Origins: Melbourne Tram Song

Subject: Origins: Melbourne Tram Song
From: GUEST,kettecat
Date: 24 Oct 24 - 06:13 PM

There is a modern folk rock song I really like called Melbourne Tram Song. The earliest recording of it I can find is by Australian folk punk band Catgut Mary (from 2008). Did they write it or is it an older song? It has been covered multiple times since by groups such as Rogue Scholars and Bartley's Folly.

The chorus, for reference, is:
Daughter of the Thames
Won't you come out with me then
We can breakfast in the city
Coffee cigarettes and eggs
And if the rain keeps coming down
We'll find a good bar underground
Where they serve up all the merry beers of England

Subject: RE: Origins: Melbourne Tram Song
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 25 Oct 24 - 05:31 PM

I checked with a Melbourne-based friend -

The lyrics quoted in Mudcat don’t seem to relate to Melbourne and trams at all. I had a bit of a listen and found it hard to distinguish the words.

I don’t know the song or anything about it.

The only Melbourne tram song I know is very different - Bernard Bolan’s very old song Toorak Tram