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Mudcat Australia-New Zealand Songbook
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Subject: RE: Steamshuttle From: GUEST Date: 15 Sep 20 - 12:46 AM Hi Mudcatters Sandra Nixon alerted me to this thread and suggested I post on Steamshuttle and my songs. The easiest way to access all this is from my music blog at https://sealsongs.blogspot.com/ I have a selection there, arranged by song title (lyric, link to an audio recording). Just click on the button and it takes you to the recording on my Soundcloud site. There is also a button for Steamshuttle, which takes you to a selection of tracks from the LP, a bit of info about the band, as well as some unreleased tracks intended for a follow-up that didn’t happen. Happy to answer any questions (g.seal@curtin.edu.au) and keep up the good work on a great project. GS |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 15 Sep 20 - 01:53 AM Seal Songs - Songs by Graham Seal Seal Songs - Stream Shuttle bio & tracks Steam Shuttle at Sydney Opera House, 2nd Bush Music Festival 1979 Review of Steam Shuttle LP, 1977 |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 15 Sep 20 - 03:55 AM Excellent! I look forward, Graham, to working my way through listening to your tracks. R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 15 Sep 20 - 03:59 AM WARRANDYTE MORNING ~ Mark Leehy (PARADIDDLE) Dragonfly morning in the summer heat You bring no warning anytime you feel, And we’ll drift through the air with a tumbling motion And we’ll sift through the sands of an endless ocean. Warrandyte morning in the summer haze If you catch me yawning, wake me up today, And we’ll drift through the air with a tumbling motion And we’ll sift through the sands of an endless ocean. I’ve had the days of dreaming, but today they’ve all gone home I’ve never really had to ramble, but I feel I’m coming home. Dragonfly morning in the summer haze You bring the dawning of my summer days, And we’ll drift through the air with a tumbling motion And we’ll sift through the sands of an endless ocean. I’m coming home But I’ve felt times when I was far beyond my mind……. In a Warrandyte morning in the summer haze If you catch me yawning, wake me up today. From their “Wait Till the Word Gets Around” - 1st of 3 LPs : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Db0v2nnUSgY Warrandyte is an old town in a beautiful area about 25kms NE of Melbourne’s CBD . Dunno if it is now possibly a little suburban?? - but the pics still show it as lovely! (if a little bushfire-prone…..) Mark Leehy was a member of Paradiddle folk band from 1978 and he and some other members are part of Bushfire Press. Plus, I believe Mark is still connected with Music in Schools programs and bush dances. Cheers, R-J (this song was a great favourite of my late partner, Paul Lawler)……. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 15 Sep 20 - 04:04 AM Bring Out The Banners ©1997 John Warner In faded photo, like a dream, A locomotive under steam Rolls with the ranks of marching feet And union banners on the street. Ch. Bring out the banners once again, You union women, union men, That all around may plainly see The power of our unity. I've seen those banners richly made With symbols fair of craft and trade, The union's names in red and gold, Their aspirations printed bold. Boilermakers, smiths and cooks, Stevedores with cargo hooks, Declare their union strong and proud, Rank on rank before the crowd. They won the eight-hour working day, They won our right to honest pay, Victorious their banners shone, How dare we lose what they have won? Today, when those who rule divide, We must be standing side by side, Our rights were bought with tears and pain, Bring out the banners once again. (Tune: Oxford or See Amid The Winter's Snow by John Goss. 1800-1880) As a good lefty folkie :) My Paul loved to sing "BOTB" in Maleny; this is how they honour John’s song and its sentiments in Minneapolis, MN : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9EqdD7_toA |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 15 Sep 20 - 04:08 AM The Miner’s Way ~ Sally Harris (Gone Molly) Cold tunnels, black as night That’s The Miner’s Way Toiling by the candlelight Half a shilling in my pay. Pick and hammer, wedge and wheel That’s The Miner’s Way Blackened lungs that never heal. Half a shilling in my pay. Born to the yoke of misery Not enough to feed our families, While the rich are counting out their pounds We must send our children underground. Working for the rich man’s purse That’s The Miner’s Way Poverty, the worker’s curse Half a shilling in my pay. 12 long hours in the deep That’s The Miner’s Way Still we face a famished sleep Half a shilling in my pay. Born to the yoke of misery Not enough to feed our families, While the rich are counting out their pounds We must send our children underground. When the land no wealth reveals That’s The Miner’s Way Parting wages bankers steal Half a shilling in my pay. Cast out like a deadly blight That’s The Miner’s Way Lords and Ladies dance tonight That’s the bloody miner’s way, That’s the bloody miner’s way, That’s ….. The Miner’s Way. Gone Molly were a delightful duo (singer-songwriter Sally Harris and Rebecca Wright on cello and vocals) and are now a delightful trio with the addition of Lachlan Baldwin on vocals and multi instruments. Sally’s songs often have that quality of making you wonder if it’s traditional :) and are also often great for singing along with! Listen here : https://gonemolly.bandcamp.com/track/the-miners-way They have a CD and an EP so far. Cheers, R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 15 Sep 20 - 06:04 AM Since 16th August we have posted 144 songs, well done, us! ----------- 1. Date: 16 Aug 20 - 11:00 AM ANDERSON'S COAST © John Warner 8/5/93 2. Date: 18 Aug 20 - 10:41 AM "Now I'm easy" (no words) 3. Date: 18 Aug 20 - 08:11 PM Battler's ballad 4. Date: 18 Aug 20 - 08:53 PM Do You Think That I Do Not Know? 5. Date: 18 Aug 20 - 10:00 PM SERVICE SONG lyrics and Music: Harry Robertson Arranged by Evan Mathieson 6 & 7 - Date: 19 Aug 20 - 02:12 AM One of the has-beens by Don Henderson & One of the has-beens (trad) 8 + 9 Date: 19 Aug 20 - 02:44 PM Where the Brumbies Come to Water + Reedy Lagoon 10. Date: 19 Aug 20 - 08:04 PM He fades away Alistair Hulett 11. Date: 19 Aug 20 - 08:21 PM Suicide town Alistair Hulett 12. Date: 19 Aug 20 - 08:37 PM Rabbit Trapper 13. Date: 19 Aug 20 - 08:48 PM WHERE THE CANE FIRES BURN (Bill Scott) 14. Date: 19 Aug 20 - 09:02 PM HEY RAIN (Bill Scott) 15. Date: 19 Aug 20 - 09:33 PM Brown skin baby 16. Date: 19 Aug 20 - 09:59 PM Phyl Lobl has written so many great songs lyrics 17. Date: 19 Aug 20 - 10:00 PM Dorothy Hewett's SAILOR HOME FROM THE SEA 18. Date: 19 Aug 20 - 10:11 PM Dorothy Hewett's Weevils in the flour + original poem 19. Date: 19 Aug 20 - 10:16 PM BARE LEGGED KATE words: John Dengate 20. Date: 19 Aug 20 - 10:48 PM My apologies, the transcription that I posted above of 'Sailor home from the sea' needs severe correction. I copied and pasted it from a Mudcat thread. Martyn's version varies a little from Hewett's original, but this is what he sings: SAILOR HOME FROM THE SEA 21. Date: 19 Aug 20 - 11:35 PM THE BROKEN-DOWN SQUATTER (Charles Flower) 22. Date: 20 Aug 20 - 07:36 AM MY DEAR DARWIN © Paul Lawler, 1983 23. Date: 20 Aug 20 - 09:40 AM Australian version of Stephen Foster's 'Gentle Annie'. 24. Date: 20 Aug 20 - 10:17 AM JOHNNY STEWART DROVER (Chris Buch) 25. Date: 20 Aug 20 - 10:45 AM Will Ogilvie, WHEN THE BRUMBIES COME TO WATER 26. Date: 20 Aug 20 - 11:02 AM Waltzing Matilda 27. Date: 20 Aug 20 - 11:04 AM I've just made a quick list of traditional songs, collected & re-popularised in the revival of the 50s/60s. They were all published by the Bush Music Club in Singabout (1956-67) Maggie May, Nine Miles from Gundagai, The Neumerella Shore, The Wild Colonial Boy, The Black Velvet Band & The Old Bark Hut, The Drover's Dream, Wild Rover, Old Black Billy (written in 1938 but thought to be trad. when it was collected), and a couple of other classics which strangely enough were not published in Singabout! - Moreton Bay & Reedy River lyrics & video of Chris Kempster singing 28. Date: 20 Aug 20 - 11:46 AM Gerry Hallom The Outside Track 29. Date: 20 Aug 20 - 08:48 PM AND WHEN THEY DANCE (Roy Abbott) 30. Date: 20 Aug 20 - 09:19 PM WATCHERS OF THE WATER (Paul Hemphill) 31. Date: 21 Aug 20 - 07:56 AM very famous songs in copyright Redgum - I was only 19 lyrics I was only 19 video Paul Kelly & Kev Carmody - From little things big things grow 32. Date: 21 Aug 20 - 08:22 PM TIME IS A TEMPEST John Broomhall / John Thompson 33. Date: 21 Aug 20 - 08:30 PM John Dengate The Answer's Ireland (Tune Rody McCorley) 34. Date: 21 Aug 20 - 08:59 PM AFTER ALL (Henry Lawson/Garnet Rogers) 35. Date: 21 Aug 20 - 09:42 PM THE SLIPRAIL AND THE SPUR (Henry Lawson) 35. Date: 21 Aug 20 - 10:08 PM THE SWAGGIES HAVE ALL WALTZED MATILDA AWAY (Alistair Hulett) 36. Date: 21 Aug 20 - 10:22 PM PAST CARIN’ (Henry Lawson) 37. Date: 21 Aug 20 - 11:52 PM THE REEDY LAGOON (post 50) ====================== 39. Date: 22 Aug 20 - 10:23 PM Ted Egan's 'Sayonara Nakamura' 40. Date: 22 Aug 20 - 10:44 PM Back to Broome - Ted Egan 41. Date: 23 Aug 20 - 10:17 PM NORTHWARD TO THE SHEDS (Will Ogilvie) 42. Date: 24 Aug 20 - 10:02 PM LAST COAL TRAIN (Paul Wookey) 43. Date: 24 Aug 20 - 10:24 PM SERGEANT SMALL 44. Date: 24 Aug 20 - 11:21 PM DUSTY GRAVEL ROAD (Alan Mann) 45. Date: 24 Aug 20 - 11:37 PM THE POISON TRAIN (Michael O'Rourke) 46. Date: 25 Aug 20 - 12:19 AM PADDY'S BACK (Alan Ralph) 47. Date: 25 Aug 20 - 09:08 PM CALL OF THE NORTH (J.Sorensen/R.Rummery) 48. Date: 25 Aug 20 - 09:25 PM THE WINDMILL RUN (Alan Mann) 49. Date: 25 Aug 20 - 10:07 PM DOWN THE RIVER (H. Lawson/I. MacDougall) 50. Date: 25 Aug 20 - 10:41 PM KITTY KANE (John Warner) 51. Date: 25 Aug 20 - 11:15 PM ON THE DEATH OF MR HOLT (John Manifold/Paul Lawler) 52. Date: 26 Aug 20 - 10:57 PM THE SHAME OF GOING BACK (Henry Lawson) 53. Date: 27 Aug 20 - 12:37 AM THE PEOPLE HAVE SONGS (Miguel Heatwole) 54. Date: 27 Aug 20 - 01:25 AM THE SIEGE OF UNION STREET (words & music by Alistair Hulett) 55. Date: 27 Aug 20 - 10:50 PM WINNIPEG IN WINTER (Alan Mann) 56. Date: 27 Aug 20 - 11:41 PM AWAY TO TINTINARA (Mike O'Connor) 57. Date: 28 Aug 20 - 09:04 PM WHEN YOU'RE FLUSH (T.Brittain/R.Rummery) 58. Date: 28 Aug 20 - 09:53 PM MENZIES' SHOUT (HAVE A DRINK ON ME) (Alan Mann) 59. Date: 28 Aug 20 - 11:20 PM SONG OF ARTESIAN WATER (Paterson/O'Sullivan) 60. Date: 29 Aug 20 - 01:35 AM WITH THE CATTLE (Paterson/Hallom) 61. Date: 29 Aug 20 - 10:04 AM Kevin Baker - Snowy River Men - video 62. Date: 29 Aug 20 - 10:52 AM Kevin Baker - Superstar 63. Date: 29 Aug 20 - 11:08 AM THE RABBITER Words and music: Stan Wakefield 64. Date: 29 Aug 20 - 10:37 PM BRUNSWICK ROAD (Steve Groves & Danny Bourke) 65. Date: 29 Aug 20 - 11:03 PM SHEARING IN A BAR (Duke Tritton) 66. Date: 30 Aug 20 - 07:14 PM LEWIS ISLAND LUGGER (M.Murray & L.Silvester) 67. Date: 30 Aug 20 - 07:57 PM BENEATH ULURU (Dave Oakes) 68. Date: 30 Aug 20 - 10:36 PM SHIP REPAIRING MEN (Harry Robertson) 69. Date: 30 Aug 20 - 11:14 PM HOMELESS MAN (Harry Robertson) 70. Date: 30 Aug 20 - 11:43 PM WEE POT STOVE (Harry Robertson) 71. Date: 31 Aug 20 - 12:27 AM Reedy River. 72. Date: 31 Aug 20 - 07:37 AM Weevils in the Flour by Dorothy Hewitt in 1962 (post 100) ===================== 73. Date: 31 Aug 20 - 07:29 PM SONG OF THE WHEAT (Paterson/Hallom) 74. Date: 01 Sep 20 - 07:08 PM This one, relating to the red centre, is by a Scot. SINGING LAND (Dougie Maclean) 75. Date: 01 Sep 20 - 07:21 PM BAW BAW BIG BILL (Terry Piper) 76. Date: 01 Sep 20 - 07:54 PM HANGING ON FOR THE RAIN (Anne Infante) 77. Date: 01 Sep 20 - 08:59 PM FROM LITTLE THINGS BIG THINGS GROW (Paul Kelly/Kev Carmody) 78. Date: 01 Sep 20 - 09:22 PM NO MORE BOOMERANG (Kath Walker) Oodgeroo Noonuccal 79. Date: 02 Sep 20 - 08:25 PM THIRTY TON LINE (Don Henderson) 80. Date: 02 Sep 20 - 11:31 PM RAKE AND A RAMBLING MAN (Don Henderson) 81. Date: 03 Sep 20 - 08:44 PM BONNIE JESS (T.Spencer/G.Shearston) 82. Date: 03 Sep 20 - 08:59 PM GIRLS IN OUR TOWN (Bob Hudson) 83. Date: 03 Sep 20 - 09:24 PM NED KELLY'S FAREWELL TO GRETA (Traditional) 84. Date: 03 Sep 20 - 10:39 PM IRISH GIRLS (WILL STEAL YOUR HEART AWAY) (Gary Shearston) 85. Date: 04 Sep 20 - 07:50 PM THE KELLY'S TURNING (Larry King) 86. Date: 04 Sep 20 - 08:29 PM SONG OF THE SHEETMETAL WORKER (John Dengate) 87. Date: 04 Sep 20 - 09:12 PM DIAMENTINA DROVER (Hugh McDonald) 88. Date: 04 Sep 20 - 09:40 PM I WAS ONLY NINETEEN (A walk in the light green) (John Schumann) 89. Date: 06 Sep 20 - 12:48 AM COURTING THE NET (Bob Wilson) 90. Date: 06 Sep 20 - 08:20 PM THE MAN WITH THE CONCERTINA {Stewart/Rummery/Kevans) 91. Date: 06 Sep 20 - 09:31 PM THE GLENBURGH WOOL (Jack Sorensen) 92. Date: 06 Sep 20 - 11:18 PM JAIL AWAY FREMANTLE (W.Evans/A.Ferguson) 93. Date: 07 Sep 20 - 10:50 PM THE TOWN OF KIANDRA (THE WEE ONE) 94. Date: 07 Sep 20 - 11:44 PM HUMPING THE DRUM (Steam Shuttle) 95 & 96. Date: 08 Sep 20 - 03:51 AM Back of the Milky Way (Humping the Drum) - lyrics & audio Lyrics to Graham's songs, all with audio. The Country Knows The Rest by Graham Seal with audio link. 97. Date: 08 Sep 20 - 08:18 PM Enda Kenny's Earl Grey 98. Date: 08 Sep 20 - 09:28 PM THE SANDY HOLLOW LINE (Duke Tritton) 99. Date: 08 Sep 20 - 09:49 PM THE STREETS OF FORBES (THE DEATH OF BEN HALL) 100. Date: 08 Sep 20 - 10:39 PM THE PUSH ON THE CORNER 101. Date: 08 Sep 20 - 11:26 PM BOURKE STREET ON SATURDAY NIGHT (P.C. Cole & Fred Hall) 102. Date: 09 Sep 20 - 12:54 AM NORTHWARDS TO THE SHEDS (W.Ogilvie/G.Hallom 103. Date: 09 Sep 20 - 02:08 AM Gurindji Blues Ted Egan 104. Date: 09 Sep 20 - 02:38 AM the bush girl (henry lawson) 105. Date: 09 Sep 20 - 03:21 AM YIL LULL ~ Joe Geia 106. Date: 09 Sep 20 - 04:19 AM THE GREEN MAN ~ John Thompson 107. Date: 09 Sep 20 - 05:36 AM DAVEY LOWSTON 108. Date: 09 Sep 20 - 06:06 AM COONAWARRA [HAS] THREE SHADOWS ~ Judith Crossley (post 200) ============= 109. Date: 09 Sep 20 - 07:36 AM FANNIE BAY ~ Doug & Andy Tainsh / and possibly David Charles 110. Date: 09 Sep 20 - 08:00 AM Miner’s Washing ~ John Warner 111. Date: 09 Sep 20 - 08:26 AM THE STATION COOK ~ trad Oz 112. Date: 09 Sep 20 - 09:03 AM NZ - PACKING MY THINGS ~ Phil Colquhoun 113. Date: 09 Sep 20 - 08:53 PM THE FREE SELECTOR'S DAUGHTER (Lawson/Hallom) 114. Date: 09 Sep 20 - 09:58 PM THE FIZZER (Gerry Hallom) 115. Date: 09 Sep 20 - 10:13 PM BOSS LADY (Bob Sharp) 116. Date: 10 Sep 20 - 08:14 PM THE BALLAD OF 1891 (H.Palmer/D.Jacobs) 117. Date: 10 Sep 20 - 08:45 PM WALTJIM BAT MATILDA (Ali Mills) 118. Date: 11 Sep 20 - 12:27 AM Little England by late Kiwi-Quoinslander, Mark Gillet. 119. Date: 11 Sep 20 - 02:49 AM THE DROVER'S BOY ~ Ted Egan 120. Date: 11 Sep 20 - 03:05 AM THE RUSTY FORD CORTINA ~ Mark Gillett 121. Date: 11 Sep 20 - 03:23 AM BILL AND THE BEAR - John Thompson 122. Date: 11 Sep 20 - 04:23 AM SUN ARISE ~ Rolf Harris & Harry Butler 123. Date: 11 Sep 20 - 10:12 PM Turning Steel (The Factory Lad) © Colin Dryden 1969 124. Date: 11 Sep 20 - 10:26 PM OCEAN LINER (Barry Skipsey) 125. Date: 11 Sep 20 - 10:45 PM YUENDUMU FLAGON WAGON (Wendy Baarda/Bloodwood) 126. Date: 11 Sep 20 - 11:21 PM "The Year of the Drum" ~ Wendy Joseph 127. Date: 12 Sep 20 - 09:12 PM Pass the Song Along ~ Bernard Carney. 128. Date: 12 Sep 20 - 09:19 PM KALGOORLIE PIPELINE ~ Alan Ferguson / trad Irish tune 129. Date: 12 Sep 20 - 09:31 PM THE DEATH OF BEN HALL 130. Date: 12 Sep 20 - 09:49 PM MATT SAVAGE: BOSS DROVER (Ted Egan) 131. Date: 12 Sep 20 - 09:52 PM WARATAH AND WATTLE ~ Frances Patterson (& Henry Lawson) 132. Date: 12 Sep 20 - 11:35 PM ADELAIDE RIVER (V.McGinness/J.McGinness) 133. Date: 13 Sep 20 - 02:49 AM RANGITIKI [© BOB WILSON 2014] 134. Date: 13 Sep 20 - 05:14 AM GREEN AMONG THE GOLD ~ Steve Barnes 135. Date: 13 Sep 20 - 07:37 AM ORE TRAIN BLUES © BOB WILSON 2013 136. Date: 13 Sep 20 - 08:52 PM PIONEERS (F.Ophel/R.Rummery) 137. Date: 13 Sep 20 - 09:50 PM THUNDERBOLT'S DREAM (Trad/Anon) 138. Date: 13 Sep 20 - 10:07 PM NEW GUINEA CAMPAIGN (Mudie/Rummery) 139. Date: 14 Sep 20 - 08:52 PM As sung by Martyn Wyndham- Read. TOMAHAWKING FRED 140. Date: 14 Sep 20 - 09:43 PM FREEDOM ON THE WALLABY (Henry Lawson) 141. Date: 14 Sep 20 - 10:16 PM THE SHEARERS (H.Lawson/R.Rummery) (post 200) =============== 142. Date: 15 Sep 20 - 03:59 AM WARRANDYTE MORNING ~ Mark Leehy (PARADIDDLE) 143. Date: 15 Sep 20 - 04:04 AM Bring Out The Banners ©1997 John Warner 144. Date: 15 Sep 20 - 04:08 AM The Miner’s Way ~ Sally Harris (Gone Molly) |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 15 Sep 20 - 06:18 AM Oh, I'm so glad you've done that, Sandra!! I kept thinking I should "make a list" soon, but couldn't quite summon the energy to start!! Excellent Post. Thanks, R-J :) |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 15 Sep 20 - 06:51 AM it took me 2 days! I've emailed it to you as a doc - easy to search sandra |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: GUEST Date: 15 Sep 20 - 09:24 PM Well done, Sandra. Despite queries from Mysha and R-J, we still haven't had an answer as to whether this thread's focus could be expanded to include songs from our Kiwi brothers/sisters in arms. I reckon it would be a good idea. It would be good to hear in this regard from our thread mediator or Joe. R-J has already posted 'Packing my things'. it should be noted, however, that the attribution to 'Phil Colquhoun' is incorrect. The author of the song is unknown. It was collected by NEIL Colquhoun who reconstructed the music from material collected. His informant was Alistair Swan. In respect of corrections, I had a yarn with Phil Gray of Loaded Dog about 'Glenburgh Wool' by Jack Sorensen the lyrics of which I posted on 6 September. He rejects the addition of the Wendy Evans chorus. He argue that it is inappropriate to the subject of the song. The song is about transportation of wool by camel trains, not about shearers. I agree. Chuck out the chorus! --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: GUEST Date: 15 Sep 20 - 09:32 PM Bernard Carney, a West Australian singer/songwriter, has written a delightful song for his grand-children - Tian, Joe and Dan. R-J has already posted one of his songs. THE FEATHER FOOT FAIRY (Bernard Carney) Now gather ‘round folks, I’ll sing you a song Of a feather foot fairy named Tian Chorus: She never grew old and she never grew young She knew every song that had ever been sung And she played in the moon and the stars and sun And she was there when the world began The feather foot fairy named Tian The feathers on her feet were oh so fine She could fly through the mists of time She’d fly ten zillion years or more And she often had lunch with a dinosaur And the dinosaur’s house had the strangest things There were butterfly bats with rainbow wings And the hills were covered in purple trees Where the starfish bird sang delicussly Now ‘delicussly’ is not a real word But it’s often used by the starfish bird And if you’re wondering how I know Well the feather foot fairy told me so And she should know - ‘cos Chorus Now the feather foot fairy named Tian She was there when the world began And she watched all the oceans come and go And her only friend was a fossil named Joe. Now Joe was asleep for a million years ’til she woke him up with her feather foot tears And they played in the sands of time so free And they slept upstairs in the fossilott tree Now the fossilot tree in quite absurd, But it’s often used by the starfish bird And if you’re wondering how I know Well the featherf oot fairy told me so And she should know - ‘cos Chorus Now Tian took Joe on the trout sea trail In a plastic boat with a polythene sail And they dived to the bottom in an old tin can And met with a big seahorse called Dan Now Dan had a pancake stuck to his bum And he brewed his tea in a kettle drum And he knew every horse that lived in the sea And he talked to them equifishously Now ‘equifishously’ is not a real word But it’s often used by the starfish bird And if you’re wondering how I know Well the feather foot fairy told me so And she should know - ‘cos Chorus Now the feather foot fairy and seahorse Dan Took fossil Joe to the big trout dam And they all held hands and disappeared And travelled ahead 10 thousand years. The future all looked a little bit blurred But the first thing they saw was the starfish bird And if you’re wondering how I know Well the feather foot fairy told me so And she should know - ‘cos Chorus Yutube clip --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: GUEST Date: 15 Sep 20 - 10:32 PM Cathie O'Sullivan put a tune to this lovely poem by John Shaw Neilson. STONY TOWN (J.S.Neilson/C.O’Sullivan) If ever I go to Stony Town, I’ll go as to a fair With bells and men and a dance-girl with a heat-wave in her hair I’ll ask the birds that live on the road; for I dream (though it may not be) That the eldest song was a forest thought and the singer was a tree Oh, Stony Town is a hard town! It buys and sells and buys It will not pity the plights of youth or any love in the eyes No curve they follow in Stony Town, but the straight line and the square And the girl shall dance them a royal dance, like a blue wren at his prayer Oh, Stony Town is a hard town! It sells and buys and sells Merry men three I will take with me, and seven and twenty bells The bells will laugh and the men will laugh, and the girl shall shine so fair With the scent of love and cinnamon dust shaken out of her hair Her skirts shall be of the gossamer, full thirty inches high And her lips shall move as the flowers move to see the winds go by The men will laugh, and the bells will laugh, to find the world so young And the girl shall go as a velvet bird, with a quick step on her tongue She shall cry aloud that a million moons for a lover is not long And her mouth shall be as the green honey in the honey-eater’s song If ever I go to Stony Town, I’ll go as to a fair, And the girl shall shake with the cinnamon and the heat-wave in her hair Youtube clip John Shaw Neilson --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 15 Sep 20 - 10:56 PM Jeez, I finally realised that again I hadn't signed in. And Neilson's best-loved poem. THE ORANGE TREE (Neilson/O'Sullivan The young girl stood beside me. I Saw not what her young eyes could see: A light, she said, not of the sky Lives somewhere in the orange tree. Is it, I said, of east or west? The heartbeat of a luminous boy Who with his faltering flute confessed Only the edges of his joy? Was he, I said, borne to the blue In a mad escapade of Spring Ere he could make a fond adieu To his love in the blossoming? Listen! the young girl said. There calls no voice, no music beats on me But it is almost sound: it falls This evening on the orange tree Does he, I said, so fear the spring Ere the white sap too far can climb? See in the full gold evening All happenings of the olden time? Is he so goaded by the green? Does the compulsion of the dew Make him unknowable but keen Asking with beauty of the blue? Listen! the young girl said. For all Your hapless talk you fail to see There is a light, a step, a call This evening on the orange tree Is it, 1 said, a waste of love Imperishably old in pain Moving as an affrighted dove Under the sunlight or the rain? Is it a fluttering heart that gave Too willingly and was reviled? Is it the stammering at a grave, The last word of a little child? Silence! the young girl said. Oh, why Why will you talk to weary me? Plague me no longer now, for I Am listening like the orange tree Youtube clip --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 15 Sep 20 - 10:58 PM STORYTIME: Back in 87, I was performing with the Darwin mob at the 21st National Folk Festival in Alice Springs, NT. It was only the 2nd time The Nash had happened outside of a capital city and the 1st was also in The Alice, in 1980. (BtW, it only happened twice more : 1989 was Maleny, Qld and 1990 was Kuranda, Qld, and both of which were financially very successful, somewhat unusual for NFFs up til then). Our lad from The Top End, Paul Lawler, entered into the Declan Affley Songwriting Award competition, his semi-autobiographical song “Son of Rome”***. We all had high hopes for Lawls’ excellent entry. Imagine our chagrin, when a bloody ‘Quoinslander’ walked away with the prize!!! One “Noel Gardner” had come west, to sing his mate’s song in the comp. His mate was Mark Gillett, a Kiwi-born-and-raised Queenslander, and the song was “Watching The Obi Flow”. Many years later, with Paul and I living together in Maleny, Qld and running the ABOFOTS folkclub (where the afore-mentioned Mark Gillett was often welcomed!), well, my sister Alex (who was also at that Alice National), took up with a Sunshine Coast bloke who was a singer-songwriter ..... and now, Noel Gardner is my Brother-in-Law!! The winning song is below. Oh, and Paul’s ‘pipped’ song*** will be posted soon :) WATCHING THE OBI FLOW ~ Mark Gillett (Hinterland Band) The city no longer gave me thrills, so I thought I’d move up to the hills Draw the dole to pay my scratch, sing my songs and tend my patch and Watch The Obi Flow, I’d Watch The Obi Flow Sing my songs and tend my patch and Watch The Obi Flow. Well this countryside had eased my mind, I thought I’d left my cares behind But I have found what many knew : the city will catch up with you No matter how far you go, it doesn’t matter how far you go The city will catch up with you no matter how far you go. Coz down in the gorge where the trees were tall, they’ve gone and built a mighty wall And from a lake that’s dark and still, turned The Obi through the hills To the Sunshine Coast below, to the Sunshine Coast below They’ve turned The Obi through the hills to the Sunshine Coast below. Well, Maleny’s sewage flows right through, and the cow sheds drain to The Obi – POOH!! The water looks a trifle rough, you wouldn’t want to drink the stuff But my, the lawn should grow, my my, the lawns will grow You wouldn’t want to drink this stuff, but my, the lawns will grow. Now down in the gorge where the waters flow, or on the slopes where the bunyas grow Once they bulldoze, burn, and wreck, no earthly power will bring it back And the kids will never know, you can tell’em but they won’t know No earthly power will bring it back and the kids’ll never know. Well, my little house was high and dry, till the Shire Inspector he dropped by Said this house should never have been, tear it down and start again Before the next big blow, it’ll fall down in the next big blow Tear it down and start again, before the next big blow. So I’ll move to Maroochy by the sea, get me a job in a factory And when I come home to my flat, I’ll just turn on my kitchen tap And Watch The Obi Flow, I’ll Watch The Obi Flow I’ll just turn on my kitchen tap and Watch The Obi Flow. I’ll Watch The Obi Flow, I’ll Watch The Obi Flow Just turn on my kitchen tap and Watch The Obi Flow. And Watch The Obi Flow, I’ll be Watching The Obi Flow Just turn on my kitchen tap and ..... (spoken) : Watch The Obi Obi Flow : drip - drip - drip First track of 4 from The Hinterland Band’s EP “Against the Flow” c.1985 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFoIDwyZ0XA with Mark Gillett (also on banjo), Noel Gardner, Jim Maloney, Paul Vella. This song is still in Noel Gardner’s repertoire, but doesn’t seem to be recorded elsewhere. The posthumous CD of Mark’s recordings (Mark Gillett, 1953 – 2007) proposed by friends at his Wake, is apparently still a work-in-progress ..... PS The Obi Obi Creek [which drops around 435m over its 53.2km length], was named after a noted warrior of the local Aboriginal ‘Kabi Kabi’ people. Cheers, R-J (and yes, OK, it's a top little number!!! Thanks to Noel for correcting my lyrics :) |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 15 Sep 20 - 11:40 PM THE DECLARATION (Neilson/Wyndham-Read) Now I shall love you till the birds Have lost the way to sing Until there be no tenderness Upon the face of spring And I shall love you till a babe Shall neither laugh nor cry When men no more are wanderers And women’s tears are dry And I shall love you till the trees Know neither sun nor rain When morning brings no mystery And love can leave no pain And I shall love you till there be No grace in hearts of men When a girl’s eyes will glow no love I’ll love you until then Youtube clip --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 16 Sep 20 - 12:49 AM Ah, that's a noice one, Stew; never heard it before. R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 16 Sep 20 - 01:23 AM Noel Gardner won the Dale & John Dengate Parody competition at Illawarra Folk Festival in 2018 & also appeared at the 2020 Memorial zoom get-together Speaking of excellent Australian songs - the winners of the Illawarra (2014-20) & Gulgong (2017-20) Parody competitions are available to download here |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 16 Sep 20 - 01:25 AM I tried to correct the date of Gulgong FF competition but it wouldn't take. The winners of the Illawarra (2014-20) & Gulgong (2017-19) Parody competitions are available to download sandra |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: GUEST Date: 16 Sep 20 - 09:12 PM Impressions of the outback in the late 19th century don't come better than this. ACROSS THE WARREGO (Jim Grahame) I dreamt some dreams of dried up streams Streams that never flow Of men and things misfortune brings Across the Warrego And I could see old faces there Old faces grim and sad Old mates of mine that tramped with me And some are tramping yet And I dreamt then of other men All trudging to and fro With empty bags and cruel swags Across the Warrego And most of them looked straight ahead A few were looking back The bush had claimed their souls and left Their bodies on the track And in my sleep I saw the sheep Heard them bleating low The ringing flocks, the stringing flocks Across the Warrego The young and strong were in the lead The old and weak behind With lagging feet and dragging feet And some of them were blind And in my dreams I saw the teams The teams I used to know The long long teams, the strong strong teams Across the Warrego And lurching wool bales strained the ropes That lashed them fore and aft And every ounce of horse flesh pulled From leader to the shaft I dreamt of nights by campfire lights The flicker and the glow The great white moon, the black gin’s croon Beyond the Warrego And I could hear the bullock bells A-ringing on the plains And thirsty kangaroos loped in And bounded out again And in the scrub I saw a pub A name I do not know But it was there to cash the cheques Across the Warrego A graveyard stood right out in front Two pepper trees were near The goats were camping underneath A skillion at the rear And in my dreams a camel team Was winding in and out Its swaying packs and blistered backs The messengers of drought And as they crossed the sandy ridge The sun went down below I saw them on the skyline then Beyond the Warrego And in the night I woke in fright My pulse was far from slow I thought that I was on the road Beyond the Warrego I thought a mirage danced ahead A dry plain at my back And I was trudging trudging on Alone along the track Youtube clip In 1890, Lawson went to work in Brisbane for 'The Boomerang'. When that collapsed in the depression of 1890-91, he decided to go up country in search of work. With a mate, Jim Grahame, he swagged it to Bourke and out to Hungerford. They worked as house painters and around the sheds as pickers-up, pressers or scourers when shearing was on. Although it was not a long trip, Lawson drew extensive copy from it. Jim Grahame (spelled with and without an 'e'), whose real name was James Gordon, came from Creswick in Victoria and is said to have been born 'under the flap of a tilted cart'. He had intended to become a jockey, with the help of Adam Lindsay Gordon, but went jackarooing instead. The outback certainly made a deep impression on him. Grahame on Lawson --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 16 Sep 20 - 10:12 PM I can't believe I did it again. Anyhow, despite no answer re Kiwi songs, if R-J can post one, so can I. Here is my favourite - it has an Australian connection with Cobb & Co. Phil Garland put a tune to Peter Cape's lovely poem. THE STABLE LAD (Cape/Garland) When Cobb & Co ran coaches from the Buller to the Grey I went for a livery-stable lad in a halt up Westport way And I gave my heart to a red-haired girl, and left it where she lay By the winding Westland highway from the Buller to the Grey There's Neatsfoot on my fingers, and lamp-black on my face And I've saddle-soaped the harness and hung each piece in place But my heart's not in the stable, it's in Charleston far away Where Cobb & Co goes rolling by from Buller to the Grey There's a red-haired girl in Charleston, and she's dancing in the bar But I know she's not like other girls who dance where miners are And I can't forget her eyes and everything they seemed to say The day I rode with Cobb & Co from Buller to the Grey There's a schooner down from Murchison, I can hear it in the gorge So I'll have to pump the bellows now and redden up the forge And I'll strike that iron so very hard she'll hear it far away In the roaring European that the road runs by from Grey Some day I'll be a teamster with the ribbons in my fist And I'll drive that Cobb & Co Express through rain and snow and mist Drive a four-in-hand to Charleston, and no matter what they say I'll take my girl up on the box and marry her in Grey There's a graveyard down in Charleston where the moss trails from the trees And the Westland wind comes moaning in from off the Tasman seas And it's there they laid my red-haired girl, in a pit of yellow clay As Cobb & Co went rolling by from Buller to the Grey Youtube clip Back in the day, I once introduced with the following - I can't remember where I got the info. This tragic love story of a stable hand and saloon girl is set against the colourful background of Cobb & Co coach travel. Freeman Cobb, an American, began Cobb & Co in Australia in 1853. From small beginnings, it became the biggest and best transport system in the world with branches in all Australian states (except Tasmania) and in NZ, South Africa and Japan. The red-haired girl in the poem is obviously Catholic. There are 2 graveyards in Charleston, one on a hill to the north and the Catholic one by the roadside where camper-vans of Japanese tourists go rolling from the Buller to the Grey River Valley. The 2-storey, corrugated-iron European Hotel eventually collapsed in the 1970s. Cobb & Co passengers all travelled one class, but travellers often paid big money to sit on the 'box seat' next to the driver to listen to his yarns, poetry and songs. Sometimes the box seat was auctioned to the higher bidder. You can find more information here: Click --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 16 Sep 20 - 11:19 PM This one was a favourite in the Darwin folk scene. Martyn Wydham-Read put a tune to Matt O'Connors' poem. THE SHEARER'S LAMENT (O'Connor/Wyndham-Read) We finished shearing sheep Out west of the Paroo But now it's rained three inches We don't know what to do. A week ago the sand was loose And dust blew every day But now the mud is three feet deep And we can't get away I've just been talking to the boss You all know Hector Cole He says the Bulloo's two miles wide To cross it there's no hope. You hear a lot of people swear About the dough we make But they forget the price of beer And all the combs we break Well, why I took this job on I just can't understand, If the bloody sheep ain't waterlogged The cows are full of sand A man is doubled up all day Half-blinded by his swea; And when the darkness comes around Cooped up in a mozzie net It might have been a good job once Those old hands had their breaks They pushed a bike from shed to shed And lived on johnny cakes They had more time to do the job They worked nine hours a day And after paying for their grub One pound a hundred paid I think I'll give this job away I'm sick of being a greasy I've heard about a fencing job They tell me it's dead easy Youtube clip Martyn noted: 'Some bush poems definitely invite a tune. "A shearer's lament" came from Matt O'Connor who contributed the odd ballad to the "Singabout" magazine in the 60s. This was his last contribution prior to his death in 1965.' --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 17 Sep 20 - 02:24 AM DECLAN AFFLEY SONGWRITING AWARD : After mentioning the NFF’s 1987 winner, Mark Gillett, a few posts ago, I thought : “Now there’s a go! Probably many other winners of this competition should have their entry in Mudcat’s Aussie thread!” Well, that was another idea and much time, lost down the rabbithole. When I googled, many artists are proudly claiming to have been a winner (or a runner up) - and rightly so. However, where are the details of this award? Where is the List of previous winners and entries? How does one enter? Is it even still being awarded??? I could find no information on the current National Folk Festival (Australia) website about awards/comps – until, that is, I opened the 2019 Program Book, where a half page was devoted to the idea. It seems that ‘The Declan’ is no more and that the current thing is the Alistair Hulett Memorial Award for the best ‘social justice’ song, which follows on from the original British award. (but where now, do the writers of worthy non-social justice material go?!) OK, there now appears to be a number of other awards (as well as the post-1994 Lis Johnston Awards, for vocal excellence) – but who would know that you have to add “/festival-awards/” up to the main URL, to be able to locate any info on the NFF website?? (and that’s just for 2019!) Surely there should at least be some easily accessible, permanent page of The Nash’s website which acknowledges and celebrates past award winners, and their great music? Because if not there, where is that info? At present it appears that it’s purely up to the actual artist to inform or remind us - IF they still have an online presence, that is – and IF we happen to come across their web data!! So, can any regular Nash attenders (Sandra, Gerry, Graham et al), shed any light on this situation??!! Cheers, R-J :) |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 17 Sep 20 - 02:40 AM BOONAROO Don Henderson, 1968 Ch. Oh, who will man the Boonaroo? Who will sail her, be the crew, sailing on the Boonaroo? Is there food and is there store to feed the hungry, clothe the poor? In this world their number isn't few. In her cargo would you find any way for one mankind, sailing on the Boonaroo. Is there bandage by the reel? Is there medicine to heal? Christ knows, there's healing work to do. In her cargo would you find any way for one mankind, sailing on the Boonaroo? Would the hull be filled with material to build, perhaps a bridge for a world that's split in two? In her cargo would you find any way for one mankind, sailing on the Boonaroo? Or jam packed in the hold, is there grief and death untold and asked "Why?" have to answer true. In her cargo would you find any way for one mankind, sailing on the Boonaroo? Thanks to Mark Gregory's Union Songs site : http://unionsong.com/u260.html Don Henderson wrote: "Australian seamen have manned the Australian National Line M.V.s Boonaroo and Jeparit sailing to Vietnam 'under strong protest'. In the case of the Boonaroo, which has already completed one round trip, the crew's continued hostility to the U.S. aggression in Vietnam, and the friendly contacts they established with Australian troops engaged in the war, are already a small part of Australian working-class history." Cheers, R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 17 Sep 20 - 02:58 AM Another song from the pen of Hendo (I remember this played regularly on the radio) : Put a Light in Ev'ry Country Window" DON HENDERSON Ch. Put a light in every country window High-speed pumps where now the windmills stand Get in and lay the cable so that one day we’ll be able To have electricity all over this wide land. Miners tunnel to feed the fires at Wangi While others scrape the brown coal at Yallourn Turbine blades are yielding to the tumbling tons of Eildon And the Snowy will be finished before long. The little farms and giant outback stations They all are mechanised today For milking cows and shearing sheep to do it fast and do it cheap Electrically is the modern way. The old Coolgardie and the red-hot woodstove They all have seen their day at last For now the ice and fire that is coming on the wire Has made them all relics of the past. Ch. Put a light in every country window High-speed pumps where now the windmills stand Get in and lay the cable so that one day we’ll be able To have electricity all over this wide land. Here is Gary Shearston's version : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6NScBO_JWU Who knows if in another 50 years, Electricity will still be "the modern way"?! Coolgardie Safe : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coolgardie_safe Cheers, R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 17 Sep 20 - 03:31 AM Alistair Hulett winners https://www.alistairhulett.com/alistair-hulett-memorial-fund/songs-for-social-justice-award-aus/ (2019 & 2020 winners are not yet on the website, so I contacted one of the organisers) Winner of the 2020 Songs for Social Justice Award: Karen Law for Wildflower Woman. (Qld newspaper) Winner of the 2019 Songs for Social Justice Award: Penelope Swales for Cambridge Analytica (NFF website) Winner of the 2018 Songs for Social Justice Award: Teri Young for ‘Fishing at Okehampton Bay’ Winner of the 2017 Songs for Social Justice Award: Miguel Heatwole for ‘Better Times’ Winner of the 2016 Songs for Social Justice Award: Tony Eardley for ‘Sally Cross the Water’ Winner of the 2015 Songs for Social Justice Award: Paddy McHugh for ‘The Snowmen’ Winner of the 2014 Songs for Social Justice Award: Miriam Jones for ‘Post Post Feminist Revolution’ Winner of the 2013 Songs for Social Justice Award: The Lurkers for ‘Mining Man’ Winner of the 2012 Songs for Social Justice Award: Steph Miller for ‘The Riverside’ |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 17 Sep 20 - 03:39 AM Greg Hastings - lyrics Greg began his musical career as a founding member of the Mucky Duck Bush Band in 1973, 3 years after he migrated to Australia from Wales. In 1976 the band turned professional and rose to great heights of success in Western Australia. At the beginning of 1979 Greg launched his solo career, travelling to New Zealand, America, Canada, United Kingdom and Europe. He then returned to Australia for a year before setting off once more around the world in 1982. On his return to Australia in 1983, he began touring the continent extensively. For 25 years he has toured almost continually playing Festivals, Clubs, Tourist Resorts, Schools etc. GGreg has traversed over 400,000 kilometres of this vast continent amassing a unique knowledge of Australia and Australians, including some of the most respected elders of the Aboriginal people. Learning to play the didgeridoo from them on his first tour of the Kimberley Aboriginal communities in 1988. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After seeing many a night 'ruined' by mismanaged sound systems, Greg penned this song. TESTING 1, 2, 3 by Greg Hastings For many years I've sung in places all around the world No sweeter than the human voice in chorus can be heard But now with our technology all reason has been lost Sometimes I wonder if the end defeats the cost. CHORUS Cos it's testing, testing 1, 2, 3 We don't need electricity Don't need a microphone to sing a song So nice to hear the music back where we belong. Once not long ago if you had a mind to sing Friends would gather round you and make the rafters ring But now with these amps they run in mortal fear With the booming of a microphone ringing in their ear CHORUS Now the local musos gather round With their ultra quado phonic sound The crowd was stunning nearly yelled for more When one he counted up to four ! His quiet little voice was made to sound Just like Michael Jackson in the London underground With digital delays, effects by the score Just one check blew his audience through the door CHORUS I stayed at that club till just a few were there Speakers the size of tea chests standing on a chair I checked, it buzzed, everything went wrong When I finally got to singing, the audience had gone. Saying why can't you just sing to me Without this testing 1, 2, 3 We long for the day you can do without Because it's far too loud and it hides your mouth. CHORUS Yes, I feel acoustic music is music of the soul Sharing it in harmony should always be our goal The way things are going it's very plain to see Before we can speak we'll have to test 1, 2, 3 But they'll flick a switch and they won't say when Before you know we'll have to sing again But I can sing to you and you can sing to me There'll be no more testing 1, 2, 3 Copyright Greg Hastings © https://www.greghastings.com/asongs.html#top m |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 17 Sep 20 - 03:40 AM Greg Hastings - lyrics Greg began his musical career as a founding member of the Mucky Duck Bush Band in 1973, 3 years after he migrated to Australia from Wales. In 1976 the band turned professional and rose to great heights of success in Western Australia. At the beginning of 1979 Greg launched his solo career, travelling to New Zealand, America, Canada, United Kingdom and Europe. He then returned to Australia for a year before setting off once more around the world in 1982. On his return to Australia in 1983, he began touring the continent extensively. For 25 years he has toured almost continually playing Festivals, Clubs, Tourist Resorts, Schools etc. GGreg has traversed over 400,000 kilometres of this vast continent amassing a unique knowledge of Australia and Australians, including some of the most respected elders of the Aboriginal people. Learning to play the didgeridoo from them on his first tour of the Kimberley Aboriginal communities in 1988. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ reg's humorous, environmental protest song COCA COLA CAN T'was on the Canning Stock Route, by the Kannanagi Well I parks the four wheel in the shade, the sun was hot as hell I thought that I would have a leak where no man had before But as I strolled off in the bush, imagine what I saw; There were kangaroos, all sweat and flies, playing football in the sand And the ball they were using was a Coca cola can. CHORUS: Why must I always be second (Mate) It can't be part of the plan Why must I always be second To a Coca Cola Can While Climbing up Ben Nevis on a cold and freezing day The sun was falling lightly, so I took an easy way And as I trudged up to the top, the sky began to clear Just my footprints in the snow, no-one else was there. Then I stood in silence, the horizon to scan I spotted below me, a Coca Cola can. CHORUS (Jimmy) Now in the great Grand Canyon, on an early summer's morn I thought if I climbed the side, I could watch the dawn I struggled through the cactus, it must have been 5 miles Thought that when I reached the top, I'd sit there for a while. But as I reached that one last time, I felt beneath my hand Yep, you guessed it, a Coca Cola can. CHORUS (Yee Ha) I thought I'd found an island where no man had ever been No footprints in the sand, the water was so clean So I went in for a swim, to wash the dust away And as I swam down to the rocks to watch the fishes play There, right below me, half buried in the sand Was that red and white monstrosity, a Coca Cola can CHORUS (By Jingo) So if you're walking or you're riding or sailing on the sea Don't throw your empties overboard and leave them there for me I wouldn't come to your place, chuck me rubbish on the lawn And if I did I'm sure you'd be the one to moan But, if you didn't you wouldn't understand Why I don't like coming second to a Coca Cola can If we looked into the future, I wonder what we'd see In a thousand years from now, I wonder where we'll be For since the world begun, many places man has trod Some believe in Einstein, some believe in God But if whoever started it could reveal the plan I am sure it would not include a Coca Cola can Copyright Greg Hastings © 1980 |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 17 Sep 20 - 03:52 AM Greg Hasstings on didgeridoo traveling down Highway 1 (no words!) |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 17 Sep 20 - 04:05 AM Greg Hastings! OMG Sandra, I rem'ber when his family first arrived - in Perth - with their Welsh accents and great songs - his shy young sister Val, in particular, had a lovely voice : COCKY BELL is a good song, which I think she wrote ..... But I have to add this one for Stewie! THE GIN AND RASPBERRY Written by Martin Curtis, c.1980 While hunting for fox we first came this way From Lake Pembroke township took many long days We cut through the bush and we found a new rush With a mine called the Gin and Raspberry Ch. Oh, but it's hard, cruel and cold Searching Cardrona for nuggets of gold An ounce to the bucket and we'll all sell our soul For a taste of the gin and raspberry The rumors went out and the thousands poured in A handful grew rich but many grew thin They all hoped to find their own patch of tin As rich as the Gin and Raspberry At first it was summer and we all thought it grand No shirts on our back as we sluiced and we panned But then came the snow and the southern wind's blow And there's ice down the Gin and Raspberry Now Billy McGraw he worked hard and worked long Ready to smile and to give us a song But then he struck gold and was found dead and cold Down in the Gin and Raspberry So I'll work at the mine and I'll stay out of strife I'll save all me gold to send home to me wife And when the gold’s won I’ll leave at the run And to hell with the Gin and Raspberry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwN5A1zeROk Martin Curtis singing his own song. My GGGrandfather left Lancashire in 1857 for a new life in Victoria, but by the early 1860s he was in Sth Isle EnZed in these very same goldfields. He found enough to buy a couple of pubs! Cheers, R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 17 Sep 20 - 04:08 AM another NZ song that used to be heard around the Sydney sessions years ago Folksong NZ site The chocolate Song by Marcus Turner (sound) bite of Chocolate When you're tired and depressed, and feeling lonely, When your chequebook's in the red, and you are blue, When you've left the freezer open, or your rubber band is broken, Or you've dropped the toilet paper down the loo, If you feel a sudden urge to wash the bread-knife, Or to sniff at the exhaust-pipe of your car, Or to farewell those you love 'n' take a nap inside the oven, STOP!... Salvation's just a sup from where you are! Chorus: When you're feeling down, the best way up is chocolate: It's the answer that will get you through the day. Let me get my teeth around something small and square and brown, And I'll masticate until I feel O.K. Now, when God had finished making all the heavens, And the valleys and the mountains and the seas, And the weather, and the weasels, and the squid, and German Measles, And the gherkins, and Hong Kong, and all the fleas, On the seventh day, as he was sitting resting, He was feeling in a very chipper mood. There came one more inspiration for one last divine Creation: Something fit to please a God, that could be chewed! Ch. When I see a bar of chocolate lying idle, It always seems to find its way inside my jaws. It's a shame to mess about, 'cos it tastes better in than out, And it's going to a very worthy cause. And although it won't endear me to my dentist, And my doctor will be worried for my health, And it's given me a skinful of enormous oily pimples, I'm still feeling very good about myself! Ch. Just remember, if it's chocolate, you can eat it: Chocolate eggs and chocolate fish and chocolate chips, Chocolate steak and mousse and frogs, chocolate beans and mice and logs, Let a chocolate bomb explode across your lips! Some is crunchy, and is filled with Hokey-pokey, Some is thrown about by cowboys, and is white. There's a whole world out there waiting: don't just sit there salivating, Pull your socks up, brace yourself and Bite! Bite! Bite! Ch. You will never have a bad trip eating chocolate. And it's tastier than sex, and much more fun. Keep your pills and dope and glue, and your gin and whiskey too, 'Cos there's no buzz like a chocolate Buzz - Bar none! If you really, really love me, give me chocolate, Give me chocolate 'till it's coming out my ears. All I crave is just enough so I can indolently stuff myself for years and years and years and years and years! Ch. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 17 Sep 20 - 04:12 AM Both Sides Now (known as The Toast Song) (Chris Clarke) - former Mudcatter Canberra Chris In morning time when I arise My breakfast fare is no surprise, I pour the cornflakes, make the tea And then reach for the bread. I turn the gas on, light the grill, And think this time I really will Stay wide awake, make perfect toast and start the day well-fed - I'll lightly toast it both sides now, Both up and down To golden brown, The toasting time I will recall, I really can make toast After all. But then I read, to pass the time, The cornflakes advertising rhyme, I hear the news, but don't take in A single item read. And then an old, familiar smell Invades the dreamworld where I dwell, and fills the room with flames and smoke and fumes of burning bread - I've burnt the toast on both sides now, Both front and back To charcoal black, The toasting time I don't recall, I really can't make toast After all. And so I scrape it in the bin Which makes the slices rather thin, Then wipe the knife upon the cloth Back in my dream-like state. I butter it with marmalade, Then to correct the mess I've made Spread butter on the other side And stick it to the plate - My toast is buttered both sides now, Both left and right, I'm none too bright, The buttering I don't recall, I really can't make toast At all. Written in Perth, Western Australia, early 80s. Chris Clarke |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 17 Sep 20 - 04:16 AM Randwick Races John Dengate (Tune: "The Galway Races") (D) We arrived at Randwick races, by (Em) taxi from Clovelly. I had (C) money in my trousers, boys, and (G) schooners (D) in my (G) belly. (G) Well the bookies (d) saw us (D) coming and they (Em) panicked in a crisis; They (G) tinkered with the odds and they (Em) shortened (D) all their (G) prices. Chorus: With my (D) whack, fol the do, fol the (Em) diddley idle (Em) day Well the hunger it was gnawing and the thirst was in us rising While the crowd's excited roaring reached a level quite surprising. Oh, we swallowed several middies and demolished pies and sauces And we set to work comparing prices, jockey's weights and horses. Chorus: With my whack, fol the do, fol the diddley idle day Denis Kevans said, "I reckon we will finish rich as Pharaoh If we back the chestnut filly from the district of Monaro. She's a trier, she's a flier, never knock her or decry her - She's sixty-six to one; when she wins we']] all retire." Chorus: With my whack, fol the do, fol the diddley idle day There was every kind of punter from illiterates to scholars; I struggled throuah the betting ring and wagered twenty dollars - Then the horses were away; from the barrier they thundered And we hoped that very day to collect the thirteen hundred. Chorus: With my whack, fol the do, fol the diddley idle day We shouted in despair; Denis Kevans tore his hair, O'Dea began to swear at the filly from Monaro. She was struggling in the pack and our very hearts were bleeding; She was falling further back and the favourite was leading. Chorus: With my whack, fol the do, fol the diddley idle day |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 17 Sep 20 - 04:28 AM 2 songs from the Shiny Bum Singers (Canberra Chris was a founding member) I am Speaking [C] – Tune: Frere Jacques I am speaking I am speaking And I’m right And I’m right You shut up and listen You Shut up and listen Or we’ll fight Or we’ll fight ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There’s No Paper Here (tune: A Pub With No Beer) (words ©ShinyBumSingers 2020) It's lonesome away, from your kindred and co. In the throne-room at night, where we all have to go But there's nothing so lonesome, so morbid or drear Than to stand in an aisle, when there’s no paper here Now the public is anxious, for the quota to come There may not be paper, for a-wiping their bum The Mums are all cranky, and the staff’s acting queer What a terrible place, when there’s no paper here Then the stock man rolls up, with his pallet shrink-wrapped Overtaken by hoarders, he screams “Holy Crap!” A mad glint in their eyes, as the rolls disappear As with locusts to Egypt, there’s no paper here There's a Dad on the dunny, for his shopper he’ll wait But she’s a non-starter, having left it too late She searches forlornly, despair ever near There’s no place for a shopper, when there’s no paper here Old Gilly the Greenie, first time in his life Has run out of paper, and now he’s in strife He’d settle for NewsCorp, but the irony’s clear It’s a “digital” world, when there’s no paper here (NewsCorp, Rupert Murdock's papers in Australia) |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 17 Sep 20 - 04:59 AM I'm going thru my folder of songs - did you know there are 828 species of birds in Australia, one in 10 of the world's 10,000 or so living bird species. BIRD SONG Words and Music John Broomhall Adelaide Hills, it's early mornin', through the window see them yawnin', Lonesome travellers wind their way back home; Misty valleys, lofty ranges, signposts mock our weary strangers: Pack a road map mate next time you roam! There's a Kookaburra, Cuckoo, Bronzewing, Budgerigar, Lorikeet, Cat Bird, Currawong, an old Galah; Frog Mouth, Magpie, Miner, and a White-Winged Chough, A Babbler, a Warbler, and even a bird called Rough. Somewhere up in Northern Queensland, sunshine bright, golden sea sand, We're lyin' on the beach the way that dreamers do. Paradise Lost, ah poor John Milton, he didn't get to stay at the Douglas Hilton, I guess he missed Mossman, Kuranda, and Cooktown too. Seagull, Plover, Petrel, and Ocean Tern, Albatross, Grebe, Shearwater and Frigate Bird; Cormorant, Pelican, Gannet and Cockatoo, Cassowary, Egret, Heron and Jabiru. Life's a breeze in the centre of Australia, corroboree's the only regalia, Wide brown land, and a sky that's big and blue; Camel Drivers wearin' turbans, nothin' here you'd call suburban, They're all dinkum Aussies through and through. Curlew, Drongo, Falcon, Emu, Wren, Brolga, Spoonbill, Duck and Native Hen; Spinebill, Thrush and Lark up in the sky, Swallow, Butcher, Robin, Silver-eye. Soldier, Shoe Maker, Coot and Sooty Owl, Buzzard, Booby, Bell and Mallee Fowl; Rainbow, Sparrow, Crow and Whistling Kite, A Wedge-tailed Eagle and a Boobook late at night. (c) Copyright J. Broomhall 1991 |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 17 Sep 20 - 05:41 AM THE WHALE (Terry Fielding and Fred Dyer) - Fred used to post on Mudcat youtube (Am) (G) (Am) Di Di Di Di DA Di DE Di Di (Am) They sailed from port one morning the (G) weather it was (Am) fair A gentle breeze it pushed them and (G) no one gave a (Am) care They sang and danced and (Am7) laughed that night and D opened up a (E) keg They're (Am) out to catch the monster whale that (G) took the captain's leg (Am) Di Di Di Di Da (G) Di DE Di (Am)Di (Am)The Captain said "a piece of gold for (G)him who sees me (Am)whale" So bend your backs and row me boys I(G) know that we won't (Am)fail Chorus (chords as Verse1) So bend your backs and row me lads and take me to me whale. Tonight we'll sing and dance and tomorrow night we'll sail. We'll sail into the harbour no prouder man there'll be; We'll show them all we captured the monster from the sea Di Di Di Di Di Da Di Di They saw the whale one morning the weather it was fair the men were white as ghosts, the Captain didn't care I'll take this whale meself he cried the weak can stay behind The strong can share my glory and tonight they'll share my wine Di Di Di Di Di Da Di Di The whale it came so close it was bigger than the sky they lowered down the longboat and they heard the captain cry Chorus Bend your backs and row me lads and take me to me whale. Tonight we'll sing and dance and tomorrow night we'll sail. We'll sail into the harbour no prouder man there'll be; We'll show them all we captured the monster from the sea Di Di Di Di Di Da Di Di Chorus The whale it came so close it almost tipped the boat The captain took his spear and he rammed it down it's throat the whale it gave a mournfull cry and lifted it's great tail and brought it down a crushing their small boat like a gale (spoken) Now 100 years have passed since the Captain and his men went below to spend their days in Davy Joneses' den The whale it goes on living but inside it bears a scar And if your ever near that place a voice calls from afar Chorus twice, last line: We'll show them all we captured the monster from the sea |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 17 Sep 20 - 07:58 PM I AM A TOLERANT MAN anon (from WA Goldfields) I don't mind blokes who digs or stokes, Who fettle or work on derricks; I can even stand a German band, But I draw the line at clerics. Ch. Why strike me pink, I'd sooner drink With a cove sent up for arson, Than a rain-beseeching, preaching, teaching, Blanky, cranky, parson. I snort and jibe at the whole of the tribe, Whatever their sect of class is - From lawn-sleeved ranters to kerbstone canters, From bishops to Army lasses. Give me the blaspheming, scheming, screaming, Barracking football garcons - In preference, to the reverent gents, The blithering, blathering parsons! I couldn't get John Thompson's recording to play on his Oz Folksong a Day website, so here is one from "Les Wayfarers" : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTm8_8MvRtc "Words from John Lahey's Great Australian Folk Songs (1965) via Mudcat, where Bob Bolton notes that it is from the Western Australian goldfields." Apparently an early poem in the "Kalgoorlie Sun" newspaper; music by John Lahey. Cheers, R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 17 Sep 20 - 08:03 PM R-J, I remember Martin Curtis from his days in Tennant Creek back when the world was young. Sandra has also now posted a song by a Kiwi. Let's go for it - our conspicuously absent moderator can always chuck 'em out! Sandra, thanks for the Marcus Turner song. I posted the lyrics of his magnum opus, 'When the boys are on parade', over a decade ago. It is one of finest songs ever about armed forces. Andy Irvine's made it known outside NZ, but my favourite rendition is by Michael Black on his wonderful self-titled CD on Compass Records. Michael Black WHEN THE BOYS ARE ON PARADE (Marcus Turner) Here they come marching past the houses, shiny boots and khaki blouses Stiff as the creases in their trousers, standing tall and straight and strong And they all keep in step together, glint of steel and flash of leather Braving every kind of weather as they boldly march along You may dismiss it as a ploy for the enlistment of the boys Who’ll be impressed to see the toys and play the games that can be played Refrain: And you may well prefer abstention but I feel compelled to mention You’d do well to pay attention when the boys are on parade Look at your sons before they’re older they’ll be stronger, they’ll be bolder Just the thing to make a soldier and we’ll turn them into men And they’ll be taught to follow orders, keep the peace and guard the borders To protect us from marauders and defend us to the end But the position they’ll be filling is to be able and be willing To be killed or do the killing when there’s a price that must be paid Refrain In the pursuit of a community of decency and unity And equal opportunity, we stand prepared to fight And if there’s a threat to our position from aggressive opposition Then, with guns and ammunition, we’ll repel with all our might. We’ll dehumanise and hate them, send in the troops to decimate them As in the name of the nation all it stands for is betrayed Refrain Merely the whim or intuition of an elected politician Makes a melee without conditions as the monster quits the cage It’s a machine that knows no quarter, dealing death and sowing slaughter Raping mothers, wives and daughters in an all-consuming rage We may well decide we need it and we’ll pay to arm and feed it Can you tell me who will lead it when a decision must be made? Refrain Instrumental break Some will wonder what’s to fear and say there is no danger here But there has never been a year when soldiers haven’t been at war And the eternal executions and the bloody revolutions And the ultimate solutions, too, have all been seen before. And there’s always someone scheming and some nights when I am dreaming In the distance, I hear screaming and in my heart I feel afraid Refrain Here they come marching past the houses, shiny boots and khaki blouses Stiff as the creases in their trousers, standing tall and straight and strong And is it any cause for pride that now the women march beside them Will they have wiser gods to guide them in discerning right from wrong? ‘Cause every step is a reminder of the threat that lies behind If we forget the ties that bind us when the decisive game is played Refrain And as the procession passes by, consider the sight before your eyes ‘Cause it’ll be you they’ll kill and die for when called to the crusade And you may love them and adore them, you may hate them and abhor them But, for God’s sake don’t ignore them, when the boys are on parade The late Marcus Turner was fine songwriter. One of his close friends wrote: ‘Multi-instumentalist, singer-songwriter, Marcus Turner, is a New Zealand folk music icon, regularly guesting at folk festivals and clubs for over 30 years … He is renowned for his astute song-writing from the dark to the endearing, from the political to the exceedingly funny’. --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 17 Sep 20 - 08:25 PM The inimitable Kath Tait was also a NZ icon before fleeing to London. Here's one of her best: THE RIVER OF LIFE (Kath Tait) She was born in a middle-class town She could have gone up, she could have gone down But she just went around and around On a downward spiral One morning so fair and fine She stole away while the moon did shine Strayed on down the wayward line Southwards of survival (Chorus) She could have been a lady She could have been a wife But she fell into the river of life Swimming in a pool of trouble and strife She really loved the danger But the river of life it rolls and flows Down by the banks where the brambles grow Swimming around in trouble and strife Way down low in the river of life Over hills of thorns and valleys of scorn Rambling like she was gypsy born Travelling on through weather and storm Without a thought for danger But she was young and looking for fun And dreaming of things she'd never done So lost in sweet oblivion She welcomed in the stranger But the stranger he was a wanton rake For he took her money and he called her a fake And he shook her around like an old earthquake And left her there for plunder Now a heart gone down might never be found Might lie in the dirt and roll around But she was always on the rebound And she never would go under Chorus Now the woman of character wins in the end The river of life will be your friend Not frail of heart, but a true upstart The river of life has made her And like a flood she did surely rise High as the hills and the clear blue skies She never was a lady but she was wise And nothing much would change her Chorus Lin Van Hek and Joe Dolce did a beaut rendition for their 'Difficult Women' project. Youtube clip Kath Tait has been described as ‘the diva of the dysfunctional’. She departed New Zealand to live in London. The 'Waikato Times' noted: It was inevitable she left New Zealand, having insulted most of her family and friends in her songs. Behind the cheerful guitar and sweet voice lie lyrics of barbed wire. The ironies of modern life are her inspiration, the contrast in her disarming delivery and often explicit words, is her charm. --Stewie |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 17 Sep 20 - 08:40 PM Way back in this thread (on 19 Aug) Mysha mentioned 'By the dry Cardrona'. Here ya go: BY THE DRY CARDRONA (James K. Baxter) Oh I can tell where the cherries grow By the dry Cardrona Where I picked them long ago On a day when I was sober On a day when I was sober My father wore a parson's coat By the dry Cardrona He made a tally of the sheep and the goats But I was never sober I was never sober My mother sewed her Sunday skirt By the dry Cardrona They say she died of a broken heart For I was never sober I was never sober I loved a young girl, and only one By the dry Cardrona She up and married the banker's son For I was never sober I was never sober I courted a widow of forty-nine By the dry Cardrona She owned a stable and a scheelite mine But I was never sober I was never sober Lay my bones till the judgement crack By the wild Cardrona A blanket swag all on my back To pillow me drunk or sober Pillow me drunk or sober All rivers run to a rimless grave Even the wild Cardrona But never a one will come my way Till I am stone cold sober Till I am stone cold sober I can tell where the cherries grow By the wild Cardrona Where I picked them long ago On a day when I was sober On a day when I was sober One of New Zealand’s best-known poets, James Keir Baxter, featured his poem,'By the Dry Cardrona', in his 1958 radio play, 'Jack Winter’s Dream'. The dry Cardrona is a symbol of the spritual aridity of his early life in contrast with the life-giving? springtime snowmelt waters of the wild Cardrona that nourish the cherry trees along its banks. Scheelite, which is mentioned in the poem, is an important source of tungsten, a very hard metal. English folkie, Steve Turner, always did it justice: Youtube clip --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 17 Sep 20 - 09:23 PM Here's a tour around NZ. R-J, I think you sent me a copy of the album by 'When the cat's been spayed". TEA AT TE KUITI (Ken Avery) I'm havin' tea at Te Kuiti with my sweetie Then a row at Rotorua on the waves Do a tour of Turangi When the Maoris have a hangi Then I'll wind up in the old Waitomo caves I'm gonna tread the narrow path at Ngar'awahia And dash to Dannevirke before the beer is cut I'm going to town at Taum'runui Wander down the Wangernewy Then I'm go'ng'ta live it up at Upper Hutt I'm gonna chat about the Chateau Tongariro I'm gonna talk about the Tokomaru Bay And when I tell a man or two About the Manawatu They'll wonder why I ever went away I'm gonna crow about the good old Coromandel And tell them where I'd like to see Waiwera shore Although it sounds like Taranaki When I'm shooting at Wairakei I can always hit a geothermal bore I'm gonna have a cuppa tea on Kapati Island And a cup of coffee in Kawhia town Drink a handle or a schooner When I tack at Takapuna Where the Waitamata never lets me down I want to eat a pie at old Paekakariki See the wishing well in Wellington and then When we pull in to Kaiwhara There's a fiver I can borrow So I'll turn around and do it all again Interlude Been there … etc I'm gonna travel in by car to Invercargill Then I’ll meet a man at Manapouri Lake Though I'm not the one to boast I've been toasted on the coast And washed ashore at Taylor's Big Mistake I've eaten oysters in the stew at Stewart Island And met a mutton-birder down at Foveaux Strait I've tried to bluff them at the Bluff Each time I said I'd had enough They put another dozen osters on my plate. I'm gonna canter on the plains at Canterbury I'm gonna rue the day I leave ol' Oamaru I'll spend the winter on the inter - Island ferry, makin' merry An' wait for North and South to come in view Now you can see a lot that's new in ol' New Zealand You c'n keep your Port of Spain an' Mexico But if if you plan to go away Down A-o-tee-a-ro-a way A Kiwi always tells you where to go - "Look out for Trentham" - A Kiwi always tells you where to go My source for this little ditty is an all-female Kiwi group entitled ‘When the cat’s been spayed’. It is from the pen of Ken Avery from Dunedin who was known for his novelty songs featuring wordplay and exotic names – classics such as 'The dog dosing strip', 'When the scrum is on the ball' and 'The way she handled the clutch'. NZ Sheilas --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 17 Sep 20 - 09:45 PM STRONG WINDS FOR AUTUMN (Bob McNeill) Strong winds for Autumn Better bring those engines up No sail can carry my love No words will guide her The calling voice is silent And I watched them make turns for ten knots I went each day to the end of the dock Till the day my Annie sailed On the last boat down the weeping loch When the sickness came I suffered with my friends One day I thought the world would end In the dark I called her name The others there heard nothing And I watched them make turns for ten knots I felt her wake with my feet in the surf Till even that was calm And the last boat had gone Sail away my Annan love No breeze can catch you now It's all clear There's only memories here This year will know no winter [Instrumental break] And I watched them make turns for ten knots The cries of the gulls filled the air as I watched The day my Annie sailed On the last boat down the weeping loch Chorus (X2) Strong winds for Autumn Better bring those engines up Bob McNeill moved from Glasgow to New Zealand in 1998 and established himself as one the country’s foremost singer-songwriters. He has twice won the Recording Industry of New Zealand’s award for ‘Best Folk Album’. In relation to his best-known song, 'Strong Winds for Autumn' about a community off the coast of Scotland, he noted: In small coastal communities, there was sometimes a delicate balance between the number of people in the community and the amount of work needed to feed them. If many people died from illness at one time, often this left too few people to get enough food in to enable the community to survive the winter. In the song, a village is evacuated for this reason. The story is told from the perspective of a man who died from the sickness. You can hear Bob introducing and singing this song at about the 5-minute mark of this set: Youtube Emily Smith did a fine cover: Emily --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 17 Sep 20 - 10:14 PM This one was always a great favourite at the gun turret in Darwin back in the day. GUTBOARD BLUES (Dave Jordan) Well I'm off down the road every mornin' 'bout eight Down on the job, and it's a job (that) I hate, Hackin', cuttin' mutton gut on a contract basis I climb into my overalls and take my place as The boss comes along and he tells me that I’ve got to strip and clip a stomach every second flat So I bust a gut just to get the job all done Hackin', cuttin' mutton gut until the cows come home Sling 'em here, sling 'em there Them guts keep a-comin' in from ev'rywhere I’ve got more trouble than I’m able to use I've got hackin', cuttin', bust-a-guttin' gutboard blues Now down through the 'chute with a slosh and a slop Them sheep guts drop and never seem to stop So I grab me a stomach and I split it wide Then I trim it and I scrape it till it's clean inside Then I turn on the hose and let the water run Chuck it on the pile, and that's another one done The pace is hot, I stop a spot and mop my brow, And my face has all been covered up with digested grass by now Sling 'em here, sling 'em there Them guts keep a-comin' in from everywhere I need the money and a beggar can't choose I got the sloshin', sloppin', never-stoppin' gutboard blues Now there's hydrochloric acid eatin' into my head My hair's turnin' green and I’ll smell like I'm dead There's jokers all around me sloshin' juice on my knees And the temperature's a-hittin' 'bout a hundred degrees I've had a gutsful of guts, I'm tellin' you true I don't think that I could stomach one more ewe It's a way of makin' money and a living, but -- Sheep, I hate your guts! Sling 'em here, sling 'em there Them guts keep a-comin' in from everywhere How else can I afford to live the life that I choose Without them acid-burnin', stomach-churnin' Money-earnin' gutboard blues Go drop dead! The gutboards referred to in Dave Jordan’s 'Gutboard Blues' are now called ‘viscera tables’. At the time, sheep guts earned New Zealand $50 million a year exported as sausage skins. As one freezer said, ‘It’s sometimes what you have to handle that is the guts of the matter’. Dave explained: I worked at Fielding Freezing works in the summer holidays of ’65 and ’66, but as a point-switcher on the mutton/lamb grading lines. My best mate at the time, Graeme Cowley, was on the gutboard. I wrote the song out of sympathy for him after asking him one time why the skin was coming off his hands and his toes appeared to be rotting off, and why he smelled like vomit all the time. Youtube clip --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 17 Sep 20 - 11:44 PM Ah yes! Fond memories of Batey singing 'Gutboard Blues' at the Turret!! My experience of EnZed songs is sadly not much more than Phil Garland and Martin Curtis concerts at the Turret, back in the 80s. Though I recall liking Paul Metser's Farewell to the Gold plus : Hills of Coromandel / Bright Fine Gold / Farewell to Geraldine / Wind Among the Tussocks? / Tuapeka Gold / Long and Friendly Road / Packing My Things, of course as posted ...... and there's always Peter Cape's She'll Be Right Mate! I have to get back to werk now, I'll check in in a few days! Cheers, R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 18 Sep 20 - 02:14 AM An Ozzie favourite for you - "Christmas has been cancelled" by Paul Mortimer (nowadays found in the Gaelic Club & at Irish sessions, wot a loss to the folk world!) (Tune: Lili Marlene) K-Tel records were around in the 60s & 70s & Toltoys distributed (original) Star Wars toys. Christmas has been cancelled, Santa Claus is dead. When the scandal broke He put a bullet through his head. Pinned to his chest they found a note Admitting what - the papers wrote: That he was on the payroll Of Toltoys and K-tel. It was bigger still than Lockheed Worse than Watergate. Kids throughout the world Called for his head upon a plate The myth was destroyed and in its wake, Old Santy stood there a callous fake. And evidence is mounting That he was C.I.A. The Church it tried to brand him A charlatan and worse. The Pope said 'Keep off Christmas, mate, We used that number first, As a time when all good Christians sing Of Jesus Christ and cribs and things. Of course it's only bulldust To get the faithful in.' Further allegations Have made the papers wail, That Santa's love for children Was way beyond the pale, He always liked to give out toys To little girls and little boys. It seems that he was harmless But some don't understand. Well we can still be jolly And celebrate New Year, And we'll be nice to other folks More than once a year. With no tinsel trees or plastic snow Or jingle bells or yo ho ho's. And no more f***ing reindeer Or little drummer boys. Repeat first verse. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 18 Sep 20 - 02:17 AM another of Kevin Baker's great songs Aunty Rooney's on a Sunday Getting up on Sunday morning I can hear my parents talking Saying how it's been a long time and it doesn't look like rain And I know it's Aunty Rooney's where my feet will soon be walking First to mass at Kogarah then to Banksia by train And I think Mass will never end, O'Farrell's in the pulpit And I wonder how my father felt to find his mother gone But Aunty Rooney raised him when his mother went to Heaven With the help of Aunty Mary and Uncle Pat and John Soon the Mass is over and to Kogarah we will amble Waiting on the platform looking down the track for trains We spot it in the distance and soon on it we will scramble My sister grabs the window-seat and off we go again We get off at Banksia station with it's many beds of flowers The Station-Master tells us he's won a prize or three We find our way to Short Street but it seems to take us hours As we watch out for the wooden house with it's Frangipani tree Chorus - And they're formerly of Redfern and late of County Galway They tend the Celtic home-fires with a kind of loving hand With each new generation they extend the celebration And keep the green of Ireland growing in this golden land Aunty Rooney tends the oven; Aunty Mary sets the places They take their turns in scolding John who hit the grog last night Uncle Pat returns the book he reads to one of his book-cases And greetings break upon us as we step into the light And after we've had our dinner comes the time that's most exciting All the chairs go in a circle; Uncle Kev is asked to sing He gives us Kevin Barry then my father's up reciting Today I'll play the mouth organ my mother let me bring Chorus Well everyone did something with sometimes some harmonising Though Colleen blushed and giggled and her sister wasn't keen "No politics" calls Mary but just hear the voices rising John has started something with "The Wearing of the Green" So it's "Children to the backyard. Go! Come on now, use your nouses" We'd rather stay inside but still the yard is parent-free We roll and run for hours until Aunty Rooney rouses "Now who has knocked that branch down from my frangipani tree?" Chorus Soon five-o'clock comes round and now the winter sun's declining Grown-ups are startled by the time start straining to get home John says: "Why not stop for tea?" but mum says she's got ironing And things to do before her tribe is fit next week to roam And home in bed before I sleep I catch my memories to me And all those lovely moments get entangled in my dreams And I hope I never get too old to go to Aunty Rooney's To eat and laugh and sing with friends and raise the old roof-beams chorus Recording by Penny Davies and Roger Ilott. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 18 Sep 20 - 09:21 AM PERILOUS GATE (cut down from a 35-verse poem published in 1877) The Darling Downs Gazette and General Advertiser (Toowoomba, Qld. : 1858 - 1880) Sat 29th Dec 1877 refers to the Christmas issue of "The Queenslander" which has a supplement that includes a poem by the author of 'Craddock Head,' entitled 'The Perilous Gate;' (Craddock Head is a 4-part story!) PERILOUS GATE Words & Music: Phyl Lobl audio A tale I tell of a narrow gate upon the eastern coast Of many wrecks and ruins this narrow gate can boast, Beneath Newcastle Harbour waves lie rotting hulls and sailor's graves, Heroes tombs are hidden caves below the Nobby's post. It is a pretty entrance but when you're homebound sail, I'd rather stand far out to sea when it blows a stiffish gale. Blowing from the South or East each huge wave a crest of yeast Comes roaring like a wounded beast and mounts the rolling rail. The sixth day of November round eighteen fifty eight, The Eleanor Lancaster was caught entering the Perilous Gate, We watched those huddled at the top with nothing but a slender prop Which at each blow we thought would drop and all her timbers fail. An awful sea was running and not in all that crew Was one who thought boats could be brought those boiling breakers through But then a little fair haired man pushed and panted as he ran And urged us all the waves to scan and to our mates be true. 'Now lads', he shouted shrill and clear 'Who'll venture it with me? Each minute lost a life might cost in such a tumbling sea. With four good men I’ll wager I'll bring them all to shore Come who will try?' ,three answered 'Aye' and I sir made up four. It was a roughish kind of trip but Chatfield steered us well I see him there with sea drenched hair facing what befell, And when we'd brought them all to shore he shook us by the hand once more. 'I've met no braver men before, the truth to you I tell.' For ten good years the Oyster Bank was beaconed by a spar That stood in witness of the storm that sank the Lancaster Five fathoms deep that rotting shell up reared the slender spar to tell Of brave deed done so nobly well upon that very bar. Then t'ward the close of winter, hard blowin' all the night The great seahorses tearing high raced madly past the bight Many a man came down to see if inbound craft there chanced to be And sailor's wives watched anxiously out on the surging flood. The 'Carrwarra' was coming in, I knew her bow so well We watched her as she struggled on and battled with the swell We stood there watching through the blast and hoped that once the Nobby's past The Harbour she might make at last, none but the god's could tell. She tried to turn again to sea but a snow white whiff of steam Told us that her fires were spent, she drifted on her beam, The engines by the waves were quenched, the men by those same waves were drenched, Watcher's hearts were sorely wrenched with hope a fading gleam. No boat stood out to rescue those still clinging to the deck Though one was there with sea drenched hair who now stood on the deck The beacon pointing to the sky urged us not to let him die But his same noble feat to try no man would risk his neck. Many's the time at midnight I've heard the tempest roar I've lain awake and wished that I could have the chance once more, To be the one to leave the crowd and call his name out clear and loud And free from Neptune's salty shroud bring him back to shore. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 18 Sep 20 - 09:23 AM When the Wind Blows (Eric Bogle) video The evening air lies heavy and sleep it still escapes me A night where hope and courage are still-born Outside the lurking shadows they press against my windows And wait for the coming of the storm They dance, those shadows When the wind blows The shadows are advancing over all the earth they're dancing And everywhere they dance they shall bring death All the priced and even pages that we've written through the ages Shall vanish in the shadow's poisoned breath The story book will close When the wind blows Suddenly I'm frightened, I wish this room were lightened Can no-one light a candle in the dark For I hear the sullen murmour of far-off threatening thunder I feel its menace chill me to the heart Where can I hide, where can I go When the wind blows There is no-one that can save you and nowhere you can run to No shelter in a world that's gone insane In this world that we created in our arrogance and hatred Stand naked 'neath the gentle deadly rain There will be no rainbows When the wind blows In the darkness I am trembling, this night seems never ending It seems the morning sun will never rise And the crashing of the thunder it split my head asunder And lighting burs and heats into my eyes And oh how the darkness grows When the wind blows In a thousand searing flashes the world shall turn to ashes Whirling like a burning coal in endless space This good earth we did inherit we shall leave a smoking desert A headstone for the heedless human race To mark our final flows When the wind blows Oh I must be dreaming for I thought I heard a screaming Like a billion lost souls falling into hell In a thousand tongues bewailing at indifferent fate a-railing Each one calling on the saviour as they fell Shall we reap what we did sow When the wind blows You can call upon your saviour it you think that is the answer But you've called on him so many times before Call on Allah, Buddah, Jesus, I doubt if they can hear us For we let the devil loose, now hear his roar Hell shall overflow When the wind blows ---------------------------------------------------------------------- recorded by Eric Bogle. Copyright Larrikin Music) "This song was inspired by the book of the same name by Raymond Briggs. It's a chilling little book. I'd like to lend a copy to the world leaders, it might frighten them. It certainly frightened me, and this song is the result" - Eric Bogle (The book was also made into an equally chilling animated movie) |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 18 Sep 20 - 09:27 AM that makes 195 songs. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 18 Sep 20 - 07:49 PM New spin on an old favourite by pommie pair: Aldridge and Goldsmith At a more familiar pace: The Bushwackers From the forum database: TRAVELLING DOWN THE CASTLEREAGH I'm travellin' down the Castlereagh, and I'm a station-hand I'm handy with the ropin' pole, I'm handy with the brand And I can ride a rowdy colt, or swing an axe all day But there's no demand for a station-hand along the Castlereagh So it's shift, boys, shift, for there isn't the slightest doubt That we've got to make a shift for the stations further out With the pack-horse runnin' after, for he follows me like a dog We must strike across the country at the old jig-jog This old black horse I'm riding, if you notice what's his brand He wears the crooked R, you see, none better in the land He takes a lot of beatin', and the other day we tried For a bit of a joke, with a racing bloke, for twenty pounds a side It was shift, boys, shift, for there wasn't the slightest doubt That I had to make him shift, for the money was nearly out But he cantered home a winner, with the other one at the flog He's a red-hot sort to pick up with his old jig-jog I asked a cove for shearin' once along the Marthaguy "We shear non-union here," says he. "I call it scab," says I I looked along the shearin' floor before I turned to go There were eight or ten non-union men a-shearin' in a row It was shift, boys, shift, for there wasn't the slightest doubt It was time to make a shift with the leprosy about So I saddled up my horses, and I whistled to my dog And I left his scabby station at the old jig-jog I went to Illawarra, where my brother's got a farm He has to ask the landlord's leave before he lifts an arm The landlord owns the countryside - man, woman, dog and cat They haven't the cheek to dare to speak without they touch their hat It was shift, boys, shift, for there wasn't the slightest doubt Their little landlord god and I would soon have fallen out Was I to touch my hat to him? was I his bloomin' dog? So I makes for up the country at the old jig-jog But it's time that I was movin', I've a mighty way to go Till I drink artesian water from a thousand feet below Till I meet the overlanders with the cattle comin' down And I'll work a while till I make a pile, then have a spree in town So it's shift, boys, shift, for there isn't the slightest doubt We've got to make a shift for the stations further out The pack-horse runs behind us, for he follows like a dog And we cross a lot of country at the old jig-jog Notes First published in the Bulletin in 1892 This poem of Banjo Paterson's ('The Bushman's Song') has grown a number of tunes in its time in the bush. Meredith collected three tunes in NSW, and two tunes are given in the Queensland Centenary Pocket Songbook while in his Big Book of Australian Folk Song Ron Edwards gives another two. The most commonly sung tune was collected separately by Geoff Wills and John Manifold. Manifold got it from Mr Hines of Donald, Victoria, and it is in his Penguin Australian Song Book. --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 18 Sep 20 - 08:37 PM This is another old favourite that Danny Spooner recorded on his final CD. I first heard it sung by a good mate, Ian White, who recorded it on his LP 'Songs from a Busker's Bag'. Here are the lyrics as printed in the booklet to Danny's 'Home' CD. ANOTHER FALL OF RAIN The weather has been sultry for a fortnight now or more And the shearers have been driving might and main, For some have got the century who ne'er got it before But now we all are waiting for the rain. Chorus (after each verse): For the boss is getting rusty and the ringer's caving in, His bandaged wrist is aching with the pain, And the second man I fear will make it hot for him Unless we have another fall of rain. Now some had taken quarters and were keeping well in bunk, When we shore the six-tooth wethers from the plain. And if the sheep get any harder some other blokes'll flunk Unless we have another fall of rain. But the sky is clouding over and the thunder's muttering loud And the clouds are driving eastward o'er the plain. And I see the lightning flashing round the edge of yon black cloud And I hear the gentle patter of the rain. So, lads, put on your stoppers and let us to the hut And we'll gather round and have a friendly game, While some are playing music and some play ante up And some just a-gazing at the rain. Some cockies come here shearing, they would fill a little book About this sad dry weather for the grain. But here is lunch a-coming, make way for Dick the cook, Old Dick is nigh as welcome as the rain. But now the rain is over let the pressers spin the screw, Let the teamsters back their wagons in again. We'll block the classer's table by the way we push them through, For everything goes merry since the rain. So it's, “Boss bring out the bottle” and let us wet the final flock, For the shearers here may never meet again. While some may meet next season and some not even then, And some they will just vanish like the rain. Final Chorus: And the boss he won't be rusty when his sheep they all are shore, And the ringer's wrist won't ache much with the pain Of pocketing a season's cheque for a hundred quid or more— And the second man will press him hard again. Danny's note: Also known as 'Waiting for the Rain', John Meredith collected a version from wharfie Leo Dixon, who had been a bush worker and shearer and was born at Eugowra. Meredith stated that the words were written by John Neilson of Penola, a bush worker, farmer, and balladist, and the father of John Shaw Neilson. The last verse in this version was sent me by email and comes from Dave de Hugard"s record 'Freedom on the Wallaby'. Martyn Wyndham-Read recorded it on his 'Starlit Skies' album at a more leisurely pace. Martyn's note: A song that goes back many years for me. Just recently I played it with a different rhythm and it took on a new life. The beauty of these old songs is that they will stand any interpretation and still come back to the same shape and form. The song may be based on the poem by Australian poet John Shaw Neilson to a tune of his time 'The Little Low Log Cabin in the Lane'. Wyndham-Read Was it written by John Shaw Neilson or his dad? --Stewie. |
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