THE HUNGRY MILE


 
 
     
Jig Of Slurs
Scots Wha Ha'e








Bordeaux

(Keenan)

Burn, Burn, the fire in his eyes
The step to take a million miles moving with the times
All the cheer, and drinking beer on April 25
Of how he danced the night in Bordeaux with the devil in his eyes

But tears, they all ran out
And green still turns to brown
The fire still burns bright within
When he looked into me and said ‘our generation’

‘We all went down in history
And all the words they amounted to nothing
We all live on through our victories
It’s not what gets said, but the things that get done’

So walk away when there’s nothing left to say
And tragedy is holding up the bar again today
Some returned the silver spoons and lights that found their way
And some were destined broken men, to sparkle and then fade


Davey

(Keenan)

He said ‘tonight I drink with you my friends,
It’s a moment in time and it won't happen again,
Years of these wages, pissed against the wall
And tomorrow we are setting sail to a foreign shore

There was Davey, he came out with his family in the eighties,
They were from a shamrock shore
A new start here, but their bags were full of nothing
But two strong hands – they were made for working

Davey, got a job down the south coast at Eden
Working in the mill,
A new start here, they left a warring country
For a taste of freedom and a future,

A smile on his face, and two strong hands
He said ‘these are the days’
A smile on his face, ‘its as good as it gets’ he said
‘and these are the days’.
Davey, a patriot still proud of his country,
He talked of times gone by
And he drank the happy hour, and watched the years on high,
But his heart was always heavy for those he left behind


Tale Of A Convict

(Keenan)

All aboard for foreign shores, to sail upon the sea
The cat-on-nine to keep in line prospective mutiny
Seven years of transportation and slavery
Breaking these chains, walking the bay

Day into months, weeks into years
watching the world go by from up here
It’s a black mans life, in a white mans skin
I’ll not wear these chains

Far away, we are looking out to sea
The northern lights, a girl with brown eyes, all these years are still waiting for me

I long for you each day, the seasons roll on,
Despair is my reprieve
Sailing these southern seas in a dream
Back to my home county Meath


Salamanca

(Keenan)

Hobart Town, winter time grey buildings look like icebergs by the ocean
Summer time a cool south wind, keeps a mind from melting
Ships roll in through the entrance of the river,
Back in 1830 with a convict cargo to deliver

Fingerprints are in the sandstone, from a prisoner that remains unknown
Gypsies come from miles around, to sell sell their art to the town
On a Saturday, public forum marketplace
Everyone can have their say, all the people have their say

Salamanca in Hobart Town, bohemians and the gypsies are dancing
Hackysack and a joint’s goin around
Social conscience, hear all the people sing
Oh – power to our people they sing
Oh – fight the good fight while you can

All the left wing, dreadlocks on the lawn but they don’t sing
They’re too serious, too many issues to be discussed
I hear you say, everything’s gunna be OK, to fight the good fight
And talk the talk into the night


All The Truth And Lies

(Keenan)

All the truth and lies, Open your eyes

Hot sun is burning, for years on this sacred ground
And the wheels are turning, pulling the inside out

There’s a mountainside with a hole in the ground,
The workers in shifts going round and around
The company gets what the market wants, and
A downturned economy is pushing up the costs

So the working man’s still digging,
And the farmer still needs the rain
The black man didn’t get the rent for his land,
But the companies shares are still making gains

Smoke stack is rising, and a drill is turning under the sea
And the numbers are turning, in the marketplace

Do you see - All the Truth and Lies? Open your eyes


Union Man

(Keenan)

Clocking in, clocking out again
we walked the Hungry Mile in the darkness and the rain,
Sweet salvations – bare knuckle brawling, getting drunk as fuck on whiskey
This slavery to hell

We are the underclass, and the ‘lucky country’ holds us here

Union man, can you save us
We need just a quid a week, and a raincoat for this rain
Clocking in, but we are never clocking out again
These class structures hold us like an anchor in our place, once again

Clocking in, clocking out again
we walked the hungry mile in the darkness and the rain,
Ghosts still live, in stairwells and beneath the bridge,
Of those who went before us from this nihilistic view

Union man, can you save us
We need just a quid a week, and a raincoat for this rain
Clocking in, but we are never clocking out again
These class structures hold us like an anchor in our place, once again


The Hardness Of His Hand

(Keenan)

She’s getting tired of walking into doors
He spending more time at the boozer
And in a small town there’s an ear on every wall,
Some say there are no secrets

And when he’s showing her the hardness of his hand,
She tells herself that this is not a problem
To look around at what this workers wage provides,
And at times how he’s good with the children

But it gets too much at times, it all just gets too much at times

So do you wonder where you could be now,
For these years you spent in silence
And do you wonder what you could be now,
If this pain had been different


The Power Of Youth

(Keenan)

I caught the train from Gosford just to see you,
Down bluestone alleyways, the inner west in the August rain
Everyday I think of what you said to me,
How we must maintain the rage, of the educated, young and free
Now I’ve been travelling for 6 long years, and I’ve seen the inequality,
The oppression and the fear you speak of

These aspirations, I share with you now
we talked the plot of corporations, and how to bring them down

We have power, we are young, and our voices sing as one
For fundamental change, our voices loud and filled with rage

But time has found a way to put that fire out,
Pragmatic world that’s says we live a long life but kneeling down,
Demonstrations, riots, police brutality,
It all got the message out – but did we get what we set out to achieve?
I am older now, and still holding out
I will not go quietly, I’ll not got quietly


Scarlet Snow

(Keenan)

Jimmy stood in the centre of the town,
said ‘come one, come all I’ve news to tell,
All men of age and fit, are asked to do their bit,
for duty binds us all to king and land’
Setting off, on the train to Melbourne Town,
word said this would end by Christmas day,
And fixing bayonet, up to knees in mud and shit,
those words had never seemed so far away,

Well the night was bitter cold, and the white had fallen thick,
As they climbed the wall and charged towds the line
Through the smoke and thunder, as the shells hit the ground
Was a moment in the madness where neither heard a sound
For frozen men and metal, that littered all the field,
Were covered for a moment by the winters soft white yield
And Clem had fallen down in all the noise and rapid rain,
Time stopped for a moment, and would never start again

Lay down your guns and be brothers once again, they said
Lay down your guns, lay down your guns,

They lay there in each others arms in that shell hole in the field,
The snow below them turned a scarlet red
Not a word was spoken, but his eyes had turned to grey
One last breath of mist drew out, and gently blew away

Lay down your guns boys, head the ships for south across the sea…..


Learning Slowly

(Keenan)

Seems not that long ago, I was just a boy
High hopes and aspirations, were only a matter of time
When you came into the world, I couldn’t have known the change,
That you would bring with you, every single day

So I pray that I’m enough, I hope I’m all you need
I’ll take responsibility, and try to fix my bad things
I drink too much at times, and I had been known to fight
And I always lose on a sure thing

It’s all I am, and I’m working hard on me
To be a better man, I’m learning slowly

When I’m looking at you now, I see my own reflection
The good, the bad, and otherwise, it’s a unique introspection,
To be the world you know, and shelter when I can
To bring good memories, laughter and direction

See I work to much at times, just trying to get ahead
But I need to forget the future, and just enjoy today
This song is who I am, and it’s sometimes out of key,
The words are often clumsy, but what you get is what you see


The Longest Holiday

(Keenan)

Once more, time just a getaway to solve problems
But we could drive forever and you’ll never be the one
She said but I have been waiting so long,, and you won’t do any better than me
I somehow found the strength to say, I have to take that chance you see

In a European summer when the tears feel down like rain
You can change the scenery, but I still feel the same
Destiny had intersections on the road that finds our way
And I left her sitting there on the longest holiday

I woke and felt a little different, time for leaving
Some say its all about pheromones, you’ll be back she screamed
She said but I have been waiting so long, and you wont do any better than me
I somehow found the strength to say, I have to take that chance you see


Bombs Are Falling

(Keenan)

Bombs fall on the city streets, police vans and sirens,
Can we say, that liberation is closer now?
Can we say, sign of the times?
Fuelling incentives, with alterior motives
The days are gone for passive voices,
singing songs about the eve of destruction

Bombs falling, bombs falling

Bombs fall on the city streets, police vans and sirens,
Do we fear the future of our children now?
A generation still unborn.
Media incentives, government motives
The days have come of voiced frustration,
And steel capped boots through a television