I’m posting another beautiful ballad by Redgum, Diamantina Drover, I’m not going to say much, my words aren’t needed, it’s a classic Australian outback story and song
Diamantina Drover: Lyrics, by Redgum’s Hugh McDonald
The faces in the photograph are faded
And I can’t believe he looks so much like me
For it’s been ten long years today
Since I left for Old Cork Station
Saying “I won’t be back ’till the droving’s done”
CHORUS
For the rain never falls on the dusty Diamantina
The drover finds it hard to change his mind
For the years have surely gone
Like the drays from Old Cork Station
And I won’t be back ’till the droving’s done
It seems like the sun comes up each morning
Sets me up and then takes it all away
For the dreaming by the light
Of the campfire at night
Ends with the burning light of day
CHORUS
ELECTRIC GUITAR BREAK (VERSE + CHORUS)
I sometimes think I’ll settle back in Sydney
But it’s been so long and it’s hard to change your mind
For the cattle trail goes on and on
And fences roll forever
And I won’t be back when the droving’s done.
John Schumann’s(Formerly Redgum) Vagabond Crew at Woodford 2010, performing Scots Of The Riverina, from the Henry Lawson poem, complete with blistering solos from Hugh McDonald on guitar and Alex (Alexander Stuart) Black on violin. Scots of the Riverina is a 1917 Australian bush poem by Henry Lawson. It relates the story of a boy who left his home in Riverina and is shunned by his family … .. The above Featured Imaged is of the Paddle-steamer EmmyLou on the Murray River, at Port Echuca, north Victoria.
John Schumann and The Vagabond Crew – Scots of the Riverina Lyrics
The boy ran away 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 letter, the first and last he burned
And he scratched his name from the Bible when the old girl’s back was turned
A year went past and another, and the fruit went down the 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 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 bravest heroes die
There were tears at the Grahame 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 housefolk 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 girl’s back was turned
Face down with his bare arms folded he sank with his wild grey hair
Outspread o’er the family Bible was a name re-written there.
Good morning dear readers, I’m getting ready for work, Ivor’s a busy plumber again. I’m listening to this incredible song, “Gladstone Pier” by an iconic Australian band, Redgum. I’ve looped the song, so I’m now listening to the music continuously for about the sixth time, and I hope you enjoy this song and the fabulous lyrics, as much as I am, on this pleasant Friday morning. My featured image above is of the Port Campbell Pier, on south-west coast, down here in Victoria.
Gladstone Pier, Lyrics by Redgum
Peter was a sailor
Swarthy lean and proud
He could take a schooner through a big sea swell
Aloof in the mainland crowd
She loved his quiet laughter
Like a boy he’d shrug and grin
The beach stretched wide at Port Mackay
With dreams upon the wind
He wore her name in a rose tattoo
Long weekends of gins and lime
She lived in Cairns, made plans to move
Checkout girl part-time
And rumour said, “There’s a boom ahead,
You can make your future here
By the Gladstone Pier”
A two-roomed fibro shelter
Empty hopes, the damp, the flies
Prices hiked, her face grew tight
And conversation died
And the foreman at the smelter said “You’re much too old
Try the canefields furthers north”
And the clerk at the market said “We don’t buy trouble
There’s a strike down at the port”
Then a six-day shift in a filthy pit
The drag lines gouging coal
The black dust gnaws at your lungs and pores
And the anger rots your soul
And the queue round the block waits for you to drop
Can you take it for another year?
By the Gladstone Pier
Every Sunday he’d walk alone
Casting pebbles at the passing waves
Plunge in brine, cleanse his pride
And a stronger man remains
The crunch of shale and distant sails
Ached within his bones
Seeing ships upon the tide
Bound for ports unknown
Soon he drank for comfort
She grew bitter in the weeks between
The nights of beer and hollow cheer
When love became routine
They fought, she left him crying
Angry words in a last café
In desperation on a lonely night
She took the bus to Cairns next day
Gladstone couples break that way
Mutual blame and no regrets
Boomtown blues just fade to grey
And all that’s left are debts –
He cried, “I’ve got to leave this dirty old town
and the rattle of broken men
Break these chains, wash the pain
And put to sea again
I drained all my passion, my anger and my fears
And sank them in a flagon
under Gladstone Pier”
She saw him through the Greyhound window
As the dawn glowed on the chrome
Standing by the pier under sullen skies
Sea winds calling home
From Surfers up to Townsville
Past the high-rise colonies
Fast food, cheap motels
And two more boomtown refugees
I’m presenting you another of my fav’ singer/songwriters in Sean Rowe, his glorious song here “To Leave Something Behind”, is typical of his style of music and thought provoking lyrics, please enjoy, I’m going to work/plumbing soon, damn it’s only 1’C !!, I’ll be wearing my new beanie, (Thanks to Soulgifts xx)
Sean Rowe – To Leave Something Behind lyrics
I cannot say that I know you well
But you can’t lie to me with all these books that you sell
I’m not trying to follow you to the end of the world
I’m just trying to leave something behind
Words have come from men and mouse
But I can’t help thinking that I’ve heard the wrong crowd
When all the water is gone my job will be too
And I’m trying to leave something behind
Oh money is free but love costs more than our bread
And the ceiling is hard to reach
Oh the future ahead is broken and red
But I’m trying to leave something behind
This whole world is a foreign land
We swallow the moon but we don’t know our own hand
We’re running with the case but we ain’t got the gold
Yet we’re trying to leave something behind
My friends I believe we are at the wrong fight
And I cannot read what I did not write
I’ve been to His house, but the master is gone
But I’d like to leave something behind
[Lyrics from: https:/lyrics.az/sean-rowe/to-leave-something-behind/to-leave-something-behind.html]
There is a beast who has taken my blame
You can put me to bed but you can’t feel my pain
When the machine has taken the soul from the man
It’s time to leave something behind
Oh money is free but love costs more than our bread
And the ceiling is hard to reach
Oh the future ahead is already dead
So I’m trying to leave something behind
I got this feeling that I’m still at the shore
And pockets don’t know what it means to be poor
I can get through the wall if you give me a door
So I can leave something behind
Oh wisdom is lost in the trees somewhere
You’re not going to find it in some mental gray hair
It’s locked up from those who hurry ahead
And it’s time to leave something behind
Oh money is free but love costs more than our bread
And the ceiling is hard to reach
When my son is a man he will know what I meant
I was just trying to leave something behind
I was just trying to leave something behind
I’ve been watching and listening to this video/song by Xavier Rudd, and the words and his music have touched me deeply. The song is a little known piece, and I thought I’d post it here for my dear readers to enjoy and to soak up the genuine emotions that Xavier imparts into his music…..
Xavier Rudd Lyrics
“Solace”
“Farewell to the west now
And welcome to the east
Farewell to the one who raked
The sand beneath my feet
Well thank you for the space we shared
And the heart and soul my friend
I will see you through the colors
Between the mountains as the sun descends
We twisted and we reflected upon a grin
Common ground we walked upon
With common feelings of common things
Yes it is a cruel world
But there is solace amongst the sin
Peace to you for now
We will share again
We will share again
Farewell to the west now
My mind is open to the east
To all the new faces, new minds
And things to see
Well, I am alone here
And my heart at times, it weeps
You will see me through the colors
As the sun sinks in the sea
We twisted and we reflected upon a grin
Common ground we walked upon
With common feelings of common things
Yes it is a cruel world
But there is solace amongst the sin
Peace to you for now
We will share again
We will share again
We twisted and we reflected upon a grin
Common ground we walked upon
With common feelings of common things
Yes it is a cruel world
But there is solace amongst the sin
Peace to you for now
We will share again
We will share again
We will share again
We will share again
My, my friend
We will share again
Season on the fight” By: Xavier Rudd
G’day dear friends and readers, I’m still bristling and bubbling from Xavier Rudd’s concert last Saturday night, and on this Thursday, another day of Ivor being an old plumber at work, the attached song seems both inspiring and appropriate for me this week. Please enjoy his music and lyrics.
Xavier Rudd Lyrics
“Growth Lines”
All the reasons once again escaped his mind
The sting of daylight through the blinds
And he could smell her on the drapes by the phone
She left it ringing for so longAnd I believe we are done
And I agree we had fun
We can hold our heads high
‘Cause we could only try
Yeah, we came so far
And we gave it our all
We can walk with pride
TonightBound by the stories of the growth lines on their hands
A fork in the road would someday come
And said I love you to the moon and back
Used to seem so damn far
And I believe we are done
And I agree we had fun
We can hold our heads high
‘Cause we could only try
Yeah, we came so far
And we gave it our all
We can walk with pride
Tonight
Floating in the ocean
Heart beating like a drum
I’m singing Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen
And I’m floating in the ocean
Heart beating like a drum
Singing Hallelujah into the setting sun
Featured Image: via spotlightreport.net, google images.
Mum and dad and Danny saw the passing out parade at Puckapunyal
It was a long march from cadets
The sixth battalion was the next to tour and it was me who drew the card
We did Canungra and Shoalwater before we left
And Townsville lined the footpaths as we marched down to the quay
This clipping from the paper shows us young and strong and clean
And there’s me in me slouch hat with me SLR and greens
God help me
I was only nineteen
From Vung Tau riding Chinooks to the dust at Nui Dat
I’d been in and out of choppers now for months
And we made our tents a home, V.B. and pinups on the lockers
And an Asian orange sunset through the scrub
And can you tell me, doctor, why I still can’t get to sleep?
And night time’s just a jungle dark and a barking M.16?
And what’s this rash that comes and goes, can you tell me what it means?
God help me
I was only nineteen
A four week operation, when each step can mean your last one on two legs
It was a war within yourself
But you wouldn’t let your mates down ’til they had you dusted off
So you closed your eyes and thought about somethin’ else
And then someone yelled out contact, and the bloke behind me swore
We hooked in there for hours, then a God almighty roar
And Frankie kicked a mine the day that mankind kicked the moon
God help me
He was goin’ home in June
And I can still see Frankie, drinkin’ tinnies in the Grand Hotel
On a thirty-six hour rec. leave in Vung Tau
And I can still hear Frankie, lying screaming in the jungle
‘Til the morphine came and killed the bloody row
And the Anzac legends didn’t mention mud and blood and tears
And the stories that my father told me never seemed quite real
I caught some pieces in my back that I didn’t even feel
God help me
I was only nineteen
And can you tell me, doctor, why I still can’t get to sleep?
And why the Channel Seven chopper chills me to my feet?
And what’s this rash that comes and goes
Can you tell me what it means?
God help me
I was only nineteen
