being in a band at the time and being aboriginal, Mop and the Dropouts couldn't help but be political.” Cherbourg : This was originally known as Barambah (the 1840s pastoral run), and is now an Aboriginal community, NW of Brisbane, outside the town of Murgon. “The history of Cherbourg is one of Aboriginal people being forcibly removed and brought from all over Queensland and Northern New South Wales to a newly formed government reserve. Under the Aborigines Protection Act of 1897 the settlement then called Barambah, was gazetted and established in 1904.” “The Cherbourg Memory ….. we offer you a window to our world – the Aboriginal people in South East Queensland, Australia. On this site we tell stories of our people – why they were brought here and what they have become over the 110 years they have lived here. It is a difficult and sometimes sad story, but it is essentially a story of survival and hope” : https://rationshed.com.au/about-cherbourg/ “Mothers Eyes” by Mop and the Dropouts : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_picsVjFlU R-J |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 22 Dec 20 - 09:29 PM Another good'un from the land of the long white cloud. R-J, back in September you indicated that it was one of your NZ favourites. HILLS OF COROMANDEL (Dave Jordan) The hills grow ancient, green and tall, as they have always done there And press together over all, to shield the earth from sun there Seedlings grow, young trees grow old, old ones die and turn to mould Till bush returns to hills once clear, and man, it seems, was never there But the apple trees still bloom each year in the hills of Coromandel It was the gold that brought the men when thousands here did rally Their secret shattered shafts remain, abandoned in the valley Roads they fashioned in the clay are overgrown or washed away And fences built by settlers' hands are gone restoring broken lands And a rusted gateway lonely stands in the hills of Coromandel No more the taverns where they stood, no more the thousand people And timber church is gone for good with ruined, rotted steeple It's years now since the miner came to work the gold, exhaust his claim Then leave the place for better game than that he'd found, but just the same The toppled tombstones bear their names in the hills of Coromandel Those days of gold are past and gone with the men who took their chances The bush is slowly marching on in a silence no one answers Now birds call loud to empty air - no one comes, there's nothing there But a gate that's open to nowhere and names on sandstone faint but clear And the apple trees that bloom each year in the hills of Coromandel Youtube clip Dave Jordan --Stewie. |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 22 Dec 20 - 09:11 PM Bugger! My apologies, R-J, for doubling up on your post. I normally check by using the 'find' function on my Mac, but failed to do so yesterday. I saw your resile post. --Stewie. |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 22 Dec 20 - 06:35 AM CATTLE AND CANE Robert Forster / Grant McLennan As performed by Brisbane’s “The Go-Betweens”, 1983 I recall, a schoolboy coming home through fields of cane to a house of tin and timber and in the sky a rain of falling cinders from time to time the waste, memory-wastes I recall a boy in bigger pants like everyone just waiting for a chance his father's watch he left it in the showers from time to time the waste, memory-wastes I recall, a bigger brighter world a world of books and silent times in thought and then the railroad the railroad takes him home through fields of cattle through fields of cane from time to time the waste, memory-wastes and the waste, memory-wastes spoken interlude further … longer … higher … older … The Go-Betweens, 1983 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCbyByY-A6w Line-up for this song : / Grant McLennan (bass, vocals / Robert Forster (guitar, vocals) / Lindy Morrison (drummer, backing vocals). WIKI on the song : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle_and_Cane https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i76J4kO8eCA Cattle and Cane, as sung in 1999 by Aboriginal singer, Jimmy Little Here is Jimmy’s Hit of “Royal Telephone” on Bandstone in 1963 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPVjJaa8fXI WIKI on Jimmy Little : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Little R-J |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 22 Dec 20 - 03:48 AM Sorry Stewie! BLACK BOY was posted and linked exactly one month ago, on 21st Nov!! This is why we need the alphabetical spreadsheet nowadays :) Cheers, R-J PS Hope you read my recant/resile post of the 20th, re the proposed thread split? I have indeed seen The Light, haha! :) |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 21 Dec 20 - 07:31 PM Iconic song by a band from outback South Australia. BLACK BOY (Coloured Stone) A shy black boy you came to the city To learn about life and how its people are He's very stubborn, he was just a child And now his life is mystified Chorus: Black boy, black boy Black boy, black boy The colour of your skin is your pride and joy Black boy, black boy, Black boy, black boy, Your life is not destroyed He didn't know school but they called him black boy He hardly talked to the girls and boys Don't be a fool just obey the rules 'Cause you'll just learn the truth Chorus And one day you'll grow up to be a man To learn and live and understand Sticks and stones may break your bones But names will never hurt you You'll be the one who's having fun So you just keep learning on Chorus Youtube clip There is a Wikipedia article on Coloured Stone, but I could not link it here because it has an incorrect address. --Stewie. |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 21 Dec 20 - 09:20 AM CALM AND CRYSTAL CLEAR -- Neil Murray -- Looking out on the back roads of my life There's me again as a five year old child Staring at the broken toys scattered in the sand Knowing deep inside I was already an old man This road unravels out of darkness now toward me I feel the world stretch out vast now before me We live and dream in an ancient hallowed land Some things that happen we may never understand For I hear the voices of the past (Sing of rage and relief Revelation’s come at last (And it's keeping me from sleep And it's coming to me (I hear the word and it's calm and crystal clear Yes it's coming to my life Calm and crystal clear We are bound for an unknown destination The stars above offer no consolation We all live and breathe and die alone together Some place some day we'll leave our bones to the weather But just like the smell of rain on the wind far away A little truth arrives at the dying of each day I wish the mountain would come and take me in her arms I don't care what happens I won't come to any harm For I hear the voices of the past (Sing of rage and relief The Revelation’s come at last (And it's keeping me from sleep Well it's coming to me (I hear the word and it's calm and crystal clear Yes it's coming to my life Calm and crystal clear (I hear the word and it's calm and crystal clear) I hear the word and it's calm and crystal clear (I see the world and it's coming oh so near) I see the world and it's coming oh so near I hear the word and it's calm and crystal clear I see the world and it's coming oh so near Come into my life (Calm and crystal clear Come into my life (Calm and crystal clear Come into my life Listen Here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnp4-YlrCaw (this 1989 vidclip has a one-line upload glitch, but is slightly better visual quality than the other available copy….) Some background at the time on the post-Wurumpi Band Neil Murray : http://members.iinet.net.au/~jscott/nmurray/ccc_promo.htm http://members.iinet.net.au/~jscott/nmurray/article_spiritual_element.htm His 1993 semi-autobiographical novel : SING FOR ME, COUNTRYMAN and NATIVE BORN (songs of Neil Murray) - are still available : http://www.neilmurray.com.au/index.html R-J |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 21 Dec 20 - 09:13 AM I'm pleased to be able to report that the revamped LIST of Oz/NZ Songs (Lyrics-Links) posted to this thread - now as a spreadsheet - is almost ready to distribute - just waiting for the Solstice to be done. Dec 21st : that's the cut-off date for this first edition of the Excel spreadsheet, with one sorted by title and another by date posted. Cheers, Rich-Joy :) |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 21 Dec 20 - 08:00 AM Woodturner's Love Song Words & Music: Phyl Lobl If I had a piece of Maple, red or white or pink, I'd turn you a set of chair legs so you could sit and think. And when you sit and think love I hope you'll think of me, For I'd like to be there in your thoughts if not in your company. If I had a piece of Coachwood white and fine and pure, I'd turn you a handle smooth and round, a handle for your door. And when I come to see you, you could make that handle spin, And open up the door my dear, to let your true love in. If I had a piece of Silky Oak of even textured grain, I’d turn you a lamp stand for your light, tapered tall and plain. And when you turn your light on, I hope it'll be for me, For you're the light of my life, the only one for me. If I had a piece of Cedar, the grain well shot with red, I'd turn you a set of corner posts for a fine double bed. A bed for you to lie on with the one that you love best, But I hope you'd lie with me love and farewell all the rest. Yes I'm a turner, that's my trade, as you can plainly see, But the thing I'd really like to turn is to turn your heart to me. Alas in that I have no skill, I've never learnt the art, And Cedar, Maple and Silky Oak don't make a lover's heart*. If I had a piece of each of these with singing strings tuned fine, I'd turn them into an instrument to ease this heart of mine. I'd let my fingers do the work that words can't quite make plain, They'd tell you then about love's joy and also of love's pain. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Audio This song was written in the early seventies. I wanted to write a song about industrial realities for wood-turners. I interviewed a woodturner Neil Bollingmoore and it became a love song when he spoke so lovingly about wood that I wrote a love song about someone who had much love to give but was shy and un-sure. Some years later he rang and asked for the song as he was getting married. A few (too few) years after that his widow rang and wanted the song again to play at his funeral. Some years later I asked an instrument maker (ROCKY CREEK STRINGS) to make me an all wooden Banjolele made of those woods. I added a verse. I also now repeat the last line of each verse. The last verse is coloured by my own widowhood and Geri Lobl's love of Fritz Kreisler's compositions for violin LOVE'S JOY - Liebesfreud and LOVE'S SORROW - Liebesleid lover's instead of woman's is more universal. |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: GerryM Date: 21 Dec 20 - 05:10 AM Shoalhaven Man Words & Music: Geoff Drummond I was a timber cutter, up in the Cambewarra, long before your mother ever gave you a thought. There was no fancy schoolin' then, just some pioneering men. The land was our teacher, hard lessons she taught. I swung an axe handle before I was eight years old; cuttin' the timber and carryin' the load. Then down to the Currumbeen, beside some old bullock team. We took what we needed, but we let the rest go. Chorus: It was a wonderful land. I'm a Shoalhaven man. From the slopes of the mountain to the shores of the sea; A 'bushie' am I and I'll stay till I die. Shoalhaven's the country for me. Now I ain't no saint, and I ain't no bloody scientist But I still got my eyes and a feel for this land. In sixty years of bravin' the bush of the Shoalhaven I've seen me some changes and they're terrible plain. Now the time came when some of them big city business men Bought boxes to put their retirements in And they redone Vincentia as a three bedroom brick veneer And sold 'em off for holidays to make a few quid. Chorus: They come for the stars at night, they come for the peace and quiet. They come for the bushland that no man can claim. And they call themselves locals with their haemorrhoids and their ulcers... It's the damn city livin' that they've got to blame. They don't like the snakes, so they flatten the greenery. They can't take the spiders so they Baygon the halls. And they bulldozed Culburra till it looked like Parramatta. God! I wonder why they ever went movin' at all. Chorus: It was a wonderful land till the damn caravans spread like cancer from Canberra to the coast of the sea. And it makes a man cry to see his land die. No she ain't the place she used to be. But, she's my home, and she's the country for me. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Here are some notes on the song, by Pat Drummond. This is another of Geoff's songs; one which I left with the Bushwackers in 1986 when I was filling in on guitar with them. A classic tale of early timbergetters and the respect they had for the land, this song finally achieved the recognition it deserved at Tamworth last year. The song was released by the Bushwackers, who were nominated in the nationally televised 1990 Golden Guitar Awards as 'Band of the Year'. The nomination came ironically on the weekend the band was staging yet another of their Melba like 'final ever' performances. One of those final shows in 1990 saw me teamed with the lads for a double bill at the Imperial Hotel. This concert kicked off in near scorching midday temperatures but if the day wasn't hot enough, the emotional climate was at fever pitch. The 'Bushies' set included a killer version of "Shoalhaven Man" and a real treat for me when I was invited to re-join the band on stage for "Brittania", the classic track penned by bassist Roger Corbett. The awards that night unfortunately brought yet another disappointment for the band that broke the ground that John Williamson, Redgum, myself and a host of others came to profitably build upon. The award for "Best Band of the Year" was won by their oldmates, "The Bullamakankas". It was sad, but almost fitting, for a band that never achieved the measure of recognition they truly deserved; whose rewards always went, as the Lawson poem predicted a century earlier, to "The Men Who Follow After". My version of the song was by way of recognising the long overdue debt so many Australian musicians owe to the Bushwackers. (Epilogue: The Bushwackers reformed five years later in 1995 with, of all people, Peter Drummond, my son, on Drums. Peter attended his first Bushwackers Concert at The Paris Theatre in Sydney on 30/6/1980 when he was barely 5 years old. In 1999 he was recieving standing ovations for his solo 'showcases' during The Bushwackers sellout shows at The Toyota Country Music Festival.) Recording by Wongawilli. |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: GerryM Date: 21 Dec 20 - 04:26 AM Of Trees and Humankind ?Wendy Joseph, 1982 The trees of the forest grew tall The oak and the hazel, the ash and wild apple Their power respected by all Their strength safely guarded by priests of the lore Sacred the old ways, and earth's ancient pathways. No more Then strangers came onto the land They lacked comprehension their godheads were different They simply did not understand They laughed at the old ways with scorn and derision They raped and they slaughtered, and all was justified By the word 'civilised' See the forests die Lai lai lai! Lai lai lai lai luh lai lai lai lai lai Lai lai Lai lai lai luh lai lai lai The trees of the bushland grew strong The casuarina, the red gum and mulga Honoured by those who belong The brown Pitjantjara, the emu, the brolga Clear understanding and warm affinity With the earth and the trees Calm serenity Then strangers came onto the land Born of those ancients, both victim and victor They simply did not understand They laughed at the old ways with scorn and derision They raped and they slaughtered, and all was justified By the word 'civilised' See the bushland die Lai lai lai... And now here we sit on the land The children of children of children of ages If only together we'd stand With courage and love we could turn back the pages The earth and its fullness are ours if we try Raise the cry! Raise the cry And see the trees grow high! Lai lai lai... &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Recorded by Margaret Walters on For the Future and the Past, and by The Fagans on Kitchen Dance. Video by Ecopella. |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: GerryM Date: 21 Dec 20 - 04:12 AM The TAB Song John Dengate Each Saturday morning I crawl out of bed, Hungover from Friday's excess, Feeling crook in the comics and crook in the head And with mountains of sins to confess. And then I remember it's race day again, And I collect up my clothes off the floor. I tune in to Early's selections at ten – The adrenalin's pumping once more. [Some insert these lines as a chorus: At Warwick Farm, Rosehill and Randwick they race, It's a sign of our moral decay, But wipe that superior smirk off your face, I expect a trifecta today.] I have a snake's hiss, I give breakfast a miss, Wallet and form guide I grab, Then I suddenly bolt like a two year old colt All away down the hill to the Tab. It's number of units and number of race, The numbers spin round in my brain, And I stand there blaspheming and cursing the place, The biros are broken again. Oh, the longshots are rough, and the favorites are short, And I never know what's running dead, So I ring up my mate, but he got home so late That his missus won't rouse him from bed. Beadman could win on a horse made of tin, So I back everything that he rides, And the big Melbourne gray is a good thing each way, And a couple of others besides. And fellas, quinellas are sometimes a chance, And doubles are always a go, So when I walk out I am light in the pants 'Cos the Tab has got most of my dough. A quick break for grub, then it's into the pub, And I stand there and weep in my booze, For the horses I back veer all over the track, And they lose, and they lose, and they lose. Oh, seek not escape in the gambling my friend Though your life may be humdrum and drab. Seek solace in psalms or in young ladies' arms, But never go into a Tab. At Warwick Farm, Rosehill and Randwick they race, It's a sign of our moral decay, But wipe that superior smirk off your face, I expect a trifecta today. To the tune of Seamus O'Brien, Please Won't You Come Home. As sung on The Follies of Pollies, also 35 Years of the National Folk Festival. Many small differences from the version in My Shout. John would update the names of the radio announcer and the jockey from time to time. TAB – off-track betting site. comics – comic cuts – guts snake's hiss – piss biro – brand of ballpoint pen I couldn't find a recording by John Dengate of this song online. Here's a recording by John Thompson. |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 21 Dec 20 - 12:43 AM oops! I might forget other stuff, but never that "d" (grin!) |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 20 Dec 20 - 11:20 PM I was going to bite the bullet, Stew, and ask you what the heck this “d” reference was all about. Luckily I went searching first, rem’bering my apparent motto in Life is : “if all else fails, read the instructions”. And Lo! There, in the Mudcat FAQ - Newbies Guide, was the answer!!! Not only that, but there’s HEAPS of other interesting hints that I’d long forgotten (or never known?), coz sadly, the “use it or lose it” thang really does apply to me these days :( Thread too big to load in your computer? “In the "messages" column on the Forum Menu, there's a column of numbers that tells how many messages are in each thread. If the thread has more than 50 messages, that number is a clickable link that will display the thread in batches of 50 messages. Next to that number is a small "d" that is a link that will display the messages in reverse (descending) order.” -Joe Offer- So sorry, Stewie, and I take back my suggestion of a split thread. Too Easy! (as ‘they’ say constantly in Quoinsland) Cheers, R-J :)) |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 20 Dec 20 - 11:02 PM Turning again to McKenzie and dog saga, I recently came across this article on the net which gives a summary of the legend - it's worth a read: Click --Stewie. |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 20 Dec 20 - 08:29 PM For fans of Paul Kelly's music, today is Gravy Day. Yesterday's 'Canberra Times' has this article: Click HOW TO MAKE GRAVY (Paul Kelly) Hello Dan, it's Joe here, I hope you're keeping well It's the 21st of December, and now they're ringing the last bells If I get good behaviour, I'll be out of here by July Won't you kiss my kids on Christmas Day, please don't let 'em cry for me I guess the brothers are driving down from Queensland and Stella's flying in from the coast They say it's gonna be a hundred degrees, even more maybe, but that won't stop the roast Who's gonna make the gravy now? I bet it won't taste the same Just add flour, salt, a little red wine And don't forget a dollop of tomato sauce for sweetness and that extra tang And give my love to Angus and to Frank and Dolly Tell 'em all I'm sorry I screwed up this time And look after Rita, I'll be thinking of her early Christmas morning When I'm standing in line I hear Mary's got a new boyfriend, I hope he can hold his own Do you remember the last one? What was his name again? (Just a little too much cologne) And Roger, you know I'm even gonna miss Roger 'Cause there's sure as hell no one in here I want to fight Oh praise the baby Jesus, have a merry christmas, I'm really gonna miss it, all the treasure and the trash And later in the evening, I can just imagine, You'll put on Junior Murvin and push the tables back And you'll dance with Rita, I know you really like her Just don't hold her too close, oh brother please don't stab me in the back I didn't mean to say that, it's just my mind it plays up Multiplies each matter, turns imagination into fact You know I love her badly, she's the one to save me I'm gonna make some gravy, I'm gonna taste the fat Tell her that I'm sorry, yeah I love her badly, tell 'em all I'm sorry And kiss the sleepy children for me You know one of these days, I'll be making gravy I'll be making plenty, I'm gonna pay 'em all back A beaut collage of Paul Kelly performances: Gravy and mash A singalong video: Click --Stewie. |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 20 Dec 20 - 08:01 PM R-J, I am totally against your proposal of a split. The songs should be kept in a single thread. The Mudcat 'd' function is there to split the thread (presently into 15 pages) if required. Gerry, great that you are joining us and adding songs. It would be excellent if you could use your influence to alter the thread title to Mudcat Australian and New Zealand Songbook. Let's face it: despite Joe's efforts, the 'rise up' concept has not gotten off the ground. This songbook does overlap with other Australian databases but has many songs unavailable elsewhere and also, as far as possible, is providing video or audio links to performances. --Stewie. |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: GerryM Date: 20 Dec 20 - 07:55 PM You Don't Speak For Me (Judy Small) You who scribble on walls with your miniscule minds? You who make midnight calls, you who rattle my blinds? The violence you preach is the core of your creed? You don't speak for me ?You call yourselves patriots, swastika-style? You feed on the fear of the ignorant child? There's no love of nation or people or land?In the hatred behind your smile ?You don't speak for me, no you don't speak for me ?I've seen where you come from, I've seen where you lead ?It's a poisonous fruit that grows from your seed? You stir up the hatred till something explodes ?You don't speak for me ?You who slaughter free creatures and then call it sport? You proudly display the corpses you've shot? You talk about freedom and rights and control? You don't speak for me ?You who poison the airwaves with Ghengis Khan views? You broadcast your bias and call it the news? You say that you speak for the millions out there? And deny that you're lighting a dangerous fuse? You don't speak for me, no you don't speak for me ?You don't speak for me, you don't speak for my friends? We've followed that line, we've seen where it ends ?Intolerance, hatred, division and strife? You don't speak for me ?You who march in your hundreds of thousands for peace ?You who work for political prisoners' release? You who fight the injustice of women ignored? You speak for me ?You who combat apartheid wherever it's seen? You who struggle to keep the unique forests green ?You who fight for the rights of all people in chains ?You speak for me, you speak for me, you speak for me &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Online at https://youtu.be/DEzt1B2Oo9A |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: GerryM Date: 20 Dec 20 - 07:41 PM Seasons of War Phyl Lobl Chorus: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, War has all the seasons. One and two, three and four, Man will give the reasons. Soldier in the Spring of war, Knows just what he's fighting for, Told so many times before Fighting for his freedom. Chorus Come the Summer all is growing And the fruit of war is showing Pain and hate he will be knowing Fighting for his freedom. Chorus When his friends begin to fall And the bombs rain down on all Then he hears the Autumn call Fighting for his freedom. Chorus Winter finds the glory gone. War is grey to look upon. Soldier wonders what he's won Fighting for his freedom. Chorus &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& From her Broadmeadow Thistle album. She writes, Written in the summer of the Vietnam War, I hoped this song would not be relevant any more. I no longer have such youthful optimism. The chorus works as a round sung behind the verses. Recording available here. |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 20 Dec 20 - 07:48 AM Great to read your posts, Gerry! (sorry, can't answer your questions :( Sandra, am close to finalising the revamped 'Big List' in 2 versions (one, songs alphabetically, and one, songs by Posting dates)! Following on from Jack's post alluding to this thread's size and unwieldiness and loading time (which has also concerned me; we're now up to about 730 posts), I wonder how folks feel about requesting that it be split??? Say, from Dec 1st onwards??? And also, for them both to be renamed to include New Zealand!! How do folks feel?? (and does Joe agree??!) Cheers, R-J |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 20 Dec 20 - 07:34 AM I've emailed Margaret. |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: GerryM Date: 20 Dec 20 - 04:12 AM Does anyone have the words to Salvation Jane, written by Fay White? This isn't the song of the same name recorded by Chloe & Jason Roweth, back when they were Us Not Them; I want the song recorded by Jill Stevens, with a chorus that goes something like Salvation Jane Salvation Jane For better or worse Turn Patterson's Curse Into Salvation Jane. I've had no luck finding it on the web. |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: GerryM Date: 20 Dec 20 - 03:41 AM Bandwidth By Nerds & Music (Clark Gormley & Wayne Thompson) https://www.clarkgormley.com/nerds-music Chorus: Narrow is the bandwidth, there's nae enough bandwidth, cut us some more bandwidth, Joe. [sung once after each line below] The networks as slow as a sloop in the doldrums I built me an 80-foot skiff in the meantime Before I hoist the mainsail the damn screen freezes We sailed off course, now we're waiting for the bitmap We sail in stormy seas, but we still don't have the wav file To get my phone to sync, I had to throw it overboard, yeah The NBN ain't the promised land that we hoped for There's bugger-all hope we'll ever see live-streaming &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& The NBN is the National Broadband Network, currently being installed around Australia. This is probably the only sea shanty to be written about it. Recording here. |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: GerryM Date: 20 Dec 20 - 03:34 AM Whaleroad John Warner As the weaver lays her webs, so the seasons turn. In the heart an aching sets, the seaward ways to learn. With the coming of the Spring, and the cruel ice breaking, Men have built them carven ships, and the whaleroad taken. The whaleroad is a restless road. The lifting of the prow, The heaving of the bellied sail, the salt spray on the brow. The oar thresh on the lifting swell, a white bird on the foam, The surf snarl on the gravel strand, the heart that aches for home. Proud Phoenicians, Romans, Greeks took the great whales' way. Vikings from the icy North dropped anchor in the bay. Drake, Magellan, Tasman, Cook, and other names beside Hauled their anchors, trimmed their sails, to catch the morning tide. Reef the main to gallant there, the squall is coming hard. Tiny men string out like crows along the topsail yard. Reeling from the freezing blast, the ship rides out the wave. Many an aching tired hand has made Cape Horn his grave. What's this madness in the blood that spurs them on to fight The twisting of the wave-flung wheel in the howling night? Who can answer but themselves? Perhaps not even they, but Breast the capstan, man the brace, let's get her underway. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Another terrific song by John Warner. On his album, The Sea and the Soil. So far as I know, no recording has been posted to the web. |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: GerryM Date: 20 Dec 20 - 03:24 AM Dark-eyed Daughter Phyl Lobl Mother may I go out to swim? Yes my dark-eyed daughter, Mother I would go out to swim. but at the pool I can't get in, Because of the colour of my skin, because I'm your dark-eyed daughter. Mother may I go to the show? Yes my dark-eyed daughter, Mother tell me do you know. which side of the theatre I should go? Go where the colour of your skin won't show, my darling dark-eyed daughter. Mother will I go to school? Yes my dark-eyed daughter, Mother when I go to school. will the children treat me cruel? Children follow their parents' rule, my darling dark-eyed daughter. Mother will I go to work? Yes my dark-eyed daughter . You will go to work one day, But only get half of your pay. The other half will go the way Of somebody's dark-eyed daughter. Mother when will all this end? I don't know my daughter, Maybe it will end the day. when heaven and earth will pass away, And we will hear a great voice say, you're welcome here …… my daughter. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Sandra has mentioned this song a couple of times, but I think the lyrics have not been posted to this thread. I quote from Phyl Lobl's website: My first recorded song, almost my first song, was sparked by media coverage of the student bus ride led by Charles Perkins and University students in 1965. An old traditional rhyme gave a frame for the song. 'Mother may I go out to swim?' 'Yes my darling daughter. Hang your clothes on a Hickory limb, But don’t go near the water.' The last verse of the song was born not from a belief, but from realisation and dismay that many of those who did profess to believe could also hold racist views. ‘The 1967 referendum in which 90% of the Australian Community voted in favour of deleting sections of the Constitution discriminating against Aborigines showed goodwill. To enable Aborigines to become independent, self-reliant people this goodwill must be translated into active and positive attitudes. Together we must build a nation where dark and white live in harmony with growing understanding and respect for one another, mutually contributing to the enrichment of our Commonwealth. This is the challenge of these songs and of the present day Aboriginal advancement movement.’ This is still the challenge but now many aboriginal people show us the value of their culture, they show us the meaning of resilience, they show us the way ahead, they show us how to forgive, they show us their worth. However, the journey for too many of our First People is still hard and slow. When I see the positive stories that do emerge I feel vindicated but humbled by their willingness to accept and continue the struggle. In this new era of recognition, there is still a need for deeper more positive acceptance of responsibility by us all to give value to their existence and to be of assistance. I ask if anyone finds the material on this site to be useful, and are grateful, that they make a donation to an Australian indigenous project or organization. Access the Phyl Lobl recording here. |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: GerryM Date: 20 Dec 20 - 03:14 AM Home Among the Gum Trees Robert Alexander Brown / Walter Edward Johnson I've been around the world A dozen times or maybe more I've seen the sights, and had delights On every foreign shore But when my friends all ask of me The place that I adore I tell them right away Chorus: Give me a home among the gumtrees With lots of plum trees A sheep or two, a kangaroo A clothesline out the back Verandah out the front And an old rocking chair I'll be standing in the kitchen Cooking up a roast With Vegemite on toast Just me and you, a cockatoo And after tea, we'll settle down Beside the hitching post And watch the wombats play Chorus There's a Safeway on the corner And a Woolworths down the street And a new one's just been opened Where they regulate the heat But I'd trade them all tomorrow For a simple bush retreat Where kookaburras sing Chorus Some people like their houses built With fences all around Others live in mansions Or in bunkers underground But I won't be contented Til the day that I have found The place I long to be Chorus &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Best known from recordings by Bullamakanka and by John Williamson, both of whom changed the words a bit. I've gone back to the original recording by Captain Rock for the lyrics here. That recording also includes a humorous introduction, and a verse in high school French, neither of which I have been game to transcribe. |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: GerryM Date: 20 Dec 20 - 02:52 AM Mary Parker's Lament Judy Small There's a little more grey in the hair nowadays As I sit here and watching my grandchildren play And I wonder if they have the faintest idea Of the life that their grandmother knew. For it's oh and alas for you Mary my girl To be torn from the life you knew half round the world And never again to see home. It was back in the eighties, a younger girl then With auburn hair flashing I'd walk with my man And he'd tell me the places he'd take me to see If only that he had the means. But then I was with child and I saw him no more In the pain of our parting I thought I should die And I stole from my master some blankets and cloth Just to keep me and baby alive But t'was all for a nought for the baby he died It felt like a part of me perished inside And for stealing I's sent as a transport to sea Never knowing for where I was bound. And it's oh and alas for you Mary my girl To be torn from the life you knew half round the world And never again to see home. Seven long years was the sentence I bore It felt like a lifetime as I came ashore And I wept when I saw the life waiting for me As a chattel, a whore and a slave. So I married a convict, the safer to be From the soldiers and the freed men who chased after me And for seven long years we did work for our keep Ever dreaming of England and home. And the children I bore were the joy of my days I longed for my mother to see them at play And our hands grew rough from the scrubbing and dirt And the sun turned our fair skins to brown. Then on ticket of leave we were granted some land And worked it and ploughed it by sweat of our hands And forgot about England except in our dreams And called New South Wales our true home. And now here I sit watching my grandchildren play And looking back over the length of my days And it's clear in my mind is the Plymouth I knew And I weep for my mother again. For it's oh and alas for you Mary my girl To be torn from the life you knew half round the world And never again to see home. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& The details of the song are fiction, but there was a convict named Mary Parker who came to Australia with the First Fleet, and Judy Small is a direct descendant. Recording by Judy Small here. |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: GerryM Date: 20 Dec 20 - 01:58 AM The Goanna Drover (Ted Egan) I was drinkin' in the bar of the Birdsville pub when this long skinny fella comes in. Crazy old moleskins, concertina leggins – on his face was a devilish grin. Well he pressed the bar, gave a little "Yee-hah!", said I'm sorry that I've got no dough, But I'll spin you a yarn if you'll buy me a drink – it's a story that you all should know. Chorus: Yes, he said he was a drover, the finest in the land. He was travelling around Australia, ten thousand goannas in hand. He said, I'm drovin' ten thousand goannas. I've been five years on the track. Started at Cairns where we dipped the mob, and then we headed for the Great Outback. We went due West to the 'curry, across them black soil plains. We got bogged down at the Isa, and had to fit the goannas with chains. (Chorus) Well walkin' 'em down the Murranji track the goannas started climbin' trees. But a drover's got to improvise, so I solved that problem with ease. The monsoon rains was due to start, we had no time to lose. We got forty thousand sardine tins, and we fitted the goannas with shoes. (Chorus) Well we clanked across them Gibber plains, it be hard on shoes out there. But the move paid off in the channel country 'cause the rivers had filled Lake Eyre. I got an old bull camel, and I showed him who was boss. I hit the camel with the old brick trick, and he water-skied the goannas across. (Chorus) So here I am at the Birdsville pub, and if you buy me another drink I'll tell you about me future plans. That's fair enough wouldn't you think? He said, I'll have a rum this time, a double. Good luck, yeah, cheers! Well I'm off now mates, so long, hooroo, I'll be in Hobart within two years. (NO chorus) We called, hang on a minute, we can see you're a bit of a star, But drovin' goannas to Tassie, that's takin' things a bit too far! How do you get them goannas right across Bass Strait? He flashed us all his devilish grin, and said, I'm not goin' that way, mate! (Chorus x2) Ted Egan sings it here. |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 19 Dec 20 - 10:35 PM SAPPER'S LULLABY (Fred Smith) Up from the Role 2, and down past the gate, out to the flight line We stood in the sun, slouch hat and gun as two caskets passed us by And followed the padre, on to the Herc, and out in to the pale summer sky We walked back to Poppy’s and went back to work, with the Dust still in our eyes So soldiers, sing me your sapper’s lullaby You give it your all, knowing if you should fall That all good things must die These young engineers whose job is to clear the roads that we may pass Always out front and, when they bear the brunt, man it happens fast Sapper D Smith had a wife and a son, the apple of his eye Snowy Moerland was just 21, way to young to die Soldiers, sing me your sapper’s lullaby You give it your all, knowing if you should fall That all good things must die So go call your mother, call your old man, on that welfare line Tell em you love 'em, while you still can, 'cause all good things must die Soldiers, sing me your sapper’s lullaby You give it your all, knowing if you should fall That all good things must die All good things must die Live performance with introductory info: Youtube clip --Stewie. |
Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 19 Dec 20 - 02:24 AM cartoon about Keith Richard's birthday |
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