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Mudcat Australia-New Zealand Songbook
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 12 Nov 20 - 06:48 PM JOHNNY WALKER’S SHOES (Pigram Brothers) Heading into town, by the fire sign, up ahead one mile Mum and naked child by the highway Flash four-wheel-drive, I only want a ride to the other side Don't try and hide behind your window tinting I bet your weekly wage could pay my ransom And free me from this sandfly infested castle And In the wake of those who've gone and left behind their blues How many furlongs can we step in Johnny Walker's shoes Blanket on the ground, lay your money down, they say you better watch out If you think you're winning On pension day, when the old and grey ask what the moondye say In the gambling den of Tai Ming ‘A little less of the con and a bit more fusion’ With the kintuk lost among the walking wounded And in the wake of those who've gone and left behind their blues How many furlongs can we step in Johnny Walker's shoes Youtube clip Chords --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 12 Nov 20 - 06:13 PM STIR THE WALLABY STEw (C.Poole/Trad) Poor dad, he got five years in jail as everybody knows And now he lives in Maitland jail, broad arrows on his clothes He branded old Brown's cleanskins. and he never left a tail So I'll relate the family's fate since dad got put in jail Chorus: So stir the wallaby stew, make soup of the kangaroo's tail I tell you things are pretty crook since dad got put in jail Our sheep all died a month ago, they all got flaming fluke, Our cow was boozed last Christmas by my big brother, Luke I sold the buggy on me own - the place is up for sale That won't be all that's up the spout when dad gets out of jail Our Bess got shook upon some bloke, he's gone, we don't know where He used to act around the place, but he ain't acted square And mother's got a shearer cove forever on her tail The family will have grown a bit when dad gets out of jail They let him out before his time to give us a surprise He looked around at all of us, and gently blessed our eyes He shook hands with the shearer cove, and said that things looked stale Then he left him here to shepherd us, and headed back to jail Youtube clip --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 12 Nov 20 - 05:55 PM Another one for NAIDOC week. BLACKFELLA WHITEFELLA (N.Murray & G.Rrurrambu) Blackfella, whitefella It doesn't matter what your colour As long as you a true fella As long as you a real fella All the people of different races With different lives in different places It doesn't matter what your name is We got to have lots of changes We need more brothers if we're to make it We need more sisters if we're to save it Are you the one who's gonna stand up and be counted? Are you the one who's gonna be there when we shout it? Are you the one who's always ready with a helping hand? Are you the one who understands this family plan? Blackfella, whitefella, yellafella, anyfella It doesn't matter what your colour As long as you a true fella All the people of different races With different lives in different places It doesn't matter which religion It's all the same when the ship is sinking We need more brothers if we're to make it We need more sisters if we're to save it Are you the one who's gonna stand up and be counted? Are you the one who's gonna be there when we shout it? Are you the one who's always ready with a helping hand? Are you the one who understands this family plan? Stand up, stand up and be counted Stand up, stand up and be counted Stand up, stand up and be counted Are you the one who's going to stand up and be counted Stand up, stand up and be counted Stand up, stand up and be counted Are you the one who's always ready with a helping hand? Are you the one who understands this family plan? Youtube clip Background info --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 11 Nov 20 - 07:04 PM DUG OUT IN THE TRUE (Anon) I am just a poor old shearer, I am stationed on the board, I've got my little handpiece in my hand Chorus But I'm happy as a clan In this land of ewes and lambs In my tick-bound, bug-bound dugout in the true Oh the place is strewn all round? With sheep wool and sheep dags ?Of rouseabouts there are so very few Chorus Oh the walls are made of iron And the windows made of bag ?And the doorways let the howling rousies through Chorus Oft times I wish I had a girl ?To sit upon my knee ?Relieve me of the pain that I am in Chorus That girl how I would love her? If she'd come and live with me ?In my tick-bound, bug-bound dugout in the true Chorus Youtube clip --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 11 Nov 20 - 06:43 PM I meant to post this on Remembrance Day yesterday but got caught up with the real world. This song was sung by Kiwi soldiers in North Africa in 1940. 'Dug-out in the True' is related to it. Both are related to the family of 'Little old log cabin', 'Little old sod shanty' etc. DUG-OUT (Anon) I'm just a greasy private in the infantry I am, I've a little dugout in Matruh, And the flies crawl all around me as I nestle down to sleep, In my flea-bound, bug-bound dugout in Matruh. Where the windows are of netting and the doors of four by two And the sandbags let the howling dust storm in I can hear that blinkin' Eytie as he circles round at night In my flea-bound,bombed-out dugout in Matruh. Where the floor is littered round with Bully and Meatloaf For marmalade and jam we never see. We're a happy little band in this bloody land of sand In my flea-bound bombed-out dug-out in Matruh. Now there's Messerschmidts and Stukas flying all around Hurricanes and Spitfires very few When the bombs and shells start flying That's where you'll find me lying In my flea bound, bombed out dugout in Matruh. Oh I wish I had a sheila to sit upon my knee, To relieve me of the misery that I'm in, For I'd woo her and caress her, if this her home she'd make In my flea-bound, bombed-out dug-out in Matruh This is from the NZ Folk Song site which has a page on the family of songs here: Click --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 10 Nov 20 - 07:20 PM One for remembrance. KHE SANH (Don Walker) I left my heart to the sappers round Khe Sanh And the soul was sold with my cigarettes to the black market man I've had the Vietnam cold turkey From the ocean to the Silver City And it's only other vets could understand About the long forgotten dockside guarantees How there were no V-day heroes in nineteen seventhy-three How we sailed into Sydney Harbor Saw an old friend but I couldn't kiss her She was lined, and I was home to the lucky land And she was like so many more from that time on Their lives were all so empty, till they found their chosen one And their legs were often open But their minds were always closed And their hearts were held in fast suburban chains And the legal pads were yellow, hours long, pay packets lean And the telex writers clattered where the gunships once had been Car parks make me jumpy And I never stopped the dreams Or the growing need for speed and Novocaine So I worked across the country from end to end Tried to find a place to settle down, where my mixed up life could mend Held a job on an oil-rig Flying choppers when I could Oh but the nightlife nearly drove me round the bend And I've travelled round the world from year to year And each one found me aimless, one more year the worse for wear And I've been back to South-East Asia But the answer sure ain't there But I'm drifting north, to check things out again, yes I am Well the last plane out of Sydney's almost gone And only seven flying hours, and I'll be landing in Hong Kong There ain't nothing like the kisses From a jaded Chinese princess I'm gonna hit some Hong Kong mattress all night long Well the last plane out of Sydney's almost gone You know the last plane out of Sydney's almost gone And it's really got me worried I'm goin' nowhere and I'm in a hurry And the last plane out of Sydney's almost gone Well the last plane out of Sydney's almost gone You know the last plane out of Sydney's almost gone And it's really got me worried I'm goin' nowhere and I'm in a hurry You know the last plane out of Sydney's almost gone Youtube --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 10 Nov 20 - 04:00 AM I was having a wee break. Then I came across this little number. Never heard it before so I obviously move in different circles to much of the population, haha!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMdbVHPmCW0 National Anthem of STRAYA (to the tune of 'Hey Ya') My country don't share no borders 'Cos of all the waters that surround our land Thank god for our resources 'Cos they are the sources of our wealthy land Don't try to find the capital Or fight the animals You're on your own Just drive from town to paradise And you'll see why we call Australia home Straya Straya Straya Straya You think you've got it Oh you think you've got it But have you got a rock where there is nothing at all We get together Oh we get together The weather's always better when there's cricket involved And we believe that mateship is forever We're all mates, we're all mates, we're all mates We're all mates, we're all mates And we're multicultural So why ya why ya Why ya why ya why ya Not living in Australia when you know we are so happy here Straya Straya Straya Straya Alright now fellas Yeah! Now what's cooler than a big cold beer? Ice cold! Shake it [x9] Shake it like a polaroid picture Shake it [x9] Shake it like a polaroid picture Straya Straya Straya Straya "Outkast's 'Hey Ya' reworked into the unofficial national anthem of 'Straya' (a.k.a Australia)...... Lyrics, vocals and video edit by Terry Mann. Original idea by Calvin Teoh." Hmmmmm ........ R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 09 Nov 20 - 08:11 PM ANDY’S GONE WITH CATTLE (H.Lawson/Trad) Our Andy's gone to battle now 'Gainst drought, the red marauder Our Andy's gone with cattle now Across the Queensland border He's left us in dejection now Our hearts with him are roving It's dull on this selection now Since Andy went a-droving Who now shall wear the cheerful face In times when things are slackest And who shall whistle round the place When fortune frowns her blackest Oh, who shall cheek the squatter now When he comes round us snarling His tongue is growing hotter now Since Andy crossed the Darling. The gates are out of order now In storms the ‘riders’ rattle For far across the border now Our Andy's gone with cattle Poor Aunty's looking thin and white And Uncle's cross with worry And poor old Blucher howls all night Since Andy left Macquarie Oh, may the showers in torrents fall And all the tanks run over And may the grass grow green and tall In pathways of the drover And may good angels send the rain On desert stretches sandy And when the summer comes again God grant 'twill bring us Andy Above is the full text of Lawson's poem. Most of the YT clips omit a couple of stanzas. The recording by one of my all-time favourite singers, Jean Redpath, is fairly close to the original. Redpath A couple of other clips: Wyndham-Read Herdman --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 09 Nov 20 - 07:42 PM ONE MORE YEAR (Shane Nicholson) He was walking across the wire Holding a loaded gun Taking out every lightbulb One by one And she was building brand new walls To keep her safe and sound Sometimes a place to live Is just a place to hide One more year One more year Let's hold our breath And give it just One more year Well he was sparks and gasoline All fire and command The warmest comfort dies In the coldest hands And she was two steps from the edge But holding on somehow Even God himself couldn't blame her now One more year One more year Let's hold our breath And give it just One more year Now he's working on a plan Learning to make her smile Maybe a change of pace Or a change of style And she's walking across the wire Holding a loaded gun Hoping that what we feel Ain't what we've become One more year One more year Let's hold our breath And give it just One more year Youtube clip --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 09 Nov 20 - 03:55 AM thank you for your thank you, Stewie |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 08 Nov 20 - 08:50 PM DRY RIVER BED (Pigram Brothers) When you’re drifting on the ocean And the sea is a perfect blue But those storm clouds on the horizon Are keeping you true to who are you Chorus So take me away ‘cross the spinifex plains Where the true mirage never ends And the smell of the rain is a long way away Lay me down on a dry river bed Don't have no white picket fence Don't have no green English lawn Just got heat waves dancing for me On the red dirt where I was born Chorus Feel the heart of my country Beating to them lonely blues Gotta get back there, gotta get back there Gotta get back there real soon Chorus Youtube clip Chords --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 08 Nov 20 - 08:17 PM I WONDER WHO YOU’RE WAITING FOR (Mike McClellan) Sunday night, airport lounge Along about eight fifteen Tight black jeans and a white silk shirt Older than she seems Wide dark eyes and a slender face All alone she waits Tall and still, never moves until They open up the race As the passengers come through the door I wonder who you’re waiting’ for It’s not the man in the shorts and tan Not the girl with the stud and curls Not the boy with the broken heart It’s not the ageing matriarch It’s not the suit from Baltimore Not the girl in the pinafore Not the vagabond troubadour I wonder who you’re waitin’ for I wonder who you’re waitin’ for Long hair, dark as the Gucci bag Hangin’ by her side Old gold chain slung around her neck Diamonds in her eyes And I find myself wondering Just how much they’re worth I’m sure she knows love’s only token Sometimes cost the earth As the passengers come across the floor I wonder who you’re waitin’ for It’s not the boy in the faded jeans Not the girl with the magazines Not the woman with the weary face Staring into space Not the man with the Fin Review Not the girl with the blue tattoo Not the captain or the cabin crew I wonder who you’re waitin’ for I wonder who you’re waitin’ for It’s likely he’s tall, he might be dark He’ll be a wealthy man But I’ll never know, ‘cos he never shows She waits and waits and waits And waits and waits and waits It’s not the girl with the long blonde hair Not the man in the steel wheelchair Not the boy comin’ back from the war I wonder who you’re waitin’ for It’s not the girl with the champagne eyes Not the stud with the bedroom lies Not the boy from Ecuador I wonder who you’re waitin’ for I wonder who you’re waitin’ for Another good'un from Mike McClellan. Above is my transcription. I'm not sure of the word before 'token' in the 'I'm sure she knows ...' line. Youtube clip -- Stewie. I |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 08 Nov 20 - 07:12 PM Sandra, many thanks for the list. You've done a splendid job. Onwards! GOOD LIGHT IN BROOME (Neil Murray) I was hangin' out in Sydney and I was goin' down I'd done too many parties and my money was runnin' out Then I met an old man who lived all alone He had two dogs for company, that's all he owned He was savin' his pension for a one-way fare Said when he had enough, he was gettin’ outta there I said, ‘really, what are you gonna do?’ He smiled and said, ‘there's good light in Broome’ I went out to western Queensland, working in the sheds Met a girl in Quilpie and we got wed Moved up to the Gulf, had our first born We were livin' in a caravan, I was workin' on the prawns I came home from a stormy sea She'd up and gone and left a note for me On it she wrote, ‘I’m sick of you’ That's when I felt there's good light in Broome Good light in Broome and I'll be there soon I know exactly what I'm a gonna do Sit on the beach, stare at the moon Haven't you heard - there's good light in Broome I headed down south, couldn't take the hint Saw a lot of pubs, I had a lot to drink I was runnin' pretty ragged, I didn't hardly eat I was thinkin' about her and what she did to me There was a road and a hairpin bend Then I woke up in a hospital bed ‘How do ya feel?’, said a voice in the gloom I gave the answer, ‘there's good light in Broome’ I went truckin' out of Melbourne, back and forth to Perth Didn't take long and it seemed like a curse My eyes were on the road, but my mind was somewhere else When I pulled in to a Nullarbor roadhouse The waitress came over and she's there lookin' at me She asked me how I was, I said, ‘a bit ordinary’ She said, ‘I thought that might be your tune’ I said. ‘don't tell me, there's good light in Broome’ Good light in Broome and I'll be there soon I know exactly what I'm a gonna do Sit on the beach, stare at the moon Haven't you heard - there's good light in Broome Well when I get to Cable Beach, I'll fall right out of the truck and into the sea With my clothes still on, I'll plunge under the waves And all the dirt will drain away And just like Bunjil, I'll get two dogs And every evenin' I'll walk them along On the edge of the country, take in the view Just like I heard, there's good light in Broome Good light in Broome and I'll be there soon I know exactly what I'm a gonna do Sit on the beach, stare at the moon Haven't you heard - there's good light in Broome Youtube clip --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 08 Nov 20 - 07:05 AM 425 songs! |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 07 Nov 20 - 09:45 PM Don Henderson's 'Rake and Rambling Man' reminded me of this other little classic of similar ilk. SONG AND DANCE MAN (Mike McClellan) I’m used to livin’ by myself Always on the road Makin’ light of other people’s woes I don’t need to take much more Than just a song or two And even a smile can lighten up the load Chorus I’m just a song and dance man Going from town to town Playing one night shows and country rodeos I’m just a song and dance man Livin’ on a smile I share your laughter everywhere I go I don’t care much for cities I ain’t seen one I’d call home The only dust they’ve got there is just plain dirt And no one takes you in Unless they want you off the streets I get the feeling some folks Fear a smile might hurt Chorus I gave up looking for answers A long, long time ago Life’s just taking chances, ask any dancer One foot wrong and it’s all undone I won’t ask much of your time Or that you recall my name Fame is just a momentary curse But if you recall a song or two That lingers when I’m gone Then I guess a song and dance man could do worse Chorus Original recording A later recording at 2015 National Folk Festival: Youtube clip Tommy Emmanuel supplied chords here: Chords --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 07 Nov 20 - 08:57 PM A LITTLE FURTHER NORTH (Graeme Connors) The sun sinks behind me in the west This is the time of day I love best Salt breezes murmur through the coconut palm As the colours change, they set a scene of tropic calm Seagulls heading back to land Over the mangroves and salt pans By a lazy creek with a six-pack and a fishing line Winning back some memories and losing track of time I head a little further north each year Leave the cities behind Out of sight, out of mind Up where my troubles can all disappear I head a little further north each year Feeling the night wrap around me Eases my mind in serenity Ocean waves are humming on the outer reef These balmy nights and sultry days are a welcome relief I head a little further north each year Leave the cities behind Out of sight, out of mind Up where my troubles can all disappear I head a little further north each year Taking my mind to an easier time Up where there's silence and the night sky is clear I head a little further north each year A little further north each year [repeated] Youtube clip --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 07 Nov 20 - 08:33 PM TREATY (Yothu Yindi/Kelly/Garrett) Well I heard it on the radio And I saw it on the television Back in 1988, all those talking politicians Words are easy, words are cheap Much cheaper than our priceless land But promises can disappear Just like writing in the sand Treaty yeah treaty now treaty yeah treaty now Nhima djatpangarri nhima walangwalang (You dance djatpangarri, that's better) Nhe djatpayatpa nhima gaya' nhe marrtjini yakarray (You're dancing, you improvise, you keep going, wow) Nhe djatpa nhe walang gumurrt jararrk gutjuk (You dance djatpangarri, that's good my dear paternal grandson) This land was never given up This land was never bought and sold The planting of the union jack Never changed our law at all Now two river run their course Separated for so long I'm dreaming of a brighter day When the waters will be one Treaty yeah, treaty now, treaty yeah, treaty now Nhima gayakaya nhe gaya' nhe (You improvise, you improvise) Nhe gaya' nhe marrtjini walangwalang nhe ya (You improvise, you keep going, you're better) Nhima djatpa nhe walang (You dance djatpangarri, that's good) Gumurr-djararrk yawirriny' (My dear young men) Nhe gaya' nhe marrtjini gaya' nhe marrtjini (You improvise, you keep improvising, you keep going) Gayakaya nhe gaya' nhe marrtjini walangwalang (Improvise, you improvise, you keep going, that's better) Nhima djatpa nhe walang (You dance djatpangarri, that's good) Gumurr-djararrk nhe yå, e i, e i, e i i i, i i i, i i i, i i (You dear things) Treaty ma' (Treaty now) Promises disappear - priceless land - destiny Well I heard it on the radio And I saw it on the television But promises can be broken Just like writing in the sand Treaty yeah treaty now treaty yeah treaty now Treaty yeah treaty now treaty yeah treaty now Treaty yeah treaty ma treaty yeah treaty ma Treaty yeah treaty ma treaty yeah treaty ma Today is the beginning of NAIDOC Week that was postponed from its normal July date because of Covid. The lyrics above are from an SBS page: SBS Youtube clip NAIDOC = National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 06 Nov 20 - 09:41 PM DENIS O’REILLY (Traditional) When first I left old Ireland's shore the yarns that I was told Of how the folks in Australia could pick up lumps of gold How gold dust lay in all the streets and miner's rights were free Hurrah I told my loving friends that's just the place for me Chorus With my swag all on my shoulder, black billy in my hand I'll travel the bushes of Australia like a true born Irishman And then we came to Melbourne town and we all prepared to slip All bar the captain and the mate the crew abandoned ship And all the girls of Melbourne town they threw up their arms with joy Saying one unto the other, ‘Here comes the Irish boy’ And then we went into Geelong town and north-west to Ballarat Where some of us grew mighty thin and some grew sleek and fat Some tried their luck at Bendigo and some at Fiery Creek Well I made my fortune in a day and I blued it in a week Now it's many a year I have travelled round to each new field about And made and spent full many a pound till the alluvial petered out And now for any job of work I was prepared to try But now I've found this tucker track I'll stay here till I die There are several versions. The above is fairly close to the version recorded by the Bushwackers. Youtube clip --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 06 Nov 20 - 09:14 PM THE WATER LILY (H.Lawson/P.Herdman) A lonely young wife In her dreaming discerns A lily-decked pool With a border of ferns, And a beautiful child, With butterfly wings, Trips down to the edge of the water and sings: ‘Come, mamma! come! ‘Quick! follow me— ‘Step out on the leaves of the water-lily!’ And the lonely young wife, Her heart beating wild, Cries, ‘Wait till I come, ‘Till I reach you, my child!’ But the beautiful child With butterfly wings Steps out on the leaves of the lily and sings: ‘Come, mamma! come! ‘Quick! follow me! ‘And step on the leaves of the water-lily! And the wife in her dreaming Steps out on the stream, But the lily leaves sink And she wakes from her dream. Ah, the waking is sad, For the tears that it brings, And she knows ’tis her dead baby’s spirit that sings: ‘Come, mamma! come! ‘Quick! follow me! ‘Step out on the leaves of the water-lily!’ This became the title track of Priscilla Herdman's lovely album which included settings of several Lawson poems. Youtube clip --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 06 Nov 20 - 08:58 PM DIGGER’S FAREWELL (Anon/Colqhoun) Just as you say sir - I'm off once more The Palmer River, that's my way I landed here in sixty-four That's ten years' struggle along the Grey Ten long years since I landed here In a trackless land of wet and cold Some of our lives were pretty severe But who lacks hardship looking for gold? Latterly gold has been hard to find I've enough to carry - none to spend I'm going away and leaving behind Not one deserving the name of friend Now the gold was pretty near duffering out When Bill - that's me mate - he says to me There's gold on the Palmer beyond all doubt So here's for sailing out over the sea There’s the whistle - a drink before I start A step to the corner, I hear you say? My last on the coast - with all my heart A brandy straight and then I'm away Here's a long farewell to the old West Coast And a heart prepared for whatever I find ‘Success to the Palmer’ - is that your toast? Mine's - ‘Here's to the land I leave behind!’ The poem was published in ‘The Grey River Argus’, a newspaper on the west coast of NZ’s South Island in 1874. When gold workings petered out on the west coast, many diggers headed for the Palmer River in Australia. The ‘whistle’ was the boarding call. Youtube clip --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 05 Nov 20 - 07:57 PM MY ISLAND HOME (Neil Murray) Six years I've been in the desert And every night I dream of the sea They say home is where you find it But will this place ever satisfy me For I come from the saltwater people We always lived by the sea Now I'm out here west of Alice Springs With a wife and a family And my island home My island home My island home is a waiting for me In the evenin' the dry wind blows from the hills and across the plain I close my eyes and I'm standin' in a boat on the sea again And I'm holding that long turtle spear And I feel I'm close now to where it must be And my island home is a waitin' for me For I come from the saltwater people We always lived by the sea Now I'm out here west of Alice Springs With a wife and a family And my island home My island home My island home is a waiting for meh In the evenin' the dry wind blows from the hills and across the plain I close my eyes and I'm standin', in a boat on the sea again And I'm holdin' that long turtle spear And I feel I'm close now, to where it must be And my island home is a waitin' for me My Island Home came to me on a bus one night in June 1985. I had been living in the deserts of Central Australia for some six years. I had spent a week with our singer, George, at his home at Galiwinku in Arnhem Land. We camped on a remote part of the island with his family and had been living like kings on bush tucker and seafood caught by ourselves. I had to leave and make trips to Melbourne and Sydney in mid-winter to promote the band. I suffered an exceptional longing to be back in a boat on a tropical sea. The words came to me. I had no notebook with me. I held on to the tune till I got to Sydney and pulled my guitar out of the luggage to find the chords. Neil Murray. Youtube clip George Burarrwanga Galiwinku --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 05 Nov 20 - 07:20 PM CATTLE GOING IN (D.Braitling/T.Egan) Cattle going in From mulga scrub and saltbush plain Cattle going in We mustered them in dry and rain Cattle going in We're yarding cattle from the west Swing wide the gates and draft the best Let down the rails and 'bush' the rest Cattle going in Cattle going in At break of day we loaded up Cattle going in Now road trains roll, the last is gone Cattle going in Red clouds rise, they seem to burn Behind the big wheels as they churn The ancient desert dust astern Of cattle going in Cattle going in With MTD on every hide Cattle going in There's open country every side Of cattle going in Two hundred miles or more to go Through hills and creeks where gumtrees grow No time to camp or take a blow With cattle going in Cattle going in The big trucks sway along the tracks With cattle going in The dust falls thick upon the backs Of cattle going in Motors turning sweet and right Southern Cross clear and bright And silent drivers ride the night With cattle going in Cattle going in The shades of old time drovers stare At cattle going in Their ghostly horses snort and glare At cattle going in Road trains roaring overland Their drivers couldn't understand The months it took that banished band With cattle going in MTD: on Northern Territory cattle stations, all registered brands must be of 3 letters one of which must be 'T' for 'Territory'. 'MTD' is the registered brand of Mt Doreen Station, 420 km north-west from Alice Springs. Doreen Braitling, who wrote the words of 'Cattle Going In', is the 'Doreen' after whom the station is named. Ted Egan composed the music. The singer in this YT clip is Nerys Evans, Ted's partner. Youtube clip Doreen Braitling --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 05 Nov 20 - 06:07 PM C.Y.O’Connor, I Wish You Were Here Carmel Charlton, 2002 Water was scarce, people couldn’t go on Searching for gold in the blazing sun Goldfields life was at its worst Many died from typhoid, some died of thirst, C Y O’Connor delivered a plan To build a pipeline through rocks and sand Helena River would be the start Where water would flow to the goldfields heart. Ch. What would he say if he came back today that great engineer Having no doubt his plan would work, C Y O’Connor I wish you were here To see water pumped from Mundaring Weir. The longest pipe-line the world had seen In by gone days it was just a dream People said it couldn’t be done But O’Connor and his men proved them wrong, From Mundaring on through Southern Cross Reaching the reservoir at Mt Charlotte Days were long, rewards were few Some-how they would see it See it through. Ch. What would he say if he came back today that great engineer Having no doubt his plan would work, C Y O’Connor I wish you were here To see water pumped from Mundaring Weir. Came that memorable day in nineteen hundred and three When water, clear water flowed endlessly To O’Connor now we pay our due He made that goldfields dream Dream come true. What would he say if he came back today that great engineer Having no doubt his plan would work. A final note made it clear, saying “Put the wing walls to Helena Weir” A final note made it clear, saying “Put the wing walls to Helena Weir" I wish you were here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bv_6NdScCGY : "C.Y. O'Connor, I Wish You Were Here" by Carmel Charlton (who runs a Perth folkclub). The "Kalgoorlie Pipeline" project (The Goldfields Water Supply Scheme) commenced in 1898 and was completed in January 1903, with the water being successfully pumped from Mundaring Weir in the Darling Ranges near Perth, to the Kalgoorlie/Coolgardie Goldfields, a distance of nearly 600kilometres. An important story in WA's history; an amazing feat of engineering - and not the only one, in both Australia and New Zealand from the Irishman, Charles Yelverton O'Connor. Pity he was driven to suicide (in March 1902) before he was proven unquestionably a hero. More info in Mudcat thread : /mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=48647#4071699 Here is one story of the The Pipeline, : https://www.pipeliner.com.au/2016/03/16/water-pipeline-from-perth-to-kalgoorlie-1894-1903/ AND "While some sections of the pipeline have been replaced in increments over the decades, more than 300 km of the original pipeline is still in service today." : https://www.pipeliner.com.au/2020/03/01/golden-age-pipeline-set-to-be-replaced/ R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 05 Nov 20 - 06:40 AM SOLID ROCK, SACRED GROUND. ( Puli Kunpungka ) © 1982 Shane Howard Pitjantjatjara Translation: © 2012 Trevor Adamson/Ruby James/Shane Howard/Jodi Martin Out here nothing changes Not in a hurry anyway You can feel the endlessness With the coming of the light of day Talking about a chosen place They want to sell it in the marketplace Just a minute now Ch. Standin’ on solid rock Standin’ on sacred ground Livin’ on borrowed time And the winds of change Keep blowin’ down the line ’Round about the dawn of time Dreaming all began Proud people came Livin’ in a promised land Runnin’ from a heart of darkness Searching for a heart of light This could be paradise CHORUS Standin’ on the shore one day Saw the white sails in the sun Wasn’t long before you felt the sting White man, white law, white gun Don’t tell me that it’s justified Cause somewhere, someone lied.....(Captain Cook lied) It’s hard enough just to survive Who’s that crying? Genocide But we’re getting stronger now, stronger now Puli kunpungka ngaranyi Manta miil-miilpa katu Nyuntu kurangka ngaranyi Walpa kampa kutjuparinyi Walpa pulkaringanyi Puli kunpungka ngaranyi Manta miil-miilpa katu Nyuntu wirungka ngaranyi Walpa kampa kutjuparinyi Walpa pulkaringanyi Standin’ on solid rock Standin’ on sacred ground Livin’ on borrowed time And the winds of change Are blowin’ down the line. https://www.facebook.com/goannafella/posts/d41d8cd9/10156094824594461/ (Shane H. correcting online lyrics) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqxX9YDL0tk clip of Goanna fronted by a very youthful-looking Shane Howard(!) – Live at Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne, 1983 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbAMtQQYcZ0 a 2016 version with Darlow and featuring Shane Howard. R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 05 Nov 20 - 05:49 AM YEA HO, LITTLE FISHY There's a song in my heart for the one I love best And her picture is tattooed all over my chest, Ch. Yea ho, little fishy, don't cry, don't cry, Yea ho, little fishy, don't cry, don't cry. There are fish in the sea, there is no doubt about it Just as good as the ones that have ever come out of it, Little fish, when he's caught, he fights like a bull whale As he threshes the water with his long narrow tail. The ship's under way and the weather is fine The captain's on the bridge hanging out other lines, The crew are asleep, and the ocean's at rest And I'm singing this song to the one I love best. J.S. Manifold, in The Penguin Australian Song Book (vol 1), writes: "A foc'sle song from the Queensland coast. A composite from versions printed in Singabout, Vol. 2, No. 4, and Vol. 3, No. 2 ...... The original sources were Dick Fizgerald of Charleville, and Jack Wright of Coogee." The Provenance of this song is discussed on these two Mudcat threads and other versions given : /mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=8689#54998 and /mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=42677 The apparently Portuguese chune makes it a luvverly song to sing!! Here are Chloe & Jason Roweth at Sydney’s Humph Hall in 2010 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSo_GZ-HSiQ I’ve included this one coz the singers’ve got the right name, haha!!! : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCWLCGJCSas “A Portuguese lullaby that was sung by Manuel(Spencer Tracy) in the 1937 Captain's Courageous movie that was based on a Gloucester fishing schooner tragedy. This is our adaption of the lullaby. Sung by Audi and Peter SOUZA” BtW, Fremantle in WA, has Portuguese fishermen in its history, along with many other European/Mediterranean peoples [https://fremantlestuff.info/fhs/fs/5/MaySally.html]; don’t know about their music though (anyone??)….. R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 05 Nov 20 - 05:22 AM another of Kevin Baker's thoughtful songs ONE HAND’S THE BOSS'S by Kevin Baker Back in the Sixties I travelled through Queensland My wallet grew thin and I needed a job. I talked to some workers at a pub up in Noosa They said “Head on to Gladstone if you need a few bob". When l hitched there the next day the sparkies were striking, Two weeks they'd been out and the company stood firm. They were drinking their savings and wives were complaining And they knew they were beat if it went the full term. CHORUS - But you don't compromise, not when safety's the issue, A worker's no use if he's killed or he's maimed. Your loved ones may grieve but the company won't miss you; It's profits not workers they're out to maintain. You could see the strike drift as it limped through the third week, And Friday a vote took them back to the job And a sparkie I'd met let me borrow his hardhat So I'd pass on his pillion as one of their mob. The Aluminium plant now was nearing completion With work left with firms in a sub-contract role And security guards taking orders from Kaiser Were turning away those not on the payroll. I walked the site roads, got a job as a Lagger; Cutting asbestos patterns for the junctions of pipes. And the sun and the sandflies were no less than brutal As I sawed in a white cloud round a tin prototype. Overtime and allowances made the pay worth it Insulating sub-contract for the giant Kaiser Steel But the work force was shrinking as contracts completed And the power of the Unions they were bringing to heel. CHORUS Men came to depend on the work of each other And friendships were formed in the pub and crib-room. And everyone knew when the site claimed a victim That none of us were from such outcomes immune. And when the rains came and the crust of the lagging Oozed a white milk that caused many a slip The talk in the crib-room became agitated If you slipped on the high pipes you were on a death trip. Now Sandy and Joe they knew safety and Unions, They called us together and the feeling was plain. Some people spoke, others listened in silence And we voted to no longer work in the rain. And when the Boss came he kept talking of deadlines, How each overdue day was costing him dear. Some sympathised but nobody was budging; We'd all slipped enough to be guided by fear. The next day we found we had no Joe or Sandy They'd been barred from the barracks transferred from the site. The Company required them for new work in Brisbane Where everyone knew they'd be sacked on the quiet. And leaderless now we went over our options: No job was safe and our work prospects tight. And when the Boss came one by one the men drifted Out where the lagging bled a juice milky white. CHORUS Lars was a rigger, he was crazy with courage; He'd leap over gaps at a breathtaking height. That morning the greasy wet rigging propelled him Down to the ground in a tumbling flight. His death fall was broken on the back of a workmate But he'd bounced off the vats and the pipes as he fell And he screamed with the pain till the ambulance took him Away from his friends to his own private hell. That night I went round to the ward where they put him, He was stupid with drugs but still squirming with pain. He’d broken his back and his spleen had been ruptured And they doubted he'd ever go rigging again. One moment his ravaged face smiled recognition Then I lost him as agony called him away. The next week I left to return to the City And the friends I made there I've not seen to this day. CHORUS Many years later I read in the paper Of the killer Asbestos and the cancer it spawns. And I thought about Lars and I hoped I was different; That I'd left before I too was one of its pawns. I remembered the white dust that clogged up my nostrils, And working the high pipes with a Dutchman I'd known. He had said "When you work where your life is in danger Make one hand the Boss's but the other your own." CHORUS from his CD Riding the Wind. The Songs of Kevin Baker, Volume IV, 2004. & it has not been recorded. Thanks to Ralph for somehow getting the words from the jpg I sent him - via OCR I believe (she sez. uncertainly) |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 05 Nov 20 - 01:39 AM Queensland’s CLOUDSTREET, that fabulous duo of JOHN THOMPSON and NICOLE MURRAY, later joined by EMMA NIXON (making them a fabulous trio!), have had their YT presence updated of late – well worth checking out : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTn_MPIJ6h1Cin2-8TUf5Cg/playlists https://www.youtube.com/user/cloudstreetarts/videos ENJOY their singing; the harmonies, musicianship, compositions, love of the folk tradition, - and their great sense of fun and joy that overflows in their love of performing : sure hope you’ve been able to see them Live! Stewie posted “SCOTS of the RIVERINA” recently and so I’m adding a version by Cloudstreet : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ncVDPR3szI Here also, is a version of Andy M.Stewart’s “The Valley of Strathmore”, which I add in here, not coz it’s Aussie or Kiwi, but coz I love the song (and we have lots of Scots-heritage folk Down Under (come to think of it – I’m One, haha!!) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KivCmk1ZPP0 It’s live, but from just where, I don’t know…… [ I recall watching John sing this at the last pre-Covid Maleny Music Festival and there was barely a dry eye in the hall. Um ..… surely it wasn’t just me?!! ] R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 05 Nov 20 - 12:07 AM KILLING FLOOR Michael Atkinson (Redgum 1975-87) Joe spoke no English, but he had a dream, And he saved up most of his pay To bring his wife and six kids from the Lebanon And settle down here to stay. You could feel the prison of his loneliness, ‘Cause he wouldn't see them for years, He kept brandy behind the compressed air tanks And gulped it when the coast was clear. Nick the Greek collected tropical fish, But he had to be a character too, So he smuggled in piranha just to break the law And fed them on kangaroo. Bob's pride was his handlebar moustache, And he said he still combed out sand. He pushed a tank through the Iraqi desert, So they made him the leading hand. And the summer night shifts were long and cool, Charlie chain-smoked cigars, Young David sweated in his speckled paint mask, As he gazed out at the stars. Crazy Charlie was a Yugoslav, His old straight-eight Chevvy could move, His ambition was live on a hippy commune When Dave told him about free love. Fred had been a farmer, a heavyweight champ, He had hands like a stump-jump plough, He could move the earth with the thrust of his arm, He was loading on paint line now. And the boys made a noise every Friday night In the bar of the Hilton Hotel, Downing pints and chewing the fat Till the 10 o'clock closing bell. It was only rumour 'til the foreman came And hiding his shame with a cough He said, "They're cutting back down to one shift now, We're gonna have to lay you off." Joe held his gaze, gulped his brandy, And spat it out at his feet, Bob stood bolt-still looking thunderstruck, Nick swore for an hour in Greek. But their anger was spent in a rush of fire And then smouldered out of mind, When they shook hands on that last grey day, Each was, in his way, resigned. And a few days later I saw old Joe, He looked like he'd aged ten years, Drunk on the tiles of the Stag Hotel, He couldn't hold back the tears. Fred had talked of his grueling heavyweight bouts, I remembered what he’d said: "There's no giving up on that killing floor, If you don't fight, you're dead." If you work with your hands for your livelihood, Someday you might have to choose, When the class war rages on the factory floor, If you don't fight, you lose. If you work with your hands for your livelihood, Someday you might have to choose, When the class war rages on the factory floor, If you don't fight, you lose. If you don't fight, you lose. If you don't fight, you lose. If you don't fight, you lose. Joe spoke no English, but he had a dream, And saved up most of his pay To bring his wife and six kids from the Lebanon And settle down here to stay. This song was on Redgum’s first 1978 album “If You Don’t Fight You Lose”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bL62Bx9zuE ”Nearly all of these characters were real. I worked with them over eight months on a production line on South Road. I thought I made up the last line which, on our first interstate tours, we were later gratified to see grafitti-ed on hoardings and stations. However, as some pedantic souls have pointed out, it was a subconscious Australian twist on Mao's `dare to struggle, dare to win'. – MA” Here is a version by Qld’s Cloudstreet : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uAYXro5Hdw&list=PL5gZs9Q8fBmcAynUQQBjs_Jla8QaHQu3H&index=92 R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 04 Nov 20 - 08:32 PM SCOTS OF THE RIVERINA (H.Lawson/A.Monsborough) The boy cleared out to the city from his home at harvest time They were Scots of the Riverina and to run from home was a crime The old man burned his letters, the first and last he burned And he scratched his name from the bible when the old wife’s back was turned A year went past and another - there were calls from the firing-line They heard the boy had enlisted, but the old man made no sign His name must never be mentioned on the farm by Gundagai They were Scots of the Riverina with ever the kirk hard by The boy came home on his final, and the township’s bonfire burned His mother’s arms were about him, but the old man’s back was turned The daughters begged for pardon till the old man raised his hand A Scot of the Riverina who was hard to understand. The boy was killed in Flanders where the best and bravest die. There were tears at the Graham homestead and grief in Gundagai But the old man ploughed at daybreak and the old man ploughed till the mirk There were furrows of pain in the orchard while his house-folk went to the kirk The hurricane lamp in the rafters dimly and dimly burned And the old man died at the table when the old wife’s back was turned Face down on his bare arms folded, he sank with his wild grey hair Outspread o’er the open bible and a name rewritten there Youtube clip --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 04 Nov 20 - 06:09 PM BLUE MURDER (Alistair Hulett) They said it’s easy money In a full page ad in the local rag Always nice and sunny Come on lad and pack your bag It’s off to West Australia Leave the old hometown behind Be a winner, not a failure There’s money to be made in the Wittenoom mine Chorus: Day in, day out, everyday they drive us harder Day in, day out, they’re getting away with blue murder They took me to my quarters A stinking bed in an old tin shed Got my working orders With a lamp and tin hat on my head Chorus My girl she’s a cook and a cleaner. She works all day in the canteen hall Six days since I’ve seen her. Some don’t have no girl at all Chorus She sweeps the fine blue dust up Tips it into an old wool pack Never had a check-up If she did, she’d get the sack Chorus I feel my health is failing I work all day in the thick blue dust The kids play in the tailings The boss says work and work I must Chorus Youtube clip Wittenoom --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 03 Nov 20 - 10:40 PM WIYATHUL (G.Yunupingu) Two scrub fowl crying out, looking for Guwalilna the calls like woman crying, looking for Murrurnawu the cries returning his mind to the jungles at Mutlwutjna oh place Guwalilna, Warradika, Yumayna, m.m Oh the old man cries, from the drink oh dad Kamba-Djunadjuna, home Mayan-naraka bright in his mind oh my two mums, beloved mums, hold Ruypu Milinditj oh my two mums, beloved mums, cry for the sacred spring Burarrapu oh the place Guwalilna, Warradika, Yumayna, m.m https://lyricstranslate.com/en/wiyathul-wiyathul.html Youtube clip Most Darwin gardeners hate them, but the orange-footed scrubfowl is family to the Gamatj people. Scrubfowl cry The late Gurrumul Yunupingu was a Northern Territory treasure. --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 03 Nov 20 - 09:57 PM BAPA (G.Yunupingu) Warwuyu ?arranha mulkana ?araku bapawu ?urununa gunipunharayu ya..a, bäpa marrkapmirri ?athina wilawilayurruna ?uru?una djarrawalyurruna liya-wayma Bekul?ura ya..a bäpa marrkapmirri m..m m..m m..m ?äthina Djotarra manda garray Dhuwandjika Daylulu ?uru?una djarrapalwuyu liya-wayma wä?a?ura Gunya?arri m..m m..m m..m ------------------------------ [english translation] Grief have taken hold of me for my father when the sun sets o..h, beloved father Crying and crying when the sun goes down my mind there at Bekulnura o..h, beloved father m..m m..m m..m Two Gumatj ladies crying ancestor boss ladies Dhuwandjika and Daylulu when the sun sets my mind there at the place Gunyanara (Bekulnura) m..m m..m m..m Youtube clip --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 03 Nov 20 - 09:40 PM THOU SHALT NOT STEAL (Kev Carmody) In 1788 down Sydney Cove? The first boat people land And they said, 'Sorry boys our gain’s your loss We’re gonna steal your land And if you break our new British laws For sure you’re gonna hang Or work your life like our convicts With chains on your neck and hands' Chorus: And they taught us Oh oh black woman thou shalt not steal Oh oh black man thou shalt not steal We’re gonna civilise Your black barbaric lives And teach you how to kneel But your history couldn’t hide The genocide The hypocrisy to us was real ’Cause your Jesus said You’re supposed to give the oppressed A better deal We say to you, yes whiteman thou shalt not steal Oh ya our land you’d better heal Your science and technology, hey you can make a nuclear bomb Development has increased its size to three million megatons If you think that’s progress I suggest your reasoning is unsound You shoulda found out long ago You best keep it in the ground Chorus Me and Neil and Rednut Sittin’ underneath that Indooroopilly Bridge Watchin’ that blazin’ sun go down Behind the tall tree’d mountain ridge The land’s our heritage and spirit here The rightful culture’s black And we sittin’ here just wonderin’ When we gonna get the land back Chorus You talk of conservation Keep the forest pristine green Yet in two hundred years your materialism Has stripped the forests clean A racist’s a contradiction That’s understood by none Mostly their left hand holds a bible Their right hand holds a gun Chorus Youtube clip --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 03 Nov 20 - 08:40 PM MONDAY'S EXPERTS (Weddings, Parties, Anything) Yeah yeah yeah Do you see what I mean Monday's experts Always know what's best Always tell you what you should've done Monday's experts Always know what's cooking How the game was lost and how it could've been won When Monday comes around Everyone's an expert in my town Monday's experts Yeah yeah yeah Monday's experts Yeah yeah Well I see them up the shops, I see them down the street And when I go up the pub, it's nearly everyone I meet They're saying I should've done this or I should've done that But by the time they're finished talking, well my beers are getting flat When Monday comes around Everyone's an expert in my town When Monday comes on by Everyone's an expert to this guy Well Tuesday, Wednesday, I don't mind Thursday, Friday talking blind Saturday, Sunday not so bad Monday comes, it drives me mad Monday's experts Talking in the tearoom In the workshop and the office, talking all around the place Monday's experts Hey they've always got the good oil Pity you can't put a bet on at the finish of a race When Monday comes around Everyone's an expert in my town When Monday comes on by Everyone's an expert to this guy When Monday comes along Everyone's an expert on my song Monday's experts Yeah yeah yeah Monday's experts You see what I mean Monday's experts Yeah yeah Monday's experts Youtube clip --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 03 Nov 20 - 08:04 PM In a similar vein: YUPPIETOWN (Alistair Hulett) People who live round here they don't have that much They make do with things others wouldn't even touch People who live round here they work in the factory They don't have to choose they're ruled by necessity Chorus: And they better watch out New breed taking over Driving us out Givin' us the old once over They want to tear the place down And turn it into Yuppietown People who live round here remember how it used to be Natter to yer neighbour on the street or stop in for a cup of tea People who live round here they like to have a beer and all But since the old pub changed hands you can't get in in overalls People who live round here they're gonna have to move out west Funny how the powers that be always think they know what's best People who live round here they've got the place in such a state People who live round here pull down the price of real estate Youtube clip --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 03 Nov 20 - 07:49 PM I just went thru Mark's song list on Union Songs for songs I recognised. You & Stewie would no doubt see other songs. It's a gold mine of songs. sandra |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 03 Nov 20 - 07:04 PM Yay! Some good ones there, Sandra! R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 03 Nov 20 - 04:20 AM The Rodney © Dennis O'Keeffe 1992, tune After the Ball is Over Once a young rouseabout, boiled a billy of tea, He asked an old shearer, a story tell me please, I'll tell you a story, but you must tell no-one, Something my mates and I, in days gone by have done, Once there was a captain, of a river boat, With forty-five free labourers, on the Darling they did float, The year was 1894, the strikes had just begun, And shearers blood was being spilt, far worse than 91. Chorus After we burnt the Rodney, We danced on the river-bank, There we played an old tune, until the Rodney sank, Many a heart was happy, if you could only see, We had a blood great bonfire, The night we burnt the Rodney. We did not like this captain, of him we had no fear, To stations he'd been taking scabs, upon the river for years, We'll take his boat the men all yelled, we'll teach this Captain Dickson, So, wire stretched across the river, to the trees we started fixing. But the Captain heard of out little game, and tied up miles below, Through the mashes on the river-bank, running we did go, Then swimming through the water, the men all followed me, And in the darkness of the night, we climbed aboard the Rodney. The Captain could not believe his eyes, to see us standing there, With raddle painted faces, and mud smeared into our hair, The crew we did not harm at all, but let them row away, The scabs we left on an island, a small price they did have to pay. Then we soaked the decks with kerosene, from stem to stern, Then all us lads went ashore, and cheered as the Rodney burned, No-one recognised us, they knew not who to blame, So young man, you must tell no-one, Shear-Blade is my name. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 03 Nov 20 - 03:55 AM When the coal blew away © Maurie Mulheron 1996 Do you know how heavy the winds blow here? His smile was rising from ear to ear The old miner sat back, he'd a story that day About the time on the coast when the coal blew away All the mines around Bulli and further away Were being worked each week for only two to three days Just enough to stop them from getting the dole While the mine-owners secretly stockpiled the coal Chorus The winds were so heavy on the coast that day The winds were so heavy that the coal blew away! So the miners formed a strong picket line To try and stop the coal from leaving the mine From Sydney they trucked in the scabs each day With police on guard to keep the miners at bay With scabs loading coal by the railway track The miners stepped forward, the mood blacker than black The sergeant stood between them with a gun and a sneer I'll shoot the first Commie who tries to interfere! Chorus The winds were so heavy on the coast that day The winds were so heavy that the coal blew away! A fifty ton load was sent on its way Scheduled for Sydney the very next day The miners withdrew, full of anger, despair No victory this time, no hope in the air The train slowed down just near Waterfall The guard heard laughter and this is what he saw From a wagon some miners jumped onto the track With shovels, grins and faces smeared black Chorus The winds were so heavy on the coast that day The winds were so heavy that the coal blew away! With his lantern he searched up and down the train No coal could be seen, he searched in vain And the headlines in the paper read the very next day The winds were so heavy, the coal blew away! Now as you listen to my story today You might think it strange that coal could blow away But the miners with their shovels in the wagon that night Swear it is true and I reckon they're right Chorus The winds were so heavy on the coast that day The winds were so heavy that the coal blew away! Notes Maurie Mulheron writes "Great true story about a union victory down here in the Illawarra that occurred in September 1938 at the Old Corn Beef Mine. The story is told in the song. After the scabs had loaded the coal, 8 miners stowed away on the train and spent the next couple of hours shovelling out the scab coal onto the track as the train headed north to Sydney. The next day, when the police investigated, the Miners Federation explained to them that they knew nothing about the missing coal. By way of explanation, the union suggested that it could have been the heavy winds that had blown the night before! The "Bulli Times" ran a headline: "THE COAL THAT BLEW AWAY". By the way, after the coal had been shovelled off the train by the 'stowaway' miners, the Detective-Sergeant raced down to Thirroul the next day to interview the miners. An astute fellow, he visited Arthur McDonald, one of the miners. "Don't insult my intelligence," said the policeman, "by trying to make me believe that the bloody wind on the South Coast blew all that coal away. We think you bastards did it." Thanks to Maurie Mulheron for permission to use this song. Maurie is the author of One Word We a play about the life of Pete Seeger |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 03 Nov 20 - 03:51 AM Nursery Rhyme Nursery Rhyme, A poem by Frank Wilmot©1916 Tune by Chris Kempster©Chris Kempster 1950s One year, two year, three year, four, Comes a khaki gentleman knocking at the door. "Any little boys at home, send them out to me To train them and brain them in battles yet to be." When a little boy is born feed him, train him so. Put him in a cattle pen and wait for him to grow. When he's nice and plump and dear, and sensible and sweet, Throw him in the trenches for the great grey rats to eat. Toss him in the cannon's mouth, cannons fancy best Tender little boys' flesh that's easy to digest. Mother rears her family on two pounds ten a week. Teaches them to wash themselves, teaches them to speak. Rears them with a heart's love, rears them to be men. Grinds her fingers to the bone, and then... what then? But parents who must rear the boys the cannons love to slay, Also pay for cannons that blow other boys away. Parsons tell them that their sons have just been blown to bits. Patriotic parents must all laugh like fits. Rear the boys for honest men and send them out to die! Where's the coward father who would dare raise a cry? Any gentleman's aware folk rear their children for Blunderers and plunderers to mangle in a war! Five year, six year, seven year, eight. "Hurry up you little chaps, the captain's at the gate!" Notes In 1916 during the First World War a poet named Frank Wilmot (who wrote under the name Furnley Maurice) turned his revulsion at the conscription of young people into this poem. It was set to music in the mid 1950s by Chris Kempster, and when he sang it at a folk session thirty years later, this led to Miguel Heatwole writing an arrangement of it for the Solidarity Choir. That version is on the choir's CD "Ten Years Strong". |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 03 Nov 20 - 03:41 AM how topical! Clive Palmer song Tune: Old Palmer Song Clive Palmer he says loudly 'ideas never die'. But I will show that statement is a mighty lie, For I can name a few ideas that now are lacking lives, And one of those I'm glad to say was the 'right to beating wives'. It blows the mind heigh-ho Clive Palmer's joined the show, And he has formed a voting band, so let the music play, And if he makes the Lodge,he will be hard to dodge, He's plain to see, even when he's a thousand miles away People once believed that this old world was flat But Aristotle came along and he put paid to that, Yes he put paid to that and Galileo came to show, That the earth went round the sun and his telescope proved so. Another dead idea was that those who had black skin, Were not as good as those who had a lack of mel-an-in. Mr N. Mandela he fought and won that fight. We know now that Ap-ar-thied, simply was not right. Ideas they will grow and they will fall and die, When all the people learn to think and don't believe a lie, Let no-one preach a lie for just like you and me, Ideas can languish and expire like leaves fall from a tree. Extra Expandable Verses So build your ship Titanic Clive although that has been done, And your Tyranosaurus Rex will not scare anyone, Why don't you use your money, it's something you don't lack, Build swimming pools for all the schools in the far Outback? If that's not to your taste and doesn't fit your plan, Then fund a scientific lab to aid the life of man, The life of a P.M. does not seem the place for you, Your idea about ideas soon could land you in the Poo. Yes Clive I think that you are far too good for that, You might be big and over weight and some might call you fat, But maybe there inside of you a heart of matching size, Could do so much,so much more, than you realize. Did you see the bright yellow poster after the Qld election this week - caption "Geez Clive $60 million and not a single seat, Should've come to Ikea". It's advertising a $27.95 chair from said store. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 03 Nov 20 - 03:31 AM Bump me into Parliament Come listen all kind friends of mine I want to move a motion To make an Eldorado here I've got a bonza notion Chorus Bump me into parliament Bounce me any way at all Bang me into parliament On next election day Some very wealthy friends I know Declare I am most clever While some can talk for an hour or so Why I can talk for ever I know the Arbitration Act As a sailor knows his riggins So if you want a small advance I'll talk to Justice Higgins I've read my bible ten times through And Jesus justifies me The man who does not vote for me By Christ he crucifies me Oh yes I am a Labor man And believe in revolution The quickest way to bring it on Is talking constitution I think the worker and the boss Should keep their present stations So I will surely pass a bill 'Industrial Relations' So bump them into parliament Bounce them any way at all Bung them into parliament Don't let the Court decay Written by Bill Casey an Australian member of the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) who later became secretary of the Queensland Branch of the Seamens Union of Australia. The IWW or Wobblies played an important part in the development of trade unions in USA. The most famous Wobbly was organiser/songwriter Joe Hill who was framed on a murder charge and executed in Salt Lake City. His ashes were scattered in many cities throughout the world, including Sydney. Tune 'Yankee Doodle' |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 03 Nov 20 - 02:16 AM The Basic Wage Dream © Don Henderson 1963 Sung by Bill Berry I dreamed a doctor told a judge from the Arbitration Court That he would only live to preside on one more case being fought. The judge whose conscience was ill at ease thought if this case will be my last, To hand down a fair decision might make up for his unjust past. The next case that was to come before this very worried sage, Was a request to raise by fifty-two bob the weekly basic wage. The old chap granted the raise in full and to assure his place in heaven, Made the payments retrospective to nineteen hundred and seven. On the first pay day after the trial I couldn't believe my luck, The paymaster brought my wages out on a fork lift truck, I dreamed we got paid on a Friday and on that lovely night, Mayne Nickless sent an armoured car to get me home all right. On the way we stopped at the R.S.L. and as I walked inside, A poker machine took a look at my pay and committed suicide. I turned around when I heard a man behind me softly speak, It was Dr. Coombs trying to borrow a quid to see him through the week. The alarm went off and I recalled as I was waking up, How people dream they saw the horse that won the Melbourne Cup, But they can't remember what number it was, well my dream was just the same For I can't for the very life of me think of that judge's name. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 03 Nov 20 - 02:03 AM wot not songs from Geoff & Peter?? All For Me Job © Geoff Francis and Peter Hicks 2006 Our union's story is there to be seen, We've won many victories and we've suffered defeats, But as I turn through the pages and look back through time, There's one single question stands out in my mind - Today we may prosper, today we live free, But if it weren't for the union, where would we be? Chorus: It's our union, our union that defends our rights, But our union's as strong as our will is to fight, For the union is you and the union is me, So stand up and stand by our union. From it's humble beginnings our union has grown, So no working person need struggle alone. But no gain that's been made has been made without cost, And together we'll see that no gain's ever lost; Take a look at those countries where workers aren't free - If it weren't for the union, where would we be? It's our union, our union ... Would you choose to go back, working twelve hours a day, Would you choose to toil more and a pittance be paid? Will you stand in the union against the new right, Or do you think on your own you can withstand their might? The answer is written in our history, If it weren't for the union, where would we be? It's our union, our union ... They say we've got problems, and the unions they blame, Well, Franco and Pinochet they said the same. If our union they weaken, if our union they break, Then where's our defence from becoming enslaved? So would you choose bondage above liberty? And if it weren't for the union, where would we be? It's our union, our union ... It's our union, our union ... sound |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 02 Nov 20 - 10:27 PM GREEN BAN FUSILIERS by Denis Kevans ©1972 tune: McAlpine's Fusiliers Chorus Up Broadway to the MBA come the Green Ban Fusiliers. They stole the street with their marching feet, placards high above their ears. In Sydney town they would not lie down, they gave Martin's scabs some cheer, And it's up Broadway to the MBA come the Green Ban Fusiliers. Half-smart thieves with their Gucci sleeves and car parks on the brain Told the usual lie: 'The trees've got to die' - the fig trees in Sydney's domain, And some said, 'Joe, we orta let 'em go. It's only bloody timber to be cleared, Ah, but listen to the trees as they whisper to the breeze and the Green Ban Fusiliers. Bulldozer blades made a lightning raid, coming in with a great big rush, Moving in for the kill up at Hunter's hill, at beautiful Kelly's Bush, But the local women lay down in the bulldozer's way, to the bucking and the shuddering of the gears, When their hands were raised the ones they praised were the Green Ban Fusiliers. They made a stand for our sunny land at the Rocks and Woolloomooloo. On the chimney tops they waltzed with the cops to save a bit of Sydney for you, And the finance fleas who made refugees of families who had been pioneers Finished on their arse, and they did their brass with the Green Ban Fusiliers. Through the years and through my tears I can see 'em marching again, From the dizzy heights and the concrete sites in sunshine and in rain, That patch of green's gettin' a lovely old sheen, no matter how many flow the years, And it's up Broadway to the MBA come the Green Ban Fusiliers. Lyrics and notes from Mark Gregory’s EXcellent website : http://unionsong.com/u041.html "Many thanks to Denis Kevans for permission to publish this song. Denis, known as Australia's Poet Lorrikeet, worked in Sydney as a labourer and member of the NSW BLF when he wrote this song. In the 1970's the NSW Builders Labourers Federation joined with residents' action groups and took on major corporations to save heritage buildings, bushland, and low-rent inner-city housing from developers' bulldozers. The MBA in the song is the Master Builders Association." Obit for the late Jack Mundey in the online ARCHITECTUREAU ezine : https://architectureau.com/articles/green-bans-hero-jack-mundey-dies/ IMHO, if only we’d had more men of his strength of character and ethics (and Joe Owens and Bob Pringle too), in every city in Oz, there’d be more ‘history’, trees, public open space, beautiful old buildings, and social responsibility, still extant (yes, I’m looking at you, Perth) ….. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-sj50MyQOA Chloe & Jason Roweth sing this important tale. Back to Werk for me, R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 02 Nov 20 - 08:45 PM More than 20 years ago, Bob Bolton posted this sentimental poem set to music by John Lahey. HERBERT HOOVER'S LOVE SONG (H.Hoover/J.Lahey) Do you ever dream, my sweetheart, of a twilight long ago Of a park in old Kalgoorlie, where the bougainvilleas grow Where the moonbeams on the pathways trace a shimmering brocade And the overhanging peppers form a lovers'promenade? Where in soft cascades of cadence from a garden close at hand Came the murmurous, mellow music of a sweet, orchestral band Years have flown since then, my sweetheart, fleet as orchard blooms in May But the hour that fills my dreaming, was it only yesterday? Stood we two a space in silence, while the summer sun slipped down And the grey dove dusk, with drooping pinions, wrapt the mining town Then you raised your tender glances darkly, dreamily to mine And my pulses clashed like symbols in a rhapsody divine And the pent-up fires of longing loosed their prison's weak control And in wild, hot words came rushing from my burning soul Wild hot words that spoke of passion, hitherto but half expressed And I clasped you close, my sweetheart, kissed you, strained you to my breast While the starlight-spangled heavens rolled around us where we stood And a tide of bliss kept surging through the current of our blood And I spent my soul in kisses, crushed upon your scarlet mouth Oh! My red-lipped, sunbrowned sweetheart, dark-eyed daughter of the south It was well that fate should part us, it was well my path should lead Back to slopes of high endeavour, aye, and was it well, indeed You have wed some southern squatter, learned long since his every whim Soothed his sorrows, borne his troubles, sung your sweetest songs for him I have fought my fight and triumphed, on the map I've writ my name But I prize one hour of loving, more than fifty years of fame It was but a summer madness that possessed us, men will hold And the yellow moon bewitched me with its wizardry of gold Let them say it, dear, but oft-times in the dusk I close my eyes And in dreams drift back to where the stars rain splendour from the skies To a park in far Kalgoorlie, where the golden wattles grow Where you kissed me in the twilight of a summer long ago And I clasp you close, my sweetheart, while each throbbing pulse is thrilled By a low and mournful music that shall never more be stilled Note from p10 'Great Australian Folk Songs, John Lahey, Hill of Content Publishing Co, Melbourne, 1965. These remarkable verses are attributed to the late Herbert Hoover, President of the United States between 1929 and 1932. Hoover first came to the West Australian goldfields as a 23-year-old mining engineer in 1897, and he lived in Australia off and on for the next ten years. The goldfields historian, the late Arthur Reid, who knew Hoover, preserved the verses in his book 'Those Were the Days'. He said Hoover wrote them to a Kalgoorlie barmaid, years after he returned to the United States. Several West Australians sing different tunes, but their words are substantially the same. The tune here is my own adaptation. Youtube clip The American election looms. As a Republican, I wonder what Hoover would have thought of Trump. --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 02 Nov 20 - 08:42 PM EUABALONG BALL Oh, who hasn't heard of Euabalong Ball Where the lads of the Lachlan, the great and the small Come bent on diversion from far and from near To cast off their troubles for just once a year Like stringy old wethers, the shearers in force All rushed to the bar as a matter of course While waltzing his cliner, the manager cursed 'Cause someone had caught him a jab with his spurs There were sheilas in plenty, some two or three score Some two-tooths, some weaners, some maybe some more With their fleeces all dipped and so fluffy and clean The finest young shearlings that ever was seen The boundary-riders was friskin' about But the well-sinkers seemed to be feelin' the drought If the water was scarce, well, the whisky was there And what they couldn't drink, boys, they rubbed in their hair There was music and dancin' and goin' the pace Some went at a canter, some went at a race There was buckin' and glidin' and rootin' and slidin' And to vary the gait, some couples collidin' Oh, Euabalong Ball was a wonderful sight Rams among the two-tooths the whole flamin' night And many young girls will regret to recall The polkas they danced at Euabalong Ball. "Euabalong is on the Lachlan River some forty miles west of Condobolin, and the song was still around in those parts when I worked there in the early 1930s. A more genteel version than ours, called The Wooyeo Ball, was printed in Rob Webster’s The First Fifty Years of Temora (Temora, NSW, 1950), but the song belongs to the West, not the South. Webster puts the date of his version as 1888. In the course of more than thirty years singing the song, I’m sure I’ve tinkered around a lot with the tune. - A. L. Lloyd" I was after the version by Australia’s “The Wild Colonials” bushband (which originated with Declan Affley c.1969), with Jacko Kevins singing lead, but I have lamented their YT dirth before in this thread. [So far I have only come across one offering : “Canine Catastrophe” (aka The Dog’s Festival) : maybe that one should be posted???] BtW, I note that I incorrectly referred to them in my September 12th post as “The Wild Colonial Boys” but that is the Canadian band. The Aussie ones were “The Wild Colonials”. Anyhoo, despite the lyrics and notes above being taken from A.L.Lloyd’s recording on “The Great Aust’n Legend” LP, here is a version by The Cobbers : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeFihol-TbE R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 02 Nov 20 - 07:38 PM EULOGY (FOR A BLACK PERSON) (Kev Carmody) Lay me down in the sacred ground Keep me from the cold Keep me in the deep warm earth Where the stars can see my soul Take me where them trees stand tall By the waters in the river bend Let me face the rising sun Commend my spirit to the wind Make no monuments or mortal crowns Or speak my name again when you lay me down Lay me where the forest blooms In the land that’s seen no plough Where the fragrance on the western wind Is carried from every springtime flower Give me peace and give me rest Lay me down on the mountain crest Bury me softly without a sound Let the scrub grow back across that mound Make no monuments or mortal crowns Or speak my name again when you lay me down Bury me quick and bury me deep Without no coffin or shrouded sheet Wrap me in the Mother Earth So I can nurture the land’s rebirth Give me joy and give me song Carry the struggle wide and long Do not grieve and do not weep Mortal memories are all we keep make no monuments or mortal crowns Or speak my name again when you lay me down Let the winter dew fall on that grave Let me see the night sky blaze See the moon in the winter’s wane Knifing through that cosmic maze Give me water, give me fire Don’t give me monuments of stone Give me rainbows in the sky Give me back my land in which to lie Make no monuments or mortal crowns Or speak my name again when you lay me down Youtube clip --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 02 Nov 20 - 07:20 PM CULLER'S LAMENT (Black Matai) (P.Cape/D.Toms) What are you singing, black matai, black matai There's snow on the tops and the fire's burning down What are you singing, east wind in the matai Your love's left the station, she's gone to the town What are you chattering, tall mountain birches The wind's in the west and the rain's pelting down The flash floods are coming, I've got to keep moving Your love's left the station, she's gone to the town What are you whispering, wind in the snowgrass Combing the tussocks and smoothing them down My love's hair was golden, like snowgrass in summer Your love's left the station, she's gone to the town Winds in the open tops what are you calling There's deer in the valley, a thousand feet down You cry on the cols and you shout on the ridges My love's left the station, she's gone to the town The stink of the deerskins, the screech of the keas The eighty pound pack that keeps dragging me down I'll get out of the mountains and back to the sheep yards But my love's left the station, she's gone to the town Youtube clip Note: Deer cullers hunt deer in the bush and mountains to reduce their numbers and thereby the damage they do to the environment. Nowadays, hunting is often done by helicopter, but cullers used to live lonely lives - in the wilderness for weeks at a time, getting supplies through high country stations and returning to town only after months of drying and packing skins. Deer were introduced for sport, but in the 1930s high country farmers and forest workers realised that the deer were a threat to farming and the land itself. They competed with sheep for grazing and destroyed bush and high country cover, leading to soil erosion. The deer culler was a 'good keen man', the phrase coming from a newspaper advertisement for cullers. They came from all backgrounds and were renowned for their humour and independence. From 'An Ordinary Joker:The life and songs of Peter Cape' p106. Matai - (black pine) a major forest tree reaching 30m with a tall straight trunk. Kea - native parrot, the world's only alpine parrot. 'the weight of the rifle' is often sung in place of 'the screech of the keas' Col - a mountain pass or saddle 80 pound pack - the approx 40kg pack that carried essentials for the culler: food, clothes, ammunition, billy and plate. Snowgrass - hardy alpine grass which grows in tussocks or clumps. --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 02 Nov 20 - 08:10 AM THE THINGS WE DARE NOT TELL Henry Lawson (1901) The fields are fair in autumn yet, and the sun's still shining there, But we bow our heads and we brood and fret, because of the masks we wear; Or we nod and smile the social while, and we say we're doing well, But we break our hearts, oh, we break our hearts! for the things we must not tell. There's the old love wronged ere the new was won, there's the light of long ago; There's the cruel lie that we suffer for, and the public must not know. So we go through life with a ghastly mask, and we're doing fairly well, While they break our hearts, oh, they kill our hearts! do the things we must not tell. We see but pride in a selfish breast, while a heart is breaking there; Oh, the world would be such a kindly world if all men's hearts lay bare! We live and share the living lie, we are doing very well, While they eat our hearts as the years go by, do the things we dare not tell. We bow us down to a dusty shrine, or a temple in the East, Or we stand and drink to the world-old creed, with the coffins at the feast; We fight it down, and we live it down, or we bear it bravely well, But the best men die of a broken heart for the things they cannot tell. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjAfqf8pysg A setting by the late Noel Watson, sung by Blue Mountains musician, Christine Wheeler and friends, from her 2013 CD of Lawson songs “Rain in the Mountains”, A very different and topical interpretation by musician, Katherine Buckell, residing in NY, but born in Victoria : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUbYjXuAgD4 R-J |
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