Lyr ADD: Overlanders

Subject: Lyric Req: Overlanders
From: Rabbi-Sol
Date: 23 May 04 - 02:29 PM

I am looking for the lyrics to the song "Overlanders" which was recorded by The Clancy Brothers on one of their early albums, Welcome To Our House. SOL ZELLER

Subject: RE: Lyric Req: Overlanders
From: Melani
Date: 23 May 04 - 03:12 PM

Is it an Australian cattle drover song?

Subject: RE: Lyric Req: Overlanders
From: Little Robyn
Date: 23 May 04 - 03:33 PM

For tonight we'll drink the health
Of every overlander.
Robyn

Subject: Lyr Add: THE OVERLANDER
From: Melani
Date: 23 May 04 - 03:50 PM

^^^ There's a trade we all know well,
It's bringing cattle over;
On the Northeast track, to the Gulf and back,
Men know the Queensland drover.

Cho: Pass the billy 'round, me boys,
    Don't let the pint pot stand there,
    For tonight we'll drink the health
    Of every Overlander.

There are men from every land,
From Spain and France and Flanders;
We're a well-mixed pack, both white and black,
Men call the Overlanders.

Cho:

I come frome the northern plains,
Where the girls and grass are scanty;
Where the streams run dry or ten feet high
And there's either drought or plenty.

Cho:

When we've earned a spree in town,
We live like kings in clover,
And a whole month's check goes down the neck
Of many a Queensland drover.

Cho:

As I pass along the way,
The children raise my dander,
Saying, "Mother dear, take in the clothes,
Here comes an Overlander."

Cho:

There many be some inaccuracies here, since I am doing it from memory and can't find the tape. Gordon Bok also recored it; this is his version.

Subject: RE: Lyric Req: Overlanders
From: Rabbi-Sol
Date: 23 May 04 - 07:06 PM

Thank You Melani. I belive that you have it all correct. SOL ZELLER

Subject: Lyr Add: THE OVERLANDER
From: Rapparee
Date: 23 May 04 - 08:00 PM

The way I remember it:
^^^

There's a trade you all know well
It brought these wild geese over
On the Northen Track and the Great Outback
They know the Queensland Rovers.

CH: So pass the billy 'round boys,
Don't let the pint just stand there
For tonight we'll drink the health
Of every Overlander.

There's men from every land
From Spain and France and Flanders
They're a well-mixed pack, both white and black,
The Queensland Overlanders.

CH

Out on the Northern Plains
Where the girls and grass are scanty
The creeks run dry or they're ten feet high
And there's either drought or plenty.

CH

When we've earned a spree in town
We'll live like pigs in clover
And the whole damned check comes down the neck
Of many a Queensland Rover.

CH

As I pass along the road
The children raise my dander
Crying "Mother dear, take in the clothes!
Here comes an Overlander."

CH

There are lyrics here, here, and here (with chords) -- and they're all slightly different.

Gordon Bok's is on his "Song for November" album.

Subject: RE: Lyric Req: Overlanders
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 23 May 04 - 08:33 PM

What is purported to be the Bok version is in the DT.

Subject: RE: Lyric Req: Overlanders
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 23 May 04 - 08:34 PM

A DT search on "overlanders" gets you

Queensland Overlanders

Presumably transcribed from Gordon Bok.

The song appears in the Penguin Australian Song Book (J.S. Manifold, 1964) as "The Queensland Drover", with two tunes for the one text.

A few differences from the DT version:
- The DT second verse ("men from every land") is the third verse; and it ends with "the Queensland overlanders" (not "rovers")
- There's a sixth verse not mentioned above, either:

Now I'm bound for home once more,
on a prad that's quite a goer;
I can find a job with a crawling mob
on the banks of the Maranoa.

Manifold's notes on the song:

Known from childhood. The first tune is one that I must have learnt from my father, and heard again from Vance Palmer in 1950. Both men would have picked it up in southern central Queensland at about the same time, circa 1900. The tune given in Palmer and Sutherland is not exactly the same. The second tune, with verses agreeing so closely as to be printable as one version, was sung to me by Mrs. Webb, late of Cairns, in 1962. It appears to be a descendent of the tune 'Dearest Mae' given by Anderson. Text is from Bandicoot Ballads.

~ Becky in Tucson

Subject: RE: Lyric Req: Overlanders
From: Hrothgar
Date: 23 May 04 - 09:23 PM

There's a girl in Sydney Town
Who said "Don't leave me lonely" -
I said, "It's sad, but my old prad
"Has room for one man only."

There is also another version to a different tune quoted in Ron Edwards' "Overlander Song Book". I'll put it in here when I get a chance to type it out.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE OVERLANDER (trad. Australia)
From: Hrothgar
Date: 24 May 04 - 06:04 AM

The Overlander

When I went out exploring, I took up a fine new run,
And then came back to Sydney and ha some jolly fun;
Then I wanted stock for Queensland, to Kempsey I did wander,
And bought a thousand cattle there, and then turned overlander.

So pass the billy round, boys, don't let the pint pot stand there,
For tonight we'll drink the health of every overlander.

When the cattle were all mustered and the outfit ready to start,
I saw the boys all mounted, with their swags all in the cart,
All sorts of men I had, from German, France and Flanders
Lawyers, doctors, good and bad, in my mob of overlanders.

From the road I then fed out where the grass was green and young
When a squatter with a curse and shout told me to move along,
Says I "Come draw it mild, don't you raise my dander
"For I'm a regular knowing child - a Victorian overlander.""

He swore he'd pound ny cattle - but I bullied him that time
They very seldom saw me out, and they never got the fine.
They think we live on poor beef, but no, I'm not a gander
When a straggler joined the mob - "He'll do" says the overlander.

If our horses get done up, why of course we turn them free.
And then a cove won't walk, you know, if a sweater he can see.
Stray workers too, we bone, and I say it is no slander
To say there's many a clever trick done by an overlander.

I would scorn to prig a shirt, that all my mates can say,
But if we pass a township upon a washing day
The dirty brats of kids would shout, and quickly raise my dander
Crying "Mammy, quick, take in your clothes, here comes an overlander."

In town we drain the wine cup, and go to see the play,
We never think of being hard up,but how to spend the day,
We steer up to the girls that rig themselves with grandeur,
And while they sweat our cheques, they swear they love the overlander.

From "The Overlander Song Book" Ron Edwards (collector and editor), The Rams Skull Press, Holloways Beach, Second edition 1969. National Library of Australia Registry No, AUS 69-2332

The versions of this that I have heard sung have some differences.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE OVERLANDER (trad. Australia)
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 24 May 04 - 09:14 AM

G'day Rabbi-Sol, all & sundry ... and Hrothgar,

Most of the versions in this thread are modern reworks ... trimmed down to the attention span of modern audiences. There are two of the older (and much longer) versions reprinted in the Douglas Stewart and Nancy Keesing expanded version of 'Banjo' Paterson's 1905/12 Old Bush Songs:

THE OVERLANDER
Anon.

There's a trade you all know well
It's bringing cattle over-
I'll tell you all about the time
When I became a drover.
I made up my mind to try the spec,
To the Clarence I did wander,
And bought a mob of duffers there
To begin as an overlander.
Chorus Pass the wine cup round, my
             Don't let the bottle stand there,
             For tonight we'll drink the health
             Of every overlander.

When the cattle were all mustered,
And the outfit ready to start,
I saw the lads all mounted,
With their swags left in the cart.
All kinds of men I had
From France, Germany, and Flanders;
Lawyers, doctors, good and bad,
In the mob of overlanders.

From the road I then fed out
When the grass was green and young:
When a squatter with curse and shout
Told me to move along.
I said, "You're very hard;
Take care, don't raise my dander,
For I'm a regular knowing card,
The Queensland overlander."

Tis true we pay no licence,
And our run is rather large;
'Tis not often they can catch us,
So they cannot make a charge.
They think we live on store beef,
But no, I'm not a gander;
When a good fat stranger joins the mob,
"He'll do," says the overlander.

One day a squatter rode up.
Says he, "You're on my run;
I've got two boys as witnesses.
Consider your stock in pound."
I tried to coax, thence bounce him,
But my tin I had to squander,
For he put threepence a head
On the mob of the overlander.

The pretty girls in Brisbane
Were hanging out their duds.
I wished to have a chat with them,
So steered straight for the tubs.
Some dirty urchins saw me,
And soon they raised my dander,
Crying, "Mother, quick! take in the clothes,
Here comes an overlander!"

In town we drain the wine cup,
And go to see the play,
And never think to be hard up
For how to pass the day.
Each has a sweetheart there,
Dressed out in all her grandeur-
Dark eyes and jet black flowing hair.
"She's a plum," says the overlander.

Substantially from Paterson's Old Bush Songs, but revised from another version in The Queenslanders' New Colonial Camp Fire Song Book.



THE OVERLANDER
(Another version)
Anon.
(Air - King of the Cannibal Islands)

Come all you lads who long to roam
And cannot live at ease at home,
But wish to cross the salt-sea foam,
In foreign lands to wander.
I know a life will suit you well,
That from all others bears the bell,
Pitch pen and ink and books to h-],
And join an overlander.

Chorus So let the bottle quickly pass,
            And every man fill up his glass,
            And drink to every pretty lass
            Who loves an overlander.

No bounds have we to our estates
From Normanton to Bass's Straits;
We're not fenced in with walls or gates-
No Monarch's realms are grander.
Our sheep and cattle eat their fill,
And wander blithely at their will
O'er forest, valley, plain, or hill,
Free as an overlander.

The youth of Scotland, long ago,
Were wont-as doubtless you may know
To march abroad to meet the foe,
In Germany or Flanders.
No mercenaries now they need,
For pay, or love, or fame to bleed,
So let them hasten here with speed,
And go as overlanders.

We pay no licence nor assess
Our flocks-they never grow much less
But gather on the road I guess,
As onward still we wander.
We vote assessments all a sham,
Nor care for licences a flam,
For free selectors not a d--n,
Says every overlander.

The squatters, when our flocks they spy,
To hunt us off their runs will try;
With me that game is all my eye,
And raises soon my dander.
I gammon them a flock to lose,
To look for them they can't refuse,
While I pick out the spot I choose,
And they curse the overlander.

One day I went to Sydney port,
Resolved to have some jolly sport.
Abashed I was by this report,
And looked just like a gander.
A lady (?) in a dirty gown-
Out of a window looking down-
Cried, "Polly, quick! I'll bet a crown
That cove's an overlander."

And when to see the play I go,
The naughty females tease me so,
And one cries out, "Oh here's a go",
And asks me what I'll stand her.
Says she, "Now come along with me,
From dancers all I'll keep you free,
For well I know you're on the spree
'Cos you're an overlander."

I scan the boxes with my glass,
And when I see a pretty lass,
I step up to her, bold as brass,
And to a seat I hand her.
And after that I perhaps make free
To call next day, and stop to tea.
She don't object, but says, "I see
That you're an overlander."

Then back to Moreton Bay I come,
But cannot rest content at home;
I feel again the itch to roam,
And to the bush I wander.
Perhaps I'll settle by and by,
But meanwhile think it's all my eye,
And think that I will live and die
A jolly overlander.

This version from The Native Companion Songster.

Gerry Hallom does a very nice version of the second of these ... to a rather free interpretation of the tune of King of the Cannibal Islands (it's on an LP I've had for decades ... and (I think) the Musica Pangaea CD Undiscovered Australia.

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Lyric Req: Overlanders
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 24 May 04 - 09:58 AM

the note in Undiscovered Australia says (in rather small print for headachy eyes!!) -

There are at least 4 basic versions of this popular droving song attributed to Phillip "Remos" Somer, the earliest printed in the "Queenslander's New Colonial Camp Fire Song Book" of 1865: this version appeared in 1889 in the "Native Companion Songster". It also has at least 2 tunes, the one used here, collected in the 1930's by singer & folklorist AL Lloyd is a popular dance tune of the day, known as "The king of the Cannibal Islands"; the other is related to the chorus of "Thou Bonny Wood of Craigie-Lea"

Bob, the chorus of the first version is missing a word at the end of the first line. And I haven't checked what I typed, my eyes do not like the tiny print. If I was at work I would have enlarged it on the copier.

sandra

Subject: RE: Lyric Req: Overlanders
From: Dave Sutherland
Date: 24 May 04 - 04:57 PM

Bert Lloyd, Martyn Wyndham-Read and others had the chorus to the first version
"So pass the bottle round, boys,
Don't youse let it satnd there,
For tonight we'll drink the health,
Of every Overlander"

Subject: RE: Lyric Req: Overlanders
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 24 May 04 - 07:24 PM

G'day Sandra,

The missing word from the first line of the first version's chorus is, of course, " ... boys," - I must have failed to include the end of the inset chorus when I OCR scanned these versions. (It was getting rather late, after my Monday Night Music Session!)

Most of the modern versions we hear are based on Lloyd's 1950s reworks of the written texts. Lloyd never "collected" any songs in Australia ... he certainly heard traditional singing as a lad, during his stay hear as a sort of junior, latter-day, "Colonial experience man" - and did write down some words to help learn songs - but it was some decades before he became a conscious "collector" and folklorist.

His great contribution was the popularisation of Australian traditional songs drawing on his memories, the work of the 1950s Australian collectors (as copied on to the EFDSS) and the first major publications of the 1950s revival ... especially Stewart & Keesing's revised Old Bush Songs.

It is always nice to hear someone doing something different from the "standard" versions of a popular song. Gerry Hallom's version (which does neatly trim the song down to a manageable length for moder audiences) impressed my greatly when I came across it on his 1980s LP ... and I still like that one!.

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Lyric Req: Overlanders
From: Margret RoadKnight
Date: 24 May 04 - 08:55 PM

Not that it effects an audience, but it's "cheque" here (not "check")

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Overlanders
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 27 May 04 - 03:49 AM

A 'prad' was a bicycle - cutting edge technology at the time... :-)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Overlanders
From: Hrothgar
Date: 27 May 04 - 07:01 AM

Ben Hall was strapped to a bicycle?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Overlanders
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 27 May 04 - 09:29 AM

Sorry Foolestroupe,

Prad is an old (eastern?) English word for horse " ... by metahesis from the Dutch paard".

I keep hearing wondrous "theories" about older English words surving in Australian songs ("prog" is another perennial) - apparently from people who don't own an English language dictionary!

Regard(les)s,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Overlanders
From: Joe Offer
Date: 19 Apr 21 - 07:49 PM

Joe- needs work