1. |
Toolooa
03:04
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I saw Toolooa at High School
Seemed like everybody knew her
A line of galahs gawking and squawking
All talking about Toolooa
Hey Toolooa, Toolooa, Toolooa
Where did she go, she go, where’d she go
I knew it, I knew it, I knew it
Where Toolooa goes, nobody knows
You never forget her body and her clothes
Like a mudcrab in mangroves
Sweeter than sweet
Her memory grows.
Heheyy, she shoulda been a model
Wooow, she coulda been a God
Mmmmm, she could get in deep trouble
Some blokes stared ‘n croaked like a frog
Hey Toolooa, Toolooa, Toolooa, Toolooa
Where did she go, she go, she go, she go
I just knew it, I knew it, I knew it, I knew it
Where Toolooa goes, nobody knows
You never forget her body and her clothes
Like a mudcrab in mangroves
Sweeter than sweet
Her memory grows.
A lucky man married Toolooa
No one I know really knows
So’s he trying to hide her
Her memory grows and grows
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2. |
Shoulda Known Better
02:58
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Been working with cashed up bogans
I’m talking concepts they’re talking slogans
We all work with different notions
I shoulda known better
Talking to the brass it all turned funny
I’m talking people they’re talking money
They need a plan but they just want the honey
I shoulda known better
I shoulda known better, shoulda known, shoulda known
I shoulda known better, shoulda known better
I once chaired a secret meeting
In no time flat there was a big dam leaking
Good stories travel like a wild man streaking
I shoulda known better
I knew a bloke lost in a rage
He didn’t see the anger through the haze
We all look through a different cage
I shoulda known better
I work with guns ‘n I work with hacks
Some give it all and some are plain slacks
We all roll down our own set of tracks
I shoulda known better
I wondered why we’re called the human race
Why all the hurry and breakneck pace
Got caught napping in a sleepy place
I shoulda known better
|
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3. |
Peace of Land
03:12
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I want a piece of land with a creek running through
House on the bank with a really nice view
Chooks and a cow and a dog to pat
Fishing line, ‘n awesome hat
Oh yeah gonna save my money ‘til it all comes true
Oh yeah gonna save my money that’s what I’ll do
I want a piece of land with a creek running through
House up high with a beautiful view
Wife ‘n kids ‘n a dog to pat
Fishing line and an old slouch hat
Oh yeah gonna save my money ‘til it all comes true
Oh yeah gonna save my money that’s what I’ll do
I want a piece of land with a creek running through
House up high and a postcard view
Wife and grandkids and a dog to pat
Fishing line ‘n a wide brim hat
Oh yeah gonna save my money ‘til it all comes true
Oh yeah gonna save my money that’s what I’ll do
Peace of land, peace of land…
|
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4. |
Fire Licked the River
03:47
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Fire on the river
Crowd gape in awe
“He’ hey, this is awesome”
“Ye’ah, give us more”
Crazy Mr Gunpowder
Lighting up the sky
Orchestrated detonators
Crowd on a high
When the fire licked the river
My memory kicked alight
By the wicked water
Young lovers kiss the night
Easy Mr Gunpowder
Beware old wounds
‘74 and twenty eleven
Echo in the tombs
Easy Mr Gunpowder
Our river runs deep
Let it be like a mirror
In a peaceful sleep
Remember this river
Remember this river
Fire on the river
Drama in the skies
Crazy man in a frenzy
Guy Faulkes in disguise
Flame from the fighter plane
Highlight of the night
Let her rip dump and burn
Disappear out of sight
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5. |
Lonely No Longer
02:57
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Lights go out you appear
Out of the shadow another fading year
Tumbling words outer space
Lonely world in another place
Moon and tide one plan
Waves rolling on moving sand
Warm wind blowing down the track
Dusty haze calling me back
Lonely no longer
Gentle loving growing stronger
Lonely no longer
Gentle loving growing stronger
Can I pack a lake from Canada
Into my suitcase ‘n take it to Australia
Love the beaches my homeland
I can see you walking on the sand
Fading light feeling near
Tender moment melting in a tear
Touching hands kissing lip
Feel tingling toe to fingertip
Lonely no longer …
Lights out you appear
Tender moment melting in a tear
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6. |
Ramshackle Junction
04:01
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There was mud at Ramshackle Junction
There was mud all over the place
There was mud at Ramshackle Junction
There was mud on everybody’s face
The leader Karl said “Enough is enough
I’ve had enough of all this asinine stuff
We’ll work together clean up the place
Make us proud, so pick up the pace”
There was talk at Ramshackle Junction
Lots of talk malarkey bliss
There was talk at Ramshackle Junction
Who’s this Karl who’s he think he is
“Maybe we all should give it a try
See if it works ‘n don’t ask why
He’s using words that we’ve never heard
Give it a go though it sounds absurd”
They made a plan at Ramshackle Junction
There was planning and clear purpose
They got working at Ramshackle Junction
People working and not one curse
They planted trees and grass everywhere
Mud disappeared you could smell clean air
People smiling the place was afloat
Karl had created a feeling of hope
Then some people at Ramshackle Junction,
Called Karl “King” down on their knees
Then some kids at Ramshackle Junction
Yelled “Tree King - Karl - King of the Trees”
Karl decreed, “Enough is enough
I’ve had enough of all this accolade stuff
No monuments, just keep planting trees”
Birds came back and they sang in the breeze
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7. |
Days Were So Long
04:33
|
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Thinking back to the days we scrambled through school
In a town built of timber from the bush
Henry Taylor’s crew built a Grammar School in 1881
A monument to a journeyman with push
Hey we lucked out in the sixties when radio always won
Bruce Paige rolled the Stones on 4MB
Dick and Red told stories gave us all a smile
The world of work an opaque mystery
Some of us went high some of us went low
We all had to ride the ups and downs
Some are gone forever we are still around
Most of us still love our river town
We scattered in the wind at the end of our school days
The girls in uniform were all set free
Then we started chasing something mostly undefined
The leaves had all been blown off the tree
Now we’re all together swapping stories from the past
Talking ‘bout the joker and the fool
Serve me food give me a drink a little quiet time to think
No one steals our memories of school
When the days were so long and the past was so near
The future a far far away place
Now the days go so quick the past like an old flic
And the future is there in my face
Some of us went high some of us went low
We all had to ride the ups and downs
Some are gone forever we are still around
Most of us still love our river town
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8. |
||||
When tales are told in the sailors’ den
Of gallant deeds where men are men
In the real man’s world of guts and blood
You’ll hear the name of Merkyl Crud
Now the Sydney-Hobart’s not for the meek
Not for the faint hearted not for the weak
It’s for men like Merkyl who go down to the sea
Where boys become men and where men become free
Now when Merkyl was strolling by Rushcutters Bay
Where the boats were all moored on that fateful day
When the old man said “We’re short of a hand”
Then Merkyl said quickly “I’m your man”
So out through the Heads heading south with the fleet
Merkyl could sense he was with the elite
As the boat dipped gently to the Nor’ Easters song
Merkyl thought to himself “This is where I belong”
“Can you take the wheel Merkyl?” asked the old man
And the boat gained a knot under Merkyl’s soft hand
And he felt right at home on the water and dreamed
“If I could be anyone I’d be the wind”
As night fell he saw the stars dance with the mast
And the moon-beam tagging the stern as they passed
But he sensed they were yet to meet their fate
For lying ahead was the mighty Bass Strait
As they entered the Strait, the wind roared aback
The spray was as white as the water was black
The Antarctic wind it stung and it hurt
And Merkyl changed into his long sleeved shirt.
He drove the boat up the wave refusing to crack
Like a road-train up the Razorback
Then cresting the wave and heaving a sigh
Dropped like a skier down Kosciuszko’s side
Then a black gust from hell spun the boat clean about
The old man scarcely had time to shout
The boom smacked across and with a sickening thud
Cracked open the skull of Merkyl Crud
“That was close!” cried Merkyl straightening the wheel
The hardened crew marvelled at this man of steel
When the old man asked “Are you in any pain?”
Merkyl cried “Give me more tension on the main”
But as he straightened the boat his heart filled with dread
A giant sunfish was sunning itself dead ahead
And though he swung hard to port on the wheel
Slammed into the sunfish and snapped off the keel
Straight over the side though he couldn’t even swim
Merkyl grabbed the keel and he plugged it back in
And fearing the sunfish might cause them more strife
Stabbed it in the heart with his Swiss Army Knife
Then like a bold Viking he conquered Storm Bay
He sailed up the Derwent where the finish line lay
Then found himself trapped in a dying wind
And the big boat ahead would surely win
But Merkyl spied a gust on the southern shore
And the old man smiled as the boat eased to port
The crowd on Constitution Dock held its breath
Could Merkyl do it? Who was the best?
Then the spinnaker filled. The bow of the boat rose.
Merkyl Crud passed the big boat and won by a nose.
The crowd went wild for Merkyl’s great win
“King Merkyl” they cried for Merkyl was king
Then Merkyl’s mum’s voice rang out through the din
“You’ve forgotten to set your alarm again
Just look at your bed it’s in such a state
Looks like you just sailed it across Bass Strait”
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9. |
Living in her dream
03:01
|
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She’s efficient she’s pleasant she’s got calculating eyes
She’s on her way up an expert in disguise
Not a hair out of place everything is organised
And her house is the same like a magazine
Her day is regimented living in her dream
She wonders what’d happen if she ever dropped her guard
If she ever had some kids who went and messed up her yard
Messed up her hair messed up her life
But it’s never gonna happen you can bet your dear life
Halleluliah to the mothers guiding with their hand
Love and courage wrapped together their eyes can understand
I wonder what’d happen if they ever lost their place
If they ever gave it up in apparent disgrace
If they ever said it wasn’t worth the trouble any more
I wonder what’d happen maybe time will tell the score
She’s efficient she’s pleasant she’s got calculating eyes
She’s on her way up a wardrobe of disguise
Not a hair out of place everything is organised
And her house is a picture it could sell a magazine
No dogs no cats no pets living in her dream
living in her dream living in her dream
|
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10. |
Can you hack it
03:19
|
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Tall muscled packet
Green and gold jacket
You want to beat the best be my guest
Have a crack at Mr Hackett
80 k’s a week
4,000 k’s a year
A lifetime of swimming
A lap around the world
Is that a bit too far
Swim around the world
To win a pot of gold
Are you feeling hungry
Are you feeling bold/cold/old
You want to have a go
Go and attack it
There can be no shame
But can you hack it
Won more gold
Than a Kalgoorlie mine
Like a swim machine
Up and down a black line
10,000 hours
To make it to the top
A lifetime of swimming
30 million strokes
Thought he’d never stop
Fourteen thirty four
Point five six
Lasted 10 years
Yeah mate it’s pretty quick
Only 80 k’s a week
4000 k’s a year
A lifetime of swimming
A lap around the world
Is that peculiar
|
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11. |
Treasured Friends
02:56
|
|||
Special friends treasured friends make no demands
Special friends treasured friends through thick and thin
Take me back to the old school days
Bat and ball and swimming pool
Tell me now your grandkid stories
You feel warm and cool
We get together to share our triumph
Sharing our time in grief
Who knows why we stick together
Is it our shared belief
|
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12. |
Hard to beat home
03:04
|
|||
Wake up to-morrow you won’t see me for dust
I’ll be outa here on a home bound bus
Make sure and tell Betty look after my truck
That old Caterpillar could change her luck
I’ll miss all you crew so don’t get me wrong
I hate to be leaving but it’s hard to beat home
Someone tell the Moth my lights will be out
So don’t come looking for your 21st shout
Say good-bye to Lik Lik the final trim king
I wish I coulda been half as good as him
I love all you people you people who roam
I hate to be leaving but it’s hard to beat home
Hard to beat home it’s hard to beat home
I’m missing the family I’m tired of the phone
Hard to beat home hard to beat home
I’ll be with my honey together alone
Tell Betty I love her she’s had a bad run
Sometimes you get thunder sometimes there’s sun
Good fortune misfortune they both take a turn
You gotta be patient and willing to learn
Whatever turns out for right or for wrong
Betty’s a gun but I gotta get home
I wonder if Shelly will welcome me back
I been gone a while will she talk about that
I guess I won’t know til she’s there in my arms
One thing for sure I got a heap of good yarns
Sometimes I been aching I ache to the bones
I hate to be leaving but it’s hard to beat home
|
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13. |
No Short Cuts
02:26
|
|||
There’s some hefty hefty people drinking Diet Coke
Some rather large people that live in hope
Hoping they’ll end up skinny as a post
They’re never gonna get there drinking Diet Coke
Go for a walk go for a ride go for a swim
Swim against the tide
There’s no shot cut to make your body feel great
Get your heart pumping make your legs ache
There’s a lot of skinny people with a quiet smirk
A lot of skinny people with a genetic quirk
Lying on the lounge, lying on their back
Lying to themself when they are so slack
All of you like me who battle with the bulge
Digest and read note what you’re told
The magazines are selling us the same old tune
So how do you choose - chocolate cake or prunes
There’s some hefty hefty people make McDonald’s rich
Some rather large people got the Big Mac itch
Itching for the fries after a hard day’s work
Itching at the bulges underneath the shirt
|
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14. |
Industrial Relations
03:33
|
|||
Hey what about the worker you bunch of rotten sods
Given half a chance we know your type you’d automate all our jobs
And just in case you forget to give us blokes our due
We’ve got our bag of dirty tricky on how to bung on a blue
If you think that you have troubles well it could be compounded
If you decide to take us on you’ll feel like you’re surrounded
Industrial relations they’re a bunch of funny friends
Hell bent on strangulation then they’re out to make amends
To the chant of Union dogma to the thrust of Company lust
Like a drunk on crutches falling to the Arbitrators bust
That’s no way to talk to us when we’ve got empty pockets
You can’t survive in the big bad world if you don’t make any profits
You’ve done alright you’ve got your share so knuckle down and work
If you want to take us on remember we can dish out worse
Tut tut you boys that’s not the way to make one big happy family
For no fee at all I’ll stop your free for all and arbitrate quite fairly
You’ve got your responsibilities and one clear obligation
To abide by my decision and that’s no abdication
No one can guess what the Govern meant as they sit back and stare
At all the megalomaniac out to get their share
They procrastinate pontificate and make the Minister aware
Of all that bad behaviour and to intervene if he dare
|
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15. |
Wind In My Hair
02:57
|
|||
Remember the days a car was a car
Sun gleaming off a chrome bumper bar
White wall tyres wire spoked wheel
Two-tone duco ‘n fair dinkum steel
Old cars had a mean muffler note
A horn to blow the lines clean off the road
Shockies told ya the road was rough
They were cool and mean and tough
When you drive a new car with ya head in the air
I`m cruising with my babe wind in my hair
When ya cooped up there with a vacant stare
I`m cruising with my baby wind in my hair
Bench seat so ya babe was near
One hand free to fondle her ear
Floor-shift built a relationship
Back seat to keep our secrets
Is there no cool style any more
Don’t they know what curves are for
New cars look like a big wheelie bin
Scorecard of dag of minus 47
Go ahead and be a modern big deal
Buy yourself a new abominobile
When you’re trapped there with a vacant stare
I’ll be cruising on by the wind in my hair
|
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16. |
Nothing At All
03:42
|
Ken McDonald Music Brisbane, Australia
G’day, I am Ken McDonald, a singer songwriter who has been writing songs for over 40 years. I started recording albums for
fun about 10 years ago. I have completed five albums, some with the help of family and friends.
All the best,
Ken
... more
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