Mudcat Australia-New Zealand Songbook

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia-New Zealand Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 11 Feb 23 - 09:13 AM

I've also been waiting for these words.

This is my favourite of Bruce Watsons's lockdown project 30 Songs in 30 days - all stories were heard by Bruce (& probably all the carriage) in his commute, except for the conversation about the itch, which was heard by his wife, Jill

I’M ON THE TRAIN © Bruce Watson 2020 - This song is not so much sung, as yelled.

https://brucewatsonmusic.bandcamp.com/track/im-on-the-train

CHORUS:
I’M ON THE TRAIN … YEAH … NO
I’M ON THE TRAIN … HELLO?
I’M ON THE TRAIN

I RECKON I’LL BE HOME IN ABOUT HALF AN HOUR
YEAH, WE’RE GOING THROUGH RICHMOND JUST NOW
YOU KNOW … I WAS THINKING … SORRY … WHAT?
NO, I DIDN’T GET THAT. MUST HAVE BEEN A DEAD SPOT
I’M ON THE TRAIN …

YEAH … NOT TOO BAD … YEAH … A BIT HARD TO SAY
EXCEPT FOR THAT PRICK JASON. OTHERWISE IT WAS OK
NO, THAT’S BEEN GOING PRETTY WELL SO FAR
BUT I STILL NEED TO SORT OUT THAT THING WITH HR
I’M ON THE TRAIN …

SO, I WAS THINKING. WE COULD HAVE STIR FRY TONIGHT
YEAH … MMMM … I GUESS SO … RIGHT
WHAT WAS THAT? … OK, GOOD … THAT’D BE NICE
I’M ON THE TRAIN …

WHO!!!??? …      
BUT WHAT ABOUT …. I KNOW
DIDN’T THEY ….. OH!         
YEAH … YEAH … YEAH …… NO
I’M ON THE TRAIN …

DID I TELL THAT JACK’S FRIEND NEVILLE’S EX-WIFE’S
NEW PARTNER’S DOG WALKER’S BABY’S HAD SOME TUMMY GRIPE?
YEAH. HE SAID THAT SHE’S BEEN SPEWIN’ JUST EVERYWHERE
I THINK THEY’RE IRRESPONSIBLE PARENTS. BUT I WON’T GO THERE.
I’M ON THE TRAIN …

I SAW BRENDA TODAY. MY GOD! WHAT A BITCH
OH, HAVE YOU SPOKEN TO THE DOCTOR YET ABOUT THAT ITCH?
I’M A BIT WORRIED THAT IT’S SORE TO THE TOUCH
IT MIGHT BE GONORRHEA — OR IT COULD BE THRUSH
I’M ON THE TRAIN …

IT’S SO NOISY HERE, I’D BETTER SPEAK UP. YEAH
FOR SOME REASON I’M GETTING THESE ANGRY STARES
GOTTA GO NOW, GOT ANOTHER CALL — WHAT A PAIN
HELLO . . .
I’M ON THE TRAIN

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia-New Zealand Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 11 Feb 23 - 09:03 AM

about bloody time - only about 4 decades in the creation!

She launched it at 2022 National Folk festival pic 63 & I've been waiting for news of it being out

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia-New Zealand Songbook
From: rich-joy
Date: 10 Feb 23 - 04:06 AM

Just received an email from Brisbane singer-songwriter, Ann Bermingham, advising that a new Australian songbook has been published :

The First Australian Women's Songbook
   an archive of 50 Australian women's songs from the 1970s through to the 1990s.    

compiled by Kerith Power : "Every generation has its music. Most of these 50 songs were collected from women all over Australia following four national women’s music festivals in Lismore NSW, who responded in the late 1980s to a national call for songs that expressed their daily lives, cultures, communities and causes. Many are relevant today to issues such as peace, gendered violence, environmental justice, and equality. Some of the artists are well known, others not."

Kerith invites comments, so checkout the website : https://firstaustralianwomenssongbook.com/


Cheers, R-J


CONTENTS

    A Heroine of Mine Judy Small
    Aqui y Alla Soledad Gallardo and Alba Martell
    Atomic Lullaby Dorothy Hewett and Mike Leyden
    Ballad of Women (long version) Dorothy Hewett
    Beat Your Breasts Sue Edmonds
    Birthing Song Jen Brown
    Bitter Winds Lina Eve
    Contact Zone Kerith Power
    Derby Hall Phyl Lobl
    Desert Rain Jill Stevens
    Dreams and Therapy Sue Moss
    Dreams and Visions Kath McMillan
    Earth Magic Barbara Stephenson
    For the Earth Deb Dare
    for Judy Leng Im Annie Kia
    Gentle Annie Creek Kerry Steer
    Gutzy Woman Ge??rge
    I’ll be at the Pub Tonight Pat Ann, Kelly & Mace
    Indian Pacific Joy McKean
    I’ve got the Munchies for You Sorell
    Liberation Road Kerith Power
    Losing Lady Phyl Lobl
    Love and Justice Kavisha Mazella
    Monogamy Shbedogamy Jan Cornall and Elizabeth Drake
    One Husband Away from Welfare Merriel Hume
    One is a Whole Number Fay White
    Patchworking Jen Brown
    Put Away to Die Ineke Veerkamp
    Railway Pie Merriel Hume
    Reclaim the Night Jo Belford
    Red Dust Jeannie Lewis
    Refuge Bay Lynne Muir
    Settler’s Wife Caroline Bushby
    Song for Jacqueline Judy Small
    Stimulatin’ Baby Anna Pemberton
    Suburban Sonnet Robyn Archer and
    Sweet Solitary Blues Robyn Archer
    Take the Toys from the Boys Deb Dare
    That Good Old Double Standard Robyn Archer
    The Call/Beryl, oh Beryl Chrissie Shaw
    The Ballad of Jenny Whittaker Wendy Joseph
    The Meaning of Life Sue Edmonds
    Tower of Strength Kath and Ini
    Vinegar Merriel Hume
    What do Lesbians Do? Barbara David
    We Are All One Carmel de Franchi
    When I Speak Openly – ‘?ta? ?????t? ???? Demeter Tsounis
    Women Like That Kerith Power
    Women Speak Justice Helen Kearins
    Whose Hand?/Whose Land? Margaret Kitamura/Ian Hill
    Yandeyarra Vi Lewin
    You Deserve Your Pay Rita Menendez

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia-New Zealand Songbook
From: rich-joy
Date: 30 Jan 23 - 09:26 PM

This is only a slight thread creep!

Due to my recent computer issues, I was unaware that Australia's National Library and its fantastic essential newspaper/magazine/picture digitised archive "TROVE" - along with many other history "collecting" institutions, on behalf of all Australians -
   are in dire straits with funding running out this year and none in the pipeline.
Apparently the funding has been reducing for over 30 years, just as legit requirements for more, increase with every year.   Words fail me......
Although personally, I consider ensuring Australia's historical records are kept and publically available for us all, is far more important than helping fund NATO's latest little games, but that's just me I guess.
Here are a couple of recent articles explaining the situation :

https://www.smh.com.au/culture/art-and-design/national-library-s-treasure-trove-under-threat-from-budget-cuts-20221212-p5c5m6.ht

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/jan/06/national-library-of-australias-free-digital-archives-may-be-forced-to-close-with


Cheers, R-J

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia-New Zealand Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 29 Jan 23 - 03:09 AM

thought I'd contact a muso friend, but as he started that thread I won't!

If Dave can't find it with all his contacts in the Bush Music Club & Bush Traditions I dunno who would know, so it's up to Mudcatters & friends.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia-New Zealand Songbook
From: Helen
Date: 28 Jan 23 - 09:26 PM

Hi R-J,

There is a page of his tunes. You might know a lovely tune called Starry Night for a Ramble. It's the first link on this page and there is an audio function at the bottom of the page.

Stan Treacy

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia-New Zealand Songbook
From: rich-joy
Date: 28 Jan 23 - 06:50 PM

Sorry Helen, not being an instrument player, tune names often escape me, though the name of Stan Treacy is strangely familiar!!
(Crookwell was a nice little town; hopefully it survived the floods?)

Cheers!
R-J

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia-New Zealand Songbook
From: Helen
Date: 28 Jan 23 - 06:01 PM

Sandra and rich-joy, have you looked at this thread:

Req: Name of this Stan Treacy tune???

A mystery tune from Stan Treacy, fiddle player who lived in Crookwell, NSW.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia-New Zealand Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 28 Jan 23 - 09:01 AM

fingers crossed, I've also got a song or 2 to add.

sandra

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia-New Zealand Songbook
From: rich-joy
Date: 27 Jan 23 - 05:54 PM

Crikey, this thread has escaped me - still more I meant to post but 'Life' keeps intervening :)
Will 2023 be the year I get back to it???
Here's Hoping.

Cheers,
R-J

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 29 Jun 22 - 04:48 AM

I was just looking at Penny & Roger's youtube channel, saw they had recently recorded Craig Edmonson's 'Used to be a River' so Gerry will be adding the link to the entry to the lyrics on page 16, dec 2020.

Then I saw Ballad of Eureka & realised we'd never added that classic - shock, horror ...

Ballad of Eureka
A Song by Helen Palmer © Helen Palmer 1950
Tune Doreen Jacobs © Doreen Jacobs 1950
video

    They're leaving ship and station,
    They're leaving bench and fold,
    And pouring out from Melbourne
    To join the search for gold.

    The face of town and country
    Is changing ev'ry day,
    But rulers keep on ruling
    The old colonial way.

    "How can we work the diggings
    And learn how fortune feels
    If all the traps forever
    Are yelping at our heels?"

    "If you've enough," says Lalor,
    "Of all their little games,
    Then go and get your licence
    And throw it on the flames!"

    "The law is out to get us
    And make us bow in fear.
    They call us foreign rebels
    Who'd plant the Charter here!"

    "They may be right," says Lalor,
    "But if they show their braid,
    We'll stand our ground and hold it
    Behind a bush stockade!"

    It's down with pick and shovel
    A rifle's needed now
    They come to raise a standard
    They come to make a vow

    There's not a flag in Europe
    More lovely to behold,
    Than floats above Eureka
    Where diggers work the gold.

    "There's not a flag in Europe
    More lovely to the eye,
    Than is the blue and silver
    Against a southern sky.

    Here in the name of freedom,
    Whatever be our loss,
    We swear to stand together
    Beneath the Southern Cross."

    It is a Sunday morning.
    The miner's camp is still;
    Two hundred flashing redcoats
    Come marching to the hill

    Come marching up the gully
    With muskets firing low;
    And diggers wake from dreaming
    To hear the bugle blow.

    The wounded and the dying
    Lie silent in the sun,
    But change will not be halted
    By any redcoats gun.

    There's not a flag in Europe
    More rousing to the will
    Then the flag of stars that flutters
    Above Eureka's Hill.

    Notes

    Many thanks to Doreen Bridges (formerly Doreen Jacobs) for permission to add this song to the Union Songs collection.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: rich-joy
Date: 15 Mar 22 - 08:45 PM

I'm not usually in the habit of a long C&P from Wiki, but I felt this was pertinent!

With the passing of legendary West Aussie cricketer ROD MARSH - on the same day and of almost the same condition as legendary cricketer SHANE WARNE, I felt this famous Aussie ditty should be recorded on the Cat!


UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS I STAND

" ..... is the victory song of the Australian cricket team.
It is typically sung by the players in the style of a raucous chant[1] after every victory and "treated with reverential consideration and respect" within the team.[2]
The official lyrics are as follows.[3]

Under the Southern Cross I Stand
A sprig of wattle in my hand,
A native of my native land,
Australia you fucking beauty.[4]

The authorship of this "Under the Southern Cross I Stand" is credited to former wicketkeeper Rod Marsh, who was apparently inspired by Henry Lawson's 1887 poem, "Flag of the Southern Cross".[2]
Marsh initially had the role of leading the team in singing it, and on his retirement he passed it on to Allan Border. The other players to have taken on the role are David Boon (when Border took over the captaincy), Ian Healy (on Boon's retirement), Ricky Ponting (on Healy's retirement), Justin Langer (when Ponting took over the captaincy), and Michael Hussey (on Langer's retirement). Hussey has now passed it on to Nathan Lyon upon his retirement in January 2013.[5]

The song is based upon the chorus of the 1890s patriotic song “Australia; or Heart to Heart and Hand to Hand”, written by the Rev. Thomas Hilhouse Taylor (1861-1925).[6][7]

One source says that "The evidence suggests that this cricketers’ chant began as a patriotic song in the late 1890s, was turned into a military drinking song in the 1940s, and then finally developed into the victory song of the Australian cricket team in the 1970s. From such beginnings has this raucous verse become popular with cricket fans in particular, and with Australians in general."[8]"

references are on the WIKI page :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Under_the_Southern_Cross_I_Stand


https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-04/rod-marsh-defined-a-generation-of-great-australian-cricketers/100860168

Cheers, R-J

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 22 Feb 22 - 11:19 PM

more! more!

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: rich-joy
Date: 22 Feb 22 - 07:40 PM

SONGS OF EARLY ABORIGINAL WARRIORS AND LEADERS – Part 1


On March 21st last year, Stewie posted this song referencing Aboriginal Heroes :
HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY by Luke O’Shea & Kevin Bennett and also Wiki links to the Heroes mentioned within.
I said soon after, that (with Stewie’s blessing), I intended to research and post songs pertaining to each Hero mentioned, as very few are recognised outside of the Indigenous Communities – and IMHO, they should be!!

So, after a fairly long break from this Mudcat Aust-NZ Songs thread   [coz of “LIFE, The Universe & Everything”!!]   I’m finally gonna make a start!


History is, of course, the story (and propaganda) of the victors and rarely of the vanquished.   But I’ll try to source songs, mainly from the Aboriginal perspective, of the Frontier Wars, focussing on a few of the historical Resistance and Freedom Fighters – and the odd bushranger too!

Starting with WINDRADYNE (aka Saturday), the Wiradjuri warrior of the Bathurst (NSW) area, and then Jimmy Governor …….. and then hopefully continuing with heroes like Pemulwuy, Yagan, Jandamarra (aka Pigeon), Fanny Balbuk, Bennelong, Musquito, Calyute, Major, Multuggerah, Bussamarai, Truganini (& many other Tasmanian leaders) e.g. - and ALSO men like explorer, Bungaree/Boongaree, who journeyed with Flinders.

MUCH depends on if any songs have been written yet!!! (hint hint to songwriters :)

[NB I’m a little hesitant to use Wiki references, considering it can be as untrustworthy as much other MSM these days, but I’ll take the chance. Hopefully someone will alert me if there’s a serious problem with the text.]


WINDRADYNE (c.1800 – 1829)

“Windradyne – A Wiradjuri Koorie” by Mary Coe – 1986 - “A true account of resistance fighter Windradyne of the Wiradjuri Nation. Windradyne was a warrior and a leader who lived in and around the Eastern Murray River area. He is remembered in this book for his fight for land rights and the wellbeing of approximately 12,000 of his people.”

Read here, a review by Tracy Sorenson of Stephen Gapps’ 2021 book : “Gudyarra – The First Wiradyuri War of Resistance – The Bathurst War, 1822-1824” https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/lets-just-call-it-war

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwXs80EGaIU&t=5s   Windradyne, the black Ned Kelly – 2003 (a short film by Mathew Jampijinpa Curtis)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windradyne



WINDRADYNE [1] ~ Bill Murray

There was a great black man, a leader in the land of the Nations of the great Wiradjuri
When the white man came across the mountain range, to the Bathurst Plains in 18-13.

WINDRADYNE!   WINDRADYNE!
Mighty black warrior of the great Wiradjuri
WINDRADYNE! Of Wiradjuri
Leader of the blacks, they called “Saturday”.

Now the whites declared Marshall Law on the blacks, at Bathurst in 18-23
Because the Wiradjuri fought for their land, to save their people, homes, and history.
CH (2nd line is) : Gathered all his people and fought to keep them free,

Now the whites used poison, guns, and swords, to clear the blacks from the land
Killed women and kids without any fear, of reprisals from the laws of the land.
CH (2nd line is) : Fought back the whites, to keep his people free,

Now they couldn’t catch Windradyne, so they tried to trap him with bribes
The Governor of the day pleaded : “Saturday, come in, give up your life of crime.”
CH (2nd line is) : Roamed the Bathurst mountains like a bird in the breeze,

Wild and free was Windradyne
Leader of the blacks, they called “Saturday”.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmAJDy1SIBI&t=93s    Australian country singer, Bill Murray, from his album “Children of the Dreamtime (all original Aboriginal Songs of Australia)”, written 1994.



WINDRADYNE [2] ~ Bob Campbell

Won’t you listen to my story, of a leader on the Western Plains
The white man called him “Saturday”, to his people he was WINDRADYNE
To his people he was WINDRADYNE.

Invaders crossed the mountains, drove the people off Wiradjuri lands
Brought diseases and poisoned blankets, they brought bullets that killed Windradyne
They brought bullets that killed Windradyne.

William Cox said kill all the black men, wipe out the women and the young
Manure the ground with their bodies, point your weapons at Windradyne
Point your weapons at Windradyne.

Marshall Law was enacted, in eighteen twenty four
The soldiers and the white-skinned settlers, became the murderers at Bell’s Forge Gorge
Became the murderers at Bell’s Forge Gorge.

Windradyne was defeated, marched on Sydney with the children and the wives
But the people on the plains across the mountains, they won’t forget brave Windradyne
They won’t forget brave Windradyne.

Now, you’ve heard my story, about the people of the Western Plains
Think a little bit more on the history, of The Wiradjuri, and Windradyne
The Wiradjuri, and Windradyne.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj1JKNIYYmk   blues-style performance from Bob Campbell in 2012


Next will be the tragic story of Jimmy Governor.


Cheers, R-J

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: rich-joy
Date: 22 Feb 22 - 06:41 AM

Top little AUSSIE country number!   Proud to say I have some Smiths in my heritage : of the blacksmith, whitesmith, tinsmith, sheetmetal worker, wheelwright, kinds – and my late Beloved was a Sculptor whose favourite medium was steel. :)

THE RINGING OF THE STEEL ~ Peter Denahy


The old man used to tell me, when I was just a boy
He was blessed because he had a job that he enjoyed
Not everyone would like it, but to him its main appeal
Was the breathing of the bellows, and the ringing of the steel.


I started working early, holding horses for my pa
It was a little town we lived in; only one man had a car
And the old man used to watch him, whenever he drove past
He said it's just a fad you know, it's never gonna last.


All around the forge the old man strolled
Grabbed a bit of iron and shoved it in the coals
He was good at what he did, and he cut end on a steel
Amongst the breathing of the bellows and the ringing of the steel.


The old man's head got greyer, but it didnt slow him down
He kept on shoeing horses that were brought from round the town
He showed me bits and pieces, and before too long
I could make a decent set of shoes and shape and whack 'em on.


We'd sometimes have a shoeing race, and sweat from start to end
The old man was the master, but sometimes he'd let me win
And a crowd of eager passers-by would watch the mad ordeal
Amongst the breathing of the bellows and the ringing of the steel.


After years of teaching, after years of toil
The old man was buried, deep in mountain soil
I kept on with the shoeing, but the job was in recess
The old man wasn't right about the motor car, I guess.


Now I've all but had it and the forge is very quiet
But I heat the coals up now and then and tinker round inside
I do it for the old man, and remember how I'd feel
Amongst the breathing of the bellows, and the ringing of the steel.

The ringing of the steel.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2j6IviKZ-w   Peter Denahy, c.2007

https://www.petedenahy.com/    website

https://www.song-list.net/peterdenahy/songs    songlist


I also like that first verse sentiment, coz my late Beloved also used to say, that he felt gratitude for all the many jobs he'd had in his life, as he'd enjoyed them all for the great variety of experiences and learning that they brought him.

Cheers, R-J

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: rich-joy
Date: 22 Feb 22 - 06:34 AM

refresh

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: rich-joy
Date: 18 Feb 22 - 06:24 PM

Oh, is the Summer Holiday almost over then, Sandra?? CRIKEY!!

Admittedly, this "in abeyance" thread crossed my mind just a few days ago, so, soooooooon ........

Cheers,
R-J

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 18 Feb 22 - 03:17 AM

oops - I posted the second half of what I had in draft (silly me)

this was a post by Bob Bolton 13 Sep 04 - 10:25 AM Lyr Req: Sydney Harbour Ferry Boat Song

'original' (1908 or earlier) popular song words - and the version remembered by Ina Popplewell and collected from her in 1953 … and an ABC version of the tune sung by Ina Popplewell.

Take me Down the Harbour from the 199(?)7 Jacaranda Publication The GI Years, where the song is attributed to The Imperial Songster No 83 of 1908.

TAKE ME DOWN THE HARBOUR

Now Gertie's a girl, a sweet little pearl.
She works down in the city;
And she has a beau, his name it is Joe,
So handsome and so witty.
On each Saturday, when he gets his pay,
A message soon he's reading,
I feel so alone, ring me up on the 'phone,
You're just the one I'm needing."

CHORUS
Take me down the Harbour
On Sunday afternoon -
To Manly Beach or Watson's Bay,
Or round to Coogee for the day;
Call around to Clifton.,
Or Mosmans, it will do.
Dear old Harbour, Sydney Town,
They can't beat you.

Way over the tide, how softly they glide,
Out on the Harbour Ferry,
Whilst music so sweet makes life feel complete,
Their hearts are light and merry.
Then homeward once more, they part on the shore,
And Joe says to his girlie,
"If you feel alone, ring me up on the 'phone,
And call me quick and early."

CHORUS
Take me down the Harbour
On Sunday afternoon -
To Manly Beach or Watson's Bay,
Or round to Coogee for the day.'
Call around to Clifton,
Or Mosmans, it will do.
Dear old Harbour, Sydney Town,
They can't beat you.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 18 Feb 22 - 03:03 AM

TAKE ME DOWN THE HARBOUR
As collected by John Meredith, from Mrs lna Popplewell (1953)
audio of Mrs Popplewell

Mrs Ina Popplewell interviewed by John Meredith

Take Me down the Harbour on a Sunday afternoon
To Manly Beach or Watson's Bay
Or round to Coogee for a day.
Call around at Clifton, or Mosman, it will do;
Good old Harbour Sydney Town,
They can't beat you.

CHORUS
Way over the tide, how softly they glide,
Out on a Harbour ferry.
If you feel alone,. ring me up on the 'phone,
You're just the girl I'm needing,

Take me down the Harbour on a Sunday afternoon
To Manly Beach or Watson's Bay
Or round to Coogee for a day.
Call around at Clifton, or Mosman, it will do;
Good old Harbour Sydney Town,
They can't beat you.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 22 Nov 21 - 04:02 AM

Posted by Stewie 20 years ago!

My good mate, Sean Roche, in Perth, Western Australia, recorded this on his excellent CD 'A Celtic Heart'. Here's my transcription:^^

FREMANTLE BAY (Bonner)

video - Fremantle Bay sung by Andrew Clarke

Oh my name hasn't mattered for many a day
I was born on the west coast of Clare
By the time I was married and had my own land
There was many who envied me there

Our home was contented, the years quickly passed
We had four lads to carry our name
Then one year the crops failed and the hunger set in
I was certain that I was to blame

And oft times I think about Doolin
And my cottage a lifetime away
Though I'm chained here and bound, my heart can't be found
In this prison on Fremantle Bay

It was oft of an evening I stood by the door
I looked out where my crops used to be
But the pain deep inside as I looked in the eyes
Of our children, it drove me to steal

It was raining the night when the sheriff's men came
And the judge gave his verdict next day
For the lamb that you've stolen you'll have to be sentenced
To a colony where you will stay

And oft times I think about Doolin
And my cottage a lifetime away
Though I'm chained here and bound, my heart can't be found
In this prison on Fremantle Bay

Oh the sun it beats down from a merciless sky
And the rocks they eat into our feet
Oh the work's very hard but there's never a break
For unfortunate men such as me

My crime costs a shilling and sixpence to mend
But it sends me away o'er the sea
And now I must spend out the rest of my days
In this land that means nothing to me

And oft times I think about Doolin
And my cottage a lifetime away
Though I'm chained here and bound, my heart can't be found
In this prison on Fremantle Bay

Source: transcription from Sean Roche 'A Celtic Heart' Tempo DFCD 240

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 03 Nov 21 - 12:22 AM

introducing an American note into this thread

Merriam-Webster -   How do you regale someone?
: to entertain or amuse (someone) by telling stories, describing experiences, etc. He regaled his party guests with stories of his adventures abroad.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: rich-joy
Date: 02 Nov 21 - 10:58 PM

..... did I say "regaled" for their yodelling prowess???!!! It was rather late and I think I meant "renowned"!!!

R-J :)

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: JennieG
Date: 02 Nov 21 - 05:17 PM

Watched it last night, r-j.....interesting!

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: rich-joy
Date: 02 Nov 21 - 09:49 AM

Melbourne Cup Day in Australia (which this post is NOT about!)

Tonight (Tues 2nd Nov) saw the start of a 2-part music series on Aussie TV’s ABC1 : “Going Country” – a road trip into the heart of Aust'n Country Music. Actress and musician, Justine Clarke, takes the long journey in a 1959 FC Holden, but in this first Ep at least, sticks to NSW which is, after all, the home state of country music’s capital Down Under : Tamworth!

It also featured conversations with or songs from, Aussie luminaries: Paul Kelly, Emily Wurramara, Kasey Chambers (and Bill), James Reyne, Troy Cassar-Daley, Slim Dusty (and Joy & Ann), Bob Randall, Dobe Newton, Jimmy Little, Fanny Lumsden, Mary Schneider and Tex Moreton (both regaled for their yodelling prowess), Lionel Rose, The Dingoes, Auriel Andrews, and others.

Down Under viewers can catch up on ABC’s iView website : https://iview.abc.net.au/show/going-country

PS        Earlier this year, I read John Lomax III’ s “Red Desert Sky : The Amazing Adventures of the Chambers Family”, and as the last chapter discusses “A Brief History of Country Music in Australia”, I had fully intended to rat this for more songs to include in this database. But like so many of my Projects at present, it is In Abeyance :(

One day ……….......


Cheers, R-J

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: GerryM
Date: 20 Oct 21 - 07:03 AM

Chopsticks
Peter Combe

[This isn't "Chopsticks", it's *about* "Chopsticks". Where it says "Bridge", play a little bit of actual "Chopsticks".]

I play the violin every morning and every evening of every day,
Suzuki, Bach, Vivaldi, Schuman, but really all that I want is to play

(Bridge)

I play the grand piano, practice my chords and scales and arpeggios.
So boring, and it drives my family up the wall. Dad says, why don't you play

(Bridge)

I play the flute, the silver flute, but it doesn't sound much like James Galway.
I wonder if, when he was ten, whether sometimes he was allowed to play

(Bridge)

I'd really love to sing a classical song or two at the Opera House
And sound like Pavarotti, la la la la la la, la la la la la

(Bridge) x 2

Repeat 1st stanza, repeat 4th stanza, bridge.

Recording here.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Stewie
Date: 19 Oct 21 - 11:06 PM

CROCODILE RIVER
(Stephen Pigram)

Ah the Sunday smell of pizza at the Five Rivers Club tonight
Is shattered by a disco of red and blue lights
Hear the sirens wailing, the cops hot on the tail of a
Busted Hilux doin’ fifty, tryin’ to get away and
It’s six miles to the old town and a whole six back again
Maybe he’ll run ‘em outta fuel before they run ‘im into jail
And all the town is watching, it’s on for young ’n old
Dis mellow drama in Five Rivers, the car chase in slo mo

He’s up a crocodile river on a moonless night
Tryin’ to shine a light on those red beady eyes
In a dinghy with no paddle on a turning tide
At the mercy of a salty, ah such is life

Well we used to spray weed for the APB
Now secret agent orange is investigating me
In a rainbow river take a bogey every night
And bring home more than the pay to the darlin’ wife

Up that crocodile river on a moonless night
Tryin’ to shine a light on those red beady eyes
In a dinghy with no paddle on a turning tide
At the mercy of a salty, ah such is life

Well Ned and Ben were talkin’ tough on who would right the wrongs
Who would stand and fight and who was gonna run
Are you gonna hold the candle or you gonna hold the gun?
When there ain’t no use in waking if your dreaming’s done

They’re up a crocodile river on a moonless night
Tryin’ to shine a light on those red beady eyes
In a dinghy got no paddle on a turning tide
At the mercy of a salty, ah such is life

From his 'Wanderer' album. Lyrics as printed in album booklet.

Youtube clip

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 15 Oct 21 - 06:51 AM

Life does get in the way. So much to do, & only one lifetime -

Several months back I wrote a list of Stuff To Do on yellow sheet of paper - in black marker pen - so I wouldn't lose it in all the white paper - a few things got crossed off (pats self on back!)

list got lost (oops)

so I wrote another on green paper - crossed off one or 2 ...

green list got lost ... yellow list has risen to the top , & I can see green list on my desk, hmmm might need to look at them & consolidate on the piece of blue paper that has also surfaced.

maybe

sandra

Reminder to our fans - if you want copies of the spreadsheets giving access to the collection, one for Aug-Dec 20, the other for 21 to date, please PM me. If you aren't a member, email [e-mail] - subject OZ/NZ songbook & he can pass on your details. (thanks, Joe!)

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: rich-joy
Date: 15 Oct 21 - 03:08 AM

Glad you think so, Joe!! (we try :)

I think both Stewie and I are still flat out with other Life stuff, but fully intend getting back to the Oz-Kiwi material (there's A LOT still to go, after all - LoL!)
Meanwhile, at least Sandra is doing a valiant job holding the fort on her lonesome.

I keep hoping to see some other names posting, but ..... sigh .....


Cheers,
R-J (who has joined The Seniors brigade now - double "sigh" ...... :)

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Joe Offer
Date: 14 Oct 21 - 08:47 PM

Ahhhh. The click that refreshes. Somebody was looking for this thread, which is one of the most interesting threads we've had in years.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 10 Oct 21 - 08:58 AM

THE DEATH OF LES DARCY - collected from Joseph C. Caines of Nyngan by historian Marion Dormer of Collie.
Sung to the tune of Back home on Tennessee which was first published in 1915. Here's the crackly 1915 gramophone record sung by Collins & Harlen with music written by Walter Donaldson & lyrics by William Jerome

Words from an article by John Meredith, published in Strinybark & Greenhide 2(4), p.4 1980s

Have you heard it?
Have you heard it?
Les Darcy's dead they say.
He died on the 24th of May.
Broken hearted
When he parted
From this sunny shore
Dad and Mother,
Sis & Brother
Saw his face no more.
In Maitland Cemetery,
There lies poor Les Darcy,
His mother's only boy,
His sister's pride and joy.
How I longed for the night
To see Les Darcy fight -
How he beats them
Almost eats them,
Every Saturday night.
The critics by the score,
They say they never saw
A boy like Les before
Upon the Stadium floor.
Some says that he's a skiter
But he proved himself a fighter;
But they gave him dope
And he gave them hope
And he died in the U.S.A.

as I found several songs with similar names, I asked Ralph Pride if the 1915 music fitted. Ralph is responsible for the song & tune books put out by BMC's Concert Party over the decades, and has scanned old BMC archival material and converted recorded material to modern formats.

It fits if you’re good at jigsaw puzzles. It’s a nice old fashioned raggy tune. I could write it out if you think it’s worth a couple of hours effort.
I’ve filed it all away in my steadily evolving song collection.
Cheers, Ralph

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 28 Sep 21 - 10:14 AM

JUST A LITTLE LEFT by Daniel Kelly 2020

video

Just [G] because your gonna vote for Bernie [D] Sanders
Doesn’t [C] mean that you’re a fan of Mao [G] Zedong,
And [G] believing in fair and living [C] wages,
Doesn’t [D] mean you think that enterprise is [G] wrong.

[A C] little to the left, just a [Bm] little to the [C] left,
You [G] only have to move a [D] little to the left,
The world can be [C] kind and fair,
[Bm] With just a little [C] care,
All you [C] have to do is [D] move a little [G] left,

Jeff Bezos doesn’t need 100 billion,
He could probably get by with one or two,
When there are people working who cannot break even,
It seems pretty clear what we should do.

You don’t have to cast your lot with Che Guevara,
Don’t have to tear the whole damn system down,
Trump will tell you that the democrats are commies,
But that’s clearly just the ravings of a clown.

You’re not a traitor if you care about the forest,
Or want to keep the skies and rivers clean,
We can have industry as well as social conscience,
Just ask IKEA they will tell you what I mean,

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 28 Sep 21 - 10:11 AM

CRUSH THE UNION words © Daniel Kelly

video

In [G] January of [D] two thousand [G] eighteen
Transport [C] workers [D] conditions were [G] obscene
[C] Salaries replaced by [D] contract
[Bm] Overtime out of [Em] control,
And [C] ten years without real increase in [D] pay

[C] Crush the Union, [G] Crush the Union
[G] You don’t have the right to [D] strike,
We’ll pay you [G] what we damn well [D] like,
Make [C] worker’s rights a relic of the [D] past,
[C] Crush the Union, [G] Crush the Union,
[G] Capital has [D] won the war at [G] last.

The Union made the call to strike,
24 hours of no work was sure to bite,
Sydney Trains force back
To sit at the table,
To negotiate a fair and living wage,

Andrew Constance was ready for a fight,
Taking from the union what should be their right,
To the commission he did go,
Lawyers in a row,
Fair Work such an ironic name,

Brisbane 1912 they wore a badge with pride,
Union members should never have to hide,
10,000 in King George Square,
Union power in the air,
They fought with courage for their right.

Up the Union, Up the Union,
We will keep our right to strike,
A fair wage is our right,
Worker’s together to the last,
Up the Union, Up the Union,
Solidarity our message from the past,

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 28 Sep 21 - 10:08 AM

CLIMATE CHANGERS words © Daniel Kelly

video

[G] Well you may not believe in [C] climate [G] change,
But you [C] surely [G] concede that the [Am] weather’s been [D] strange.
The [G] Snow in the Spring as the [C] fires they [G] burn,
[C] Hailstones [G] fall and the [D] hurricanes [G] turn.

[C] Do something, do something [G] now,
I don’t [Am] really care [G] what,
And I [C] can’t tell you [D] how,
The [G] planet she [C] needs us to,
[C] Turn things [G] around,
Or [C] humanities [G] future, will be [D] dust in the [G] ground

It don’t really count if you share Greta’s tweets,
Or like it when movie stars change what they eat,
It has to be action, that real and concrete,
The kinds that others, will see in the street   

Recycle your garbage, and plant out a tree,
If you’re really excited, you might just plant three
Ride your cycle to work, if it isn’t too far,
To offset the pollution you made in your car.

But don’t get too cocky about things that you’ve done,
Remember that life, is supposed to be fun,
If you use your actions to judge and to shame,
The others you hurt, will not join in our game.

I don’t really think that our house is on fire,
Or that all politicians should be sent to the pyre,
We are all to blame, for our ignorant greed,
Instead of caring together, for our mother in need.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 18 Sep 21 - 11:48 PM

I've just been listening to The People Have Songs, Miguel Heatwole's celebration of singing sessions, double CD issued in 2001, & love this song sung by Frank Moore.
Daintry Frank – a mate of Simon’s from up north – was one of those discoveries that make folk festivals so worthwhile. I’ve not seen any of the films he’s in but oh, what a voice!
If you want to hear Daintree Frank's version (I also love that voice!) the CD is available from Miguel tracks are also available on bandcamp

METHO MAN by Graeme Connors

video - Graeme Connors singing Metho Man

On the edge of the mangrove, down by Casey’s hole
There lives the Metho Man
Beneath rusting wrought iron, a fire’s burning low
There lives the Metho Man

CHORUS
Come my beauty and dance
They’re playing the Varsovienna
Come my beauty and drink
Drink to the memory of a younger man’s dreams

Late at night you can hear them float by on the wind
The songs of the Metho Man
His voice at times booming, sometimes high and thin
The songs of the Metho Man

CHORUS

My Grandfather knew him, from his time on the rails
Said he was real quiet, always kept to himself
On the edge of the mangrove, down by Casey's Hole
There died the Metho Man
They say he just fell asleep in the flames
And there died the Metho Man

CHORUS x 2

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 15 Sep 21 - 06:28 AM

VERY URGENT BUSINESS PROPOSAL FROM NIGERIA © Bruce Watson, April 22 2020. Bruce Watson Music

video - Very urgent business proposal from Nigeria 30 New Songs in 30 Days - a Covid-19 Social Isolation Project. Song 22

Dear Mister Sir Madam,

I most humbly send you my greetings, Dearest Blessed One.

I understand that this message will come to you as a surprising, but I have some private highly urgent business to be done. With due humility and respect, I write to you of this proposal, though this note is unexpected because you not knowing me.

My name is Joseph Baraghan and I seek your cooperation. I found your contact details in your country’s directory. I am a close confidant of the former chief of staff of the daughter of the late Prince Motu of Blessed Memory. You may have heard that the Prince and his closest aide-de-camp were killed in Benin’s civil war by the rebel military. Following his assassinated, his daughter miraculously escaped, till she finally arrival in Nigeria. She smuggled out two trunks which held a large amount of cash which she has deposited anonymously for a strictly limited period.

In strictest confidence I can advice you that this cash amount is more than $US18 million. She is now desirous to emigrate to your country with these funds, due to the stable situation with which country’s blessed. So I seek a foreign partner who will assist with the transfer, and be a respected guardian of these funds which will in the future be invested. I believe you are the trustworthy, and a fit and proper person to investment of this sum.

If you are willing to assist, please reply to this email as soon as you can possible, as time is of excess. Moreover you are requested to kindly send the following details: Your full name, nominated bank account details, and address.

Needless to say, the trust reposed in you at this juncture is substantial. In return, you shall receiving recompense. I please advise, you will receive 15 per cent of the total, and you need only send £200 to cover the expense. When I received your reply I will send you the document that will legal you to have complete access to these funds. Your earliest response will be highly appreciable to assist my worthy client in the problem she confronts. Please kindly assure me that you will act strictly accordingly to my instructions as I have stated above herein. Please to expedite your action or I will seek another partner, as my client’s situation requires urgent to begin.

My identity must not be revealed to any other party and strict confidentiality is required.

I remain sincerely yours, humbly in Christ

Joseph Baraghan, Esquire.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 15 Sep 21 - 06:23 AM

AUSTRALIA'S LOST LANGUAGES © Bruce Watson 2009

In 1788 Australia had over 250 languages. Fewer than half are still spoken and on current trends almost all will cease to be spoken in a generation if nothing is done to save them now. Each language contains a universe of knowledge, wisdom and culture — the voice of humanity. Some people are doing fabulous work to sustain and revive languages. This song lists just a few of our lost languages.

Note on music: Musical notation has not been provided for this song because the words are spoken against the musical background of alternating chords.


[Am] Ngunawal, Gunditjmara, Burduna, Kuring-gai,
[G] Wathawurrung, Gayiri, Bunurong, Manangkarri,
[Am] Jiwarli, Kuyani, Nuenonne, Dhuduroa,
[G] Peramangk, Birladapa, Wakaya, Taungurong,
[Am] Wadi Wadi, Damala, Yaralde, Ngawun,
[G] Bidjigal, Yorta Yorta, Warungu, Plangermaireener,
[Am] Kaurna, Binikura, Nauo, Djabwurung,
[G] Daruk, Gugu Muluriji, Amangu, Eora,
[Am] Ladji Ladji, Awabakal, Garawa, Yangman,
[F#m] Nukunu, Bandjin, Nyawaygi, Darkinjung,
[Em] Parnkalla, Ayabadhu, Paredarerme, Jardwadjai,
[Am] Tyerrernotepanner, Worimi, Duulngari, Gulidjan,
[G] Bidjara, Angkamuthi, Doolboong, Walgalu,
[Am] Mingin, Barrow Point, Djiru, Djadjawurrung,
[F#m] Nganyaywana, Yukgul, Dharawal, Nhuwala,
[Em] Warnarrang, Ngarigo, Kalaamaya, Dhirari,
[Am] Tatungalung, Muruwari, Thiin, Yaburarra,
[G] Lairmairrener, Wanamara, Bidawal, Bangerang,
[Am] Kwat Kwat, Brabralung, Bugurnidja, Jurruru,
[G] Djilamatang, Djirringany, Woiwurrung.[Am]

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 15 Sep 21 - 06:15 AM

SONG FOR LEONARD Words © Bruce Watson, (Tune: Suzanne, Leonard Cohen) Bruce Watson Music

bandcamp

I am a Cohen addict. I called my first guitar Suzanne! I wrote this to sing for a group of friends who used to get together to sing for each other. There were only two rules: 1. No Leonard Cohen; 2. Especially no Suzanne. A challenge I couldn’t resist!

Leonard Cohen brings you down to the depths of depression,
You can listen to him for hours, you can spend the night just crying,
And you know he'll send you crazy, that's why you want to stop it,
And you start to slash your wrists and hang yourself from the ceiling,
And just when you start believing that this world you're finally leaving,
Then somebody stops the record, and you feel a little better,
'Cause his songs are so depressing.

Refrain:
And you want to smash the record,
And destroy the record player,
But you know that you can't do it,
'Cause he's destroyed the very fabric of your mind.


Now, the only thing that's worse than all those hours of Leonard Cohen
Is to spend a long time listening to all his imitators going
Through all those incomprehensible songs like Suzanne and So Long Marianne,
Who think that all men should be Cohen freaks and sing all songs in A minor,
Their guitars should all be broken, they should be banished to New Zealand,
They're disgusting, not quite human — they should sink into the ocean
Like a stone.

Refrain:
And they want to travel with you,
And they want to travel blind,
But you know you shouldn‘t let them,
They'll destroy the very fabric of your mind.
Of your mind,
Of your mind,
(Repeat, getting crazier, until you explode)

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 15 Sep 21 - 06:03 AM

THE RULES OF ENGLISH © Bruce Watson. Bruce Watson Music

video - The Rules of English

bandcamp

This offering is based on the late William Safire’s Rules for Writers, extrapolated and set to music.

Now when I was a boy one was taught English grammar
These days standards have gone down the drain
We had it banged into us, with an unsubtle hammer
And it’s firmly lodged into my brain
There’s a million mistakes that you see people make
Now and then there’s an absolute whopper
So here’s a few tips to avoid future slips
To help you all speak and write proper:

Chorus:
Be sure to never split an infinitive
Don’t use no double negatives
And never generalise, that’s a rule you see everyone break!
Be clear as a bell, profread everythnig well
Be more or less specific, don’t be vague
And (last but not least) avoid clichés like the plague!

It’s incumbent upon us to eschew obfuscation
And where feasible to employ the vernacular
Never use a big word when a diminutive one would suffice
And understatement is absolutely spectacular
Use language that’s inclusive of all men
And here’s something else you should know
The use of foreign words is just not de rigeur
Nor is it apropos

Chorus

Always avoid awkward annoying
Unattractive affected alliteration
Avoidification of George Bushian neologisms
Will strengthenify your prosification
If you see a mixed metaphor take the bull by the horns
And knock it right off of its perch
And vary your words variously
So that you use various words

Chorus

Exaggeration is a trillion zillion times worse
Than just stating the plain simple facts
And use words correctly, irregardless of what others do
To show you’ve got the language knack
The passive voice should always be avoided
Heed should be taken of that suggestion
And what I now ask of all of you is:
“Who needs rhetorical questions?”

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 15 Sep 21 - 05:59 AM

CAPTAIN MOONLITE - A LOVE STORY © Bruce Watson

https://brucewatsonmusic.bandcamp.com/track/captain-moonlite-a-love-story

Andrew George Scott led a chequered life, eventually becoming a bushranger under the moniker of Captain Moonlite. His career ended when he took hostages in a siege which resulted in several deaths. His dying wish to be buried next to his lover James Nesbit was not granted, but 100 years later there was a successful campaign to have his bones disinterred and reburied at the Gundagai Cemetery where he now lies near James, under a beautiful gum tree.

Tomorrow I will step up to the gallows
I only ask you grant me one last wish for when I’m gone
I’m a man who’s done wrong, I will face the fiery flames
All I ask is to be laid beside my true love, dear young James

Chorus:
May we lay together, side by side, my friend
May we rest in peace

I did the crime, I served my time in Pentridge
Seven years for robbery and other deeds besides
But I treasure that time yet, for it’s there that we two met
To never part again till he lay in my arms and died

Chorus

Well the traps they gave us no peace back in Melbourne
So me and James and a few young men, we headed for the bush
Captain Moonlite and his gang raising hell across the land
Till we met our match at Wantabadgery, up past Gundagai
When that squatter said move on, well my patience it was gone
So we drew our guns and bailed them up, we would fight or we would die

Chorus

When the troopers came my young boys fought so bravely
Poor Gus was only 15, and they shot him in the side
But when I saw my James lying there where he was slain
I lay my head upon his breast, I kissed him, and I cried
Chorus

Tomorrow I will step up to the gallows
I will pray for God’s forgiveness and whisper my love’s name
On my finger is a ring that I will wear unto my grave
It is woven from a lock of the hair of my dear James

Chorus (twice)
May we lay together

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 15 Sep 21 - 05:42 AM

THE MAN AND THE WOMAN AND THE EDISON PHONOGRAPH © Bruce Watson Bruce Watson Music

video of Bruce recording onto a wax cylinder on an Edison Phonograph Recorded on 18 April 2014 at the National Folk Festival in Canberra by the National Film and Sound Archive.

bandcamp recorded with Fannie Cochrane's descendant Ronnie Summers

Fanny Cochrane Smith was born on Flinders Island in Bass Strait in 1834. She was the last speaker of Tasmanian Language, and the last keeper of their songs and stories following the Tasmanian genocide of the 19th Century. Whether she really was the last full blood Tasmanian or not is academic. There is a vibrant Aboriginal community in Tasmania today, among whom are many descendants of Fanny’s own 11 children. The recording of this song is sung with Tasmanian Aboriginal Elder Ronnie Summers.

There’s a photo on a wall in a museum in Hobart, it was taken in October of 1903
Of a woman and a man with an Edison phonograph, recording her songs of the land and the sea
There’s a button on the wall there next to the photo, if you press it you can hear the ghosts of her songs
As they echo through the halls of that museum in Hobart, a scratchy reminder of all we’ve done wrong

Chorus:
The man and the woman and the Edison phonograph, salvaging pieces of song,
White man’s black cylinder, the story of progress, the song lives on, but the singers are gone.

Not yet 50 years since white man first settled she was born on an island in Bass Strait’s cruel seas,
Where the few who remained of her people were herded, and left there to die of despair and disease.
And at 7 she was taken from her mother and family to work as a servant and be taught about God,
But she still learnt the old ways, the songs and the stories, and with old Truganini she’d go bush for food,

Bridge:
And after Truganini, the scientists descended. Was Fanny Smith now the last of her race?
The futile debates it seemed never ended, as they took her dimensions and examined the shape of her face.

Chorus

And the man in the photo was born to an immigrant, he married a woman of inherited wealth,
And he lived in a mansion overlooking the harbour, worked hard for their business, did well for himself.
And in time he became a gentleman of leisure and developed an interest in the native folks’ ways,
He collected and catalogued those cultural treasures, archived and referenced for future display.

Bridge
He was a member of the Royal Society, propertied wealth, a man of propriety.
She and her people were torn from their land, betrayed, dislocated, dissected - according to plan,
But they came together through song.

There’s a photo on a wall in a museum in Hobart, it was taken in October of 1903,
Of a woman and a man with an Edison phonograph, recording her songs of the land and the sea.

And the man had a son, who in turn had a son,
Who in turn had a son, who was me.

And the woman had a son, who in turn had a daughter
Who in turn had a son, who in turn had a son, and the next one was me)

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 15 Sep 21 - 05:33 AM

LANDLUBBER'S SHANTY © Bruce Watson Bruce Watson Music

bandcamp

Like all my songs, this is a true story, inspired by a rather unpleasant sailing experience.

I'll tell you of a story, lads, that happened once to me,
HEAVE, HAUL, HO, AND OPEN UP WIDE,
Of the only time that I went out upon the briny sea,
HEAVE FROM YOUR STOMACHS, LADS, AND CHUNDER OVER THE SIDE.

As I went out one Sunday arvo on Port Phillip Bay,
HEAVE....
The Captain said, "She's blowing lads, we'll get some waves today,
HEAVE....

My friends had all impressed on me how sailing was so easy,
If that's the case, excuse me asking why I feel so queasy?

While looking at the sea so green my face was getting greener,
Whoops! I didn't make it to the side, we'll have to call the cleaner!

The First Mate and the Skipper said the boat was going beautiful,
But I grew more in need of some assistance pharmaceutical.

I wanted to be like those men at sea, who all go, "Arrrghh!"
But when I tried to go like that it seemed to come out, "Yeuargh"

The Captain said, "Now heave that yard-arm mizzen to the tops'l",
I says, Bollocks to your bulwarks, man, you can stick it up your fo'c's'le!"

Well, finally we made for home, returned to terra firma,
I says, "The firmer it is the less terror there'll be," and went off without a murmur.

The owl and the pussycat went to sea in a beautiful pea-green craft,
But now I've had a go myself, I reckons they was daft!

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 15 Sep 21 - 05:29 AM

BAD ABBOTT - © Bruce Watson, to the tune of Billy Field's 1980s hit 'Bad Habits'. Bruce Watson Music

video - Bad Abbott

Tony Abbott was, for our sins, Australia’s 28th Prime Minister from 2013 to 2015. He is now an adviser to the UK Board of Trade. Lucky UK!


Can’t help himself – Bad Abbott
He’s running wild, lost control
It’s a shame to see that our poor country
Is governed by –   Bad Abbott

Says he’ll stop the boats, just to get the votes
Says those people smugglers must be stopped
But what’s far, far uglier – is his own budgie smugglers
Can’t help himself   –   Bad Abbott

Well it’s clear he isn’t … a suppository of all wisdom
But he’s a bottom feeder much in need of class
Well that ill-considered quote really hit a bum note
And it shows Bad Abbott talks out of his arse

Well he promised us that there’d be no cuts
To health, education, pensions or the ABC
Well if I may be so blunt, the man’s an utter conundrum
Can’t help himself   –   Bad Abbott

He ignored the facts with the carbon tax
And he’s an un-reconstructed misogynist
I’d be happier at least if he’d ended up a priest
But instead we got a      Bad Abbott
Yes my mind would be at peace if he’d ended up a priest
But instead we got a      Bad Abbott

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 15 Sep 21 - 05:22 AM

Pauline © Bruce Watson (Tune: Jolene, Dolly Parton) Bruce Watson Music

video- Pauline

Pauline Hanson is a crazy right-wing Australian politician. For songwriters and satirists she is the gift that just keeps giving!

Chorus:   
Pauline, Pauline, Pauline, Pauline
You’re bigoted, you’re racist and inane
Pauline, Pauline, Pauline, Pauline
I`m begging of you Pauline, please explain.

You’re ignorant beyond compare, your flaming locks of bright red hair
Don’t hide the fact that you’re so cruel and mean.
Your smile is like a breath of hate, your voice is like a thumbnail grating
On a blackboard – but you’d prefer a whiteboard, eh, Pauline!

You think that it’s really no big deal that you’re so xenophobic
Homophobic and halalophobic too.
I’m sick and tired and fed up with you being sick and tired and fed up
With everyone who’s different from you.

Chorus

You don’t fool me, I’m no chump, One Nation’s just a racist rump
You’re Australia’s own Donald Trump, Pauline.
You say on the loo we should sit, that squatting’s not appropriate
You’re really such a shining wit, Pauline. (Spoken: – that was a spoonerism)

You say that we’ll be swamped by Asians but don’t acknowledge white invasion
Stole this land from those who were here first.
You’re fine with kosher, but not halal, you’re uninformed and so banal
If I get any angrier I’ll burst.

Chorus

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: JennieG
Date: 15 Sep 21 - 03:03 AM

Another song about Arafura is 'Arafura Pearl' by Ali Mills. I can't readily find the words online, but I'm sure they are there somewhere!

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Stewie
Date: 14 Sep 21 - 11:25 PM

BY THE ARAFURA SEA
(Eric Bogle)

When the warm tropic winds blow down from the north
I fancy I can taste the salt sea spray
And smell once more the sweet hibiscus bloom
Hear the rustling of the palm trees as they sway
And in another time, in another place
I'm a young man again I used to be
When I fell in love with the Tiwi girl
By the Arafura Sea

Her soft dark skin was velvet to the touch
Her eyes were black as coal
And in those eyes I sometimes glimpsed
A wise and ancient soul
The moon and the stars caught in her hair
And lit a path to infinity
When I made love to my Tiwi girl
By the Arafura Sea

Too soon the money and the jobs moved on
And as a slave to both then so did I
Though I swore to her that one day I would return
She knew it far beyond man's careless lies
So sure of her world, so sure of her place
She would not go away with me
And so I left my Tiwi girl
By the Arafura Sea

When the warm tropic winds blow down from the north
To my home here in the dry dusty south
Those old memories that those north winds bring
Are bitter sweet ashes in my mouth
But the bitterness is just a vain regret
The sweet dust somehow comforts me
When I think of my Tiwi girl
By the Arafura Sea

Youtube clip

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 07 Sep 21 - 07:02 AM

I AM THE VERY MODEL OF A MODERN FOREIGN MINISTER, Words © Bruce Watson (Tune Arthur Sullivan) Bruce Wa

https://brucewatsonmusic.bandcamp.com/track/i-am-the-very-model-of-a-modern-foreign-minister

video- The D’Oyly Carte Opera Company

Andrew Downer was Australian’s from 1996 to 2007. He was quite a character.

I am the very model of a modern foreign minister,
My name is Alexander, and I’m not the least bit sinister,
I trot around the globe to proudly represent Australia,
I got the job ’cos as a party head I was a faili-ure.

My Mummy and my Daddy gave me such a dandy start in life,
They introduced me early to the joys of Liberal Party life,
I really am a pillock — (whoops, a pillar) of Adelaide society,
I’m cuddly as a teddy bear — that’s why you all desire me!

I can name the states of Africa in order alphabetical,
I never answer questions that are purely hypothetical.
In short, across the Commonwealth, from Canberra to Westminister,
I am the very model of a modern foreign minister.

I am the very model of a modern foreign diplomat,
Take any third world country I can say precisely where it’s at,
I’ve met with all their leaders and I get on just a treat with them,
They call me Alexander, which is really rather sweet of them.

Those nasty pasty terrorists will soon no longer trouble you,
’Cos me and Little Johnny are such mates with old George W,
I’ll fight that war on terror, I’ll be strong, I won’t be lenient,
Except in certain circumstances where it’s not convenient.

With rhetoric impressive my opponents I deflate ’em,
I can quote the words of Gladstone and of Churchill all verbatim.
In short, across the Commonwealth, from Canberra to Westminister,
I am the very model of a modem foreign minister.

I am the very model of a cocktail party animal,
With huge expense account, although my impact is quite minimal,
My overwhelming charm I use in full and frank discussi-ons,
And when I stuff it up I just ignore the repercussi-ons.

I’ve an extraordinary grasp of international relati-ons,
In tough negotiati-ons I show a lot of pati-ence,
I deal so diplomatically with problems I confront (you see),
That the leaders of the world they say to me, “What a great count-ery!”

I initiate initiatives completely ineffectual,
But that’s of no concern to me because I’m so cute and sexual.
In short, across the Commonwealth, from Canberra to Westminister,
I am the very model of a modern foreign minister.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 07 Sep 21 - 06:43 AM

AMAZON © Bruce Watson Bruce Watson Music

video - Amazon
bandcamp

This tragic loss of forests continues. The song has been recorded by several artists including Eric Bogle. It won the Declan Affley memorial Songwriting Award at the 1990 Australian National Folk Festival in Kuranda.

Chorus:
In the time it takes to sing this song,
There’ll be four acres cleared in the Amazon.

The jungle burns all through the night,
They say you can see it from a satellite.
The smoke's so thick for miles around,
They have to close the airports down.
The green of the jungle turns to ?aming red,
As another cattle ranch gets the go-ahead.
Now hamburgers grow where the forest once stood,
Somehow I get the feeling that we've all been fooled.

Chorus

I heard a man on the TV say
That if they take the forest away
The world will be ruined, our future will go,
He's a Kayapo, so he should know.
But this very same man still cuts down trees,
For him it's a question of necessity,
A family to feed, and he must pay the rent,
But when you add it all up it just doesn't make sense.

Chorus

I heard about a man called Chico Mendes,
He fought the cattle ranchers head to head,
He taught the rubber-tappers to stand up and fight,
To protect the forest, to protect their rights.
But the ranchers had their claims to lay,
They wouldn't let a conservationist stand in their way,
One night at his home they took him unawares –
Forty bullets in the back for Chico Mendes.

Instrumental (first half of verse)

(Repeat second half of Verse One)

Chorus

Now hamburgers grow where the forest once stood,
Another twenty years it might be gone for good

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 07 Sep 21 - 06:18 AM

THE BEANIE SING © Bruce Watson 2010. Bruce Watson Music

video -The Beanie Song at Humph Hall, with a singing, beanie wearing audience

Bruce sang this one winter night at my folk club, The Loaded Dog in 2010 & took pics of members wearing beanies as he was collecting photos at the time. As always, I was wearing a hat, not a beanie, so I sent him a pic of one of my bears wearing a lovely felt beanie & if you don't blink you can see it!

Way way back around the dawn of time
When humans stepped out of the primordial slime
First they invented clothes then they invented the hat
Then someone said, "You can do better than that!"

Chorus:
You gotta have a beanie (You gotta have a beanie)
You gotta have a beanie (You gotta have a beanie)
You gotta have a beanie
Put it on your head

You can make 'em out of polar fleece or make 'em out of wool
You can make' em out of felt, which is really really cool
You can weave 'em, you can knot' em, they can even be crocheted
If you've got yourself a beanie, you've really got it made

Chorus

Now, every year in June way out in Alice Springs
They have a beanie festival, and oh what joy it brings
But Alice is so far to go for folks like you and me
So now we've got a festival right here in Torquay

Chorus

What do you call a beanie that's past its prime?
A has-beanie
What do you call a beanie designed by Paris Hilton?
A wanna beanie
What do you call a beanie that's been cooked and put into a can?
A baked beanie

Bridge:
I don't adore a fedora
A trilby doesn't thrill me
A beret isn't very good - compared to a beanie
A sombrero I won't wear, oh
A panama's anathema
A turban's so suburban - compared to a beanie

Chorus

So if you've listened to my story, to all the things I've said
You'll get yourself a beanie, and put it on your head
They're every shape and size, from a house to a zucchini
And an itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka dot beanie

Chorus

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 07 Sep 21 - 06:00 AM

THE OLD BUSH DANCE © Bruce Watson. Bruce Watson Music

bandcamp

video - with the Emu Creek Band, 1998

Old time dances are one of the most delightful parts of Australian folk culture. This song is sung to two slightly adapted traditional tunes: the Old Valetta Waltz and the beautiful Spanish Waltz.

It’s Saturday night in a small country town,
The women squeeze into their long flowing gowns,
The men swap their overalls for a tie and a suit,
Round up the kids, and it’s off in the ute.
At the hall ladies glide through the still summer air,
As the young and the old dance away the week’s cares,
Chasséeing, swinging and clapping their hands,
As they sway to the tunes of the accordion band.

Chorus:
They played, they played, those fingers danced lightly,
The notes cascade, we all danced so sprightly,
Those far off days, those Saturday nights,
When we danced the Waltz Cotillions & the Polka Quadrille.
(Instrumental - same tune as chorus)

It’s “Take your partners, please,” says the caller once more,
As the weary hot couples find their way to the floor,
For the Alberts Quadrille and the Waltz Country Dance,
A short introduction, then up strikes the band.
Young couples dance closely, some awkward and shy,
As the mothers and fathers keep a close watchful eye,
The kids weave and dart like a flock of galahs,
As the music drifts up through the night to the stars.

Chorus and instrumental

Now it’s karaoke bars and it’s poker machines,
For some people that’s what a good time out means,
Not for them the concertina, the banjo and bones,
The button accordion or the fiddle’s sweet tones.
Real music is people like you and me here,
Not woofers and tweeters and electronic gear.
So let’s sing and let’s dance for the music of old,
May it live on and on, may it shine through like gold.

Chorus and instrumental

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 07 Sep 21 - 05:47 AM

it must be Christmas! Bruce Watson just sent me his promised list of songs - 25 of them, & only one has been posted - Reedy River Still flows, winner of the Bush Music Club 2014 Diamond Jubilee Song Competition, posted 28th Dec 2020.

THE THREE LIVES OF SHIRLEY ANDREWS, (Tune: Mudgee Waltz), © Bruce Watson Bruce Watson Music

video

Shirley Andrews was Australia's foremost authority on traditional social dance. She was also a driving force behind the 1967 referendum on Aboriginal rights, and a bio-chemist who made a significant contribution to the treatment of bi-polar disorder. The tune for this song is the Mudgee Waltz, a traditional Australian dance tune that Shirley danced to many many times.

Chorus:
She danced with all her heart and she showed us how
She fought for people’s rights, speaking strong and loud
And she showed us what a woman in science can do
We thank you so much, Shirley Andrews

As a young girl she saw Pavlova on the stage
Lit a fire in her heart from an early age
She wrote the bible of Australian folk dance
She’d be up on that dance floor when she had half a chance

Chorus

When she saw injustice she stood up to fight it
Racism was rife — she vowed to right it
She led the campaign in ’67 when all Australians were asked
To recognise our First Peoples as equals at last

Chorus

In the face of male bias she showed her defiance
She shone as a woman in the men’s world of science
Her research into lithium was so thorough and so clever
That it changed mental health care forever