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Roll Along

There’s no lonesome whistle blowin’ outside my door,
No hobo has ever shared my floor,
No highballin' friend has ever taken me away,
No-one rides the railroad anymore.

I’ve never seen my name scratched upon the watertank,
Never swung my old guitar aboard a train,
Never had to run to save my life in the railyard at night,
Never had to sleep in the drivin' rain.

So roll along
And as the diesel hums goodbye,
Sing me another song the brakeman left behind.

Those old gentlemen of steam are left to rust,
The watertanks might just as well run dry,
The hobo's weary bones, why they've long since turned to dust,
Leavin' only the sound of an outward bound and the whistle’s lonesome cry.

So roll along
And as the diesel sang goodbye,
Sing me another song the brakeman left behind.

He Could Never Ever Love You

Why can’t you see that he no longer cares about you,
You’ve been blind and he’s been cheating for so long,
Let him see just what it means to live without you,
You don’t need a man who can’t tell right from wrong.

You pass his friends out on the street and they’re all smiling,
Can’t you see that laugh is on you?
He’s played you for a fool and left you crying,
He could never, ever love you like I do.

I know how hard it is to leave the past behind you,
To find another friend and start anew,
But if you don’t, then heartache is sure to find,
He could never, ever love you like I do.

Yellow Bird

Oh I curse the open road where once I longed to go
A rambler free of care I cannot be
For I promised her that I would love her till I die
And so bound in chains a heart that would be free.

Yellow Bird Yellow Bird
Take the saddest song you sing
To the girl I love and bring her back to me.

Yellow Bird, Yellow Bird
Take my heart take my heart upon your wing
For the girl I love and bring her back to me

The Last Coal Train

No more black faced miners
Buying carbide at the store
All the lamps that lit the darkness
Are hangin' empty by the door
The chilly winds that blow no good have blown no good once more
And the last coal train is leavin' town.

No more kids out on the trestle bridge
Playin' that dangerous game
You'll never have to mend a broken track
Or drive the spike again,
You can leave the sleepers rotting
The signals rusting in the rain
And the last coal train is leavin' town.

You'll never have to feed a family
Upon a striker's pay
Never have to fight for what's yours by right
In this game that rich men play
And for the last time in a long time
You might see the light of day
As the last coal train is leavin' town.

So the word came down from Melbourne
That they've got to close the mine
We can't afford to dig it out
We'll just have to leave it lyin'
With all the men who died in 20 shaft
Who'll lie there for al time
And the last coal train is leavin' town.

I Wish It Would Rain

Stump jump plough by the woolshed door
Sittin' there since nineteen hundred and four
Still be sitting' there in a hundred years or more
Never ever rust away

Creek's bone dry, river's turned to mud
Just like Noah waitin' on the flood
Plum out of believin'
I've got no reason to pray.

I wish it would rain
I wish it would rain
I wish it would rain, rain,
rain, rain, rain, rain, rain
I wish it would rain.

One drop of rain on this old tin roof
They'll hear it all the way across to Wycheproof
You know there's people out there been born
Who've never seen it pour.

The dust gets up and bye and bye
I guess I'm gonna have to learn to plough the sky
Every day it seems like
A little bit more

I wish it would rain...

I heard a shot ring out last night
It stabbed at the dark and I felt it's bite
And they found him lyin' with his gun
Upon the woolshed floor.

I wish it would rain...

Almurta

I can smell the wood smoke in the mornin' air
Down a dusty gravel road
The mist is risin' from the hills above
And all the wattle is flecked with gold
The cockatoos are hangin' upside down
On the telephone line
And Almurta, you're still with me sometimes
Almurta you're still with me sometimes

Now there's a girl I remember
She was the only girl I'd ever loved
And I'd've sworn that heaven was here on earth
And not somewhere up above
But we only shared a moment
We had different stars to find
But Almurta, you're still with me sometimes
Almurta, you're still with me sometimes.

And I can smell breakfast cooking
On that old wood fire stove
But I'm takin' my time, I'm in no hurry
I wanna walk this road real slow...
So that I can smell the wood smoke in the mornin' air
Down a dusty gravel road
Where the mist is risin' from the hills above
And all the wattle is flecked with gold
The cockatoos are hangin' upside down
On the telephone line
Almurta, you're still with me sometimes
Almurta, you're still with me sometimes.

Two Steps Forward (The Miners Wife)

She organized for the union and women's auxiliary
And she fought for the rights, both day 'n' night, of the likes of you and me
She knew a good day's work was worth a good day's pay
And what a good day's pay should be
The miner's lot, not the crumbs he got from the table of the VRC.

Two steps forward and one step back and down to the union hall
There's work to be done, they'll take back all we've won
So it's back to the union hall.

She sang the Internationale and she marched upon the street
And she still cooked the meals, fed the kids and tied shoes upon their feet
She fought the scabs and the thugs and the bosses and soon the seed was sown
For though the miners stood together, without her they stood alone.

Two steps forward and one step back and down to the union hall
There's work to be done, they'll take back all we've won
So it's back to the union hall.

She whispered "so long" in the doorway, like she had a thousand times
And when the strike was finally won, watched him walk back down to the mine
And every day she'd hope 'n' pray that she'd never hear the sound
Of the mine whistle blowin' knowin' he's still underground.

Two steps forward and one step back and down to the union hall
There's work to be done, they'll take back all we've won
So it's back to the union hall.

The Green Hills of Winter

(Dedicated to the memory of Captain Wilfred Owen 2nd Batt. Manchester Regiment and Corporal Ernest Schwab 5th Batt. 1st A.I.F.)

Last night I sat in a hole in the ground
And listened to the whiz-bangs, such a god awful sound
The flares lit the sky and the word was passed down
And I dreamed of your green hills of winter.

Last night we stood in the mud and the rain
We fixed bayonets and we prayed yet again
We searched for the truth but we found not a grain
I just dreamed of your green hills in winter

Through the smoke and the cordite one thing becomes clear
It it's god that you seek, then you won't find him here
Though I thought that I once saw the saviour of man
Hangin' out on the wire in no man's land.

Last night we found him in a hole in the ground
The big guns lay quiet, no one dared make a sound
'Til he raised up his head just before he went down
And said "Look, can't you see the green hills of winter".

Goin' Down to the River

I'm goin' down to the river
But I'm not goin' down to pray
Although I'm gonna walk that heavenly shore
And wash all my troubles away
I ain't goin' down there for salvation
Or the cleansing of my soul
I'll just be takin' my time with a good strong line
And a big old fishin' pole.

Maybe if the fish are bitin'
If I hold my mouth just right
We'll be fryin' 'em up in a big black pan
All on Saturday night
And you can bring along that bottle of wine
That you kept the whole year through
And we'll spend the night in the warm firelight
And share a little glass or two.

I'm goin' down to the river...

Moments in Between

My brother builds brick walls
He builds 'em long 'n straight 'n tall
The kind of walls that you would build around a dream.
He loves his football, loves TV
Loves his kids and he loves Maree
He's a friend for life and all of those moments in between.

All those moments in between
They don't add up to a thing
As long as you've got someone on your side
Be it a lover or a friend,
Sister or brother in the end
All of those moments in between 'll pass you by.

Here's old Spud McGrath, man he builds a real good guitar
The kind of box that you would build to hold that dream
It's a friend out on the road and a map to show you where to go
When you're worn down from all those moments in between.

All those moments in between...

Too Many Tears

Paddy's at the roadside each and every year
His head is filled with memories, his eyes are full of tears
He sees his youth go walkin' by in a thousand shufflin' feet
But he cannot bring himself to take that step out on the street.

Service medals polished and shining in the morning sun
Heads held high they march right by, each and every one.
Believin' he's the other man's brother, Paddy's nobody's son
He can't hold up his head, he just cries instead over the things that he's seen and done.

And every night it's the same old fight in a war that'll never be won
Too many tears over too many years over too many wrongs been done.

Paddy keeps hopin' someday that they'll all move on and let him be
But the poisons flowing through his veins will never set him free
They all came back like wrongs hushed up 'cause we didn't want to have to see
The mistakes we made 'cause of the lies we were told in the name of liberty.

And every night it's the same old fight...

The Light in Her Eyes

Oh the tallies are up but the wages are down
And you work like a dog just to make half a crown
While the water gets higher than the prices in town
And the rats 've got eyes for your crib.
So you strain and you curse without much time to stop
Eight hours down gets you time back up top
All the while down in the mud 'n the muck
Way down where the black diamonds hid.

But come Saturday night you'll be spinning around
With the girl from Poowong in the apricot gown
Who said that she'd be there and won't let you down
And soon it's so long to good byes
And the pillars and boards will seem so far away
As you dance through the night, as you waltz and sache
You'll know every song as the band starts to play
As you follow the light in her eyes.

Then you'll think about something that Wattie once said
"To be down here this deep, a man oughta be dead and fightin' the devil"
But as the union man said "Old Nick's in the manager's smile".
And I'll tell you one thing and I know that it's true
And maybe McGleish and his like know it too
Were you paid what you're worth, they'd be working' for you
And they'd measure your value in miles.

But come Saturday night...

All It Takes

It only takes a notion to set a dream in flight
It only takes the smallest glow to light the darkest night
It only takes a push before the wheels start to turn
It only takes the smallest glow to make a fire burn.

Oh oh oh all it takes is you and me
Oh oh oh all it takes is you you'll see
Oh oh oh all it takes is you and me
All it takes is you.

It only takes the power of word for mercy to unfold
It only takes a lovin' heart to help to break the mould
It only takes intention to open up your eyes
A little understanding to begin to realise...

Peel Street Blues

I'm takin' my stogie 'n' I'm goin', man I ain't gonna stick around here
This band should be on prozac, I get more laughs from Leonard Cohen
And they've got no gumbo, got no bubbles in the beer
And the waitress with the turned eye is lookin' at me strange
Her husband's lookin' at me like he wants to rearrange the way I look
So I'm taking my stogie 'n' I'm goin', I ain't gonna stick around here.

I'm takin' my half smoked Monte Christo and I'm struttin' down Peel Street like a king
Stop in at the cafe for some expresso where the band is playin' nineteen thirties swing
Well they sound just like the Hot Club, but it's ninety nine degrees
And every cowboy on the pick up is out lookin' for a squeeze
So I'm takin' my stogie and I'm goin', I ain't gonna stick around here.

I'm gonna take my Cuban to the levee, sit down and watch the river flow
I've got no reason to be anywhere at all but where I am
And there's really only one thing that I know
That a man will work his heart out to get everything he's got
Then in the end he'll slip up and some woman gets the lot
So I'm takin my stogie and I'm goin', I ain't gonna stick around here.

Design by Peter Summers