A JOURNEY FOR A NATION
Fortune and Gold
(Keenan)
Eight months on a stormy sea, this is the tale of a mutiny
Of a merchant and soldiers, of treasure and gold
Of a captain and crew, whose loyalty sold
A plan is forged, and the mission is bold
A murderous crew is awaiting the call
When the sun goes down on the 4th day of June
Poor scurvy sailors, will howl at the moon
But the ship ran aground, and in a raging sea there was not a sound
In the night, of the murderous souls
Treason and treachery, fortune and gold
But this tale had only begun,
for 200 people marooned in the sun
Women and children, soldiers and crew,
Weeks on an island, the madness it grew
And what happened next is a picture of man,
to divide and defeat was the mutineer’s plan,
One by one, in the night so dark,
they murdered them all and devoured their hearts.
And only a handful survived, to tell this tale of the sea
Only a handful survived, to see murderers hang from the gallows tree
In the night, of the murderous souls
Treason and treachery, fortune and gold
The Rising Tide
(Keenan)
Buildings getting taller
And the days are getting warmer
People come from miles around
The holiday sun in a seaside town
The water’s warm and rising, the water is warm and rising
There’s a place where we are falling into the sea
There’s a place where we are falling into the sea
Seafront construction
A wall holding the rising tide
Motor car destruction
And a sea of melting ice
The water’s warm and rising, the water is warm and rising
There’s a place where we are falling into the sea
There’s a place where we are falling into the sea
The New Minority
(Keenan)
They came with the salvation eyes
and a palpable taste for freedom
From years of famine and occupation
To welfare lines and indignation
So give us this day, our daily bread
For walking the floor all the this time
The morning walk through alleyways
From commission flats to railway lines
Where to from here?
Four weeks on the seas
Across the road is the green grass
Of the great southern land in their dreams
They came with the salvation eyes
And a palpable taste for freedom
A new generation, a new minority
A new integration, but divided economy
Swings and Roundabouts
(Keenan)
In an out, up and down, it’s the same old
Things we do and say everyday
Waiting for the weekend when the week has just begun
Captured in the moment as the minutes tick away
For the weekend comes, and goes around
And for just one night, I am king of this town
King of this town
Its swings and roundabouts, that we are living on
Year to year, we sing the same old song
The swings and roundabouts that we are living on
Day to day, we sing the same old song
And every week outside I see that northbound
That’s come to take me away
And I wonder where the end of this town is
And the life of a young man begins
Bakery Hill
(Keenan)
Every building has a floor, every nation has a past
Each person has a journey, each direction has a path
Every people has a champion, a patriot, a fight
So we raise a glass for the liberties that we enjoy this night
Well the miners had protested, petitioned and complained
But the government fell deaf, and the taxes had remained
And there comes a time for all men, when submission is a sin
So the fires started burning and the licenses went in
The battle it was lost,
but for workers and the future, the victory was won.
Sing hae, o’hae for the rebel’s song
And raise a glass for those long gone
High up on the hill, the band of rebels grew
The diggers gathered arms and the Southern Cross it flew
They built a fortress barricade a wall of their defiance
And as the sun rose in the morning, they waited there in silence
The redcoats and their muskets charged the rebel hold
A bitter battle raged, and the diggers they were bold
And at the last drop of blood, the banner it came down
For freedom and for justice won on that bloody ground
The battle is was lost,
but for workers and the future, the victory was won.
Sing hae, o’hae for the rebel’s song
And raise a glass for those long gone
Sheppards Town
(Keenan)
In Sheppard’s Town the cars go round, with stereos that shake the ground
Two hotels and the Saturday game, the hand on the clock is slow to change
When the factory stack bellows steam, is the only time a cloud is seen
For the rains they are a long lost friend that never returned home again
Waiting for the rain, waiting for the wind of change
Waiting for the rain, waiting for the Saturday game
In Sheppard’s Town
And the High School kids still talk of rebellion, but someone here forgot to tell them,
To forget about those hopes and dreams, and live a life by simple means
One in five forges new frontiers, and return home after many years
But still the rains don’t fall on the ground, for the thirsty changeless Sheppard’s Town
Waiting for the rain, waiting for the wind of change
Waiting for the rain, waiting for the Saturday game
And a new highway with an extra lane
In Sheppard’s Town
Catching The Sun
(Keenan)
Catch the sun
On a tram to Essendon
See the red sunset go down behind the bridge
Hear the hum
Of everyone on their way home
Half a pack of cigarettes but nothing’s in the fridge
When you said to me that we’d make it
And you followed me around
When you said to me don’t worry
This will all calm down
Catch the sun
When the day has just begun
See tomorrow as a new shade on your skin
Close enough to touch but not near enough to hold
Is it too much to ask, to be under the lights and out of the cold?
I seem to recall, the day that you said….
But these dreams of making it
They were all just in my head
They were all just in my head
Oceans Of Blue
(Keenan)
We will ride on these oceans of blue
For its all we’ve ever known to do
So we will ride on these oceans of blue
Hell hath no fury like a storm from the south, my father used to say
And one black night when I was just a boy, it came and took everything away
It was all this little town had ever known
What will we do now ? the townsfolk asked
We can’t rebuild, so we must move on
Move with the times and turn to other industry
For in fishing the good days are gone.
My father turned and said to me, son…
We must ride on these oceans of blue
For its all we’ve ever known to do
We must ride on these oceans of blue
So we rebuilt it all and years have passed
Now I have boys of my own
But the catches get thinner each year
And we can’t seem to repay this loan
But it was all, we had ever known
My father did this job, and his father before him
It was all they had ever known
So reluctantly we move with the times
But before we return for one last time home
My father said to me son
We will ride on these oceans of blue
For its all we’ve ever known to do
We will ride on these oceans of blue
For its all we’ve ever known to do
We must ride on these oceans,
ride on this ocean,
ride on this ocean of blue
A Story To Tell
(Keenan)
Festival season is here
The hippies all smoke pot, but I just drink beer
The kids all flip biscuits and stay up all night
But we’re in bed early because we are early to rise
And we believe
And we live this impossible rock n roll dream
You and me, a baby and a van
A guitar, these songs, our dog and a pram
Six strings and a story to tell
Just one song away from that tall fortune bell
The army is growing, revolution is near
Just one more recording, we’ll make it this year
And we believe
And we live this impossible rock n roll dream
You and me, a baby and a van
A guitar, these songs, our dog and a pram
Welcome To The World
(Keenan)
A soldier stands outside a gate,
a barbed wire fence, to protect a foreign land from itself
And bombs of the west rain down on a city
where a family with nothing holds their children to their chests
And everyone is fighting for liberty, everyone is fighting for their God
But I don’t know of a God that calls, for genocide is his name and blood
Two men in a garage in the suburbs,
Make a bomb to bring the west to its knees
But 300 thousand children born into pain and hunger
the money spent on bombs cannot feed
An oil rig is drilling for an empty well
The chainsaws are cutting down the trees
And all the while it’s getting hotter in here
The money makes it harder to breathe
Welcome to the world, welcome to the world
What’s wrong with the picture you see?
Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards
(Bragg)
It may have been Camelot for Jack and Jacqueline
But on the Che Guevara highway filling up with gasoline
Fidel Castro's brother spies a rich lady who's crying
Over luxury's disappointment
So he walks over and he's trying
To sympathise with her but he thinks that he should warn her
That the Third World is just around the corner
In the Soviet Union a scientist is blinded
By the resumption of nuclear testing and he is reminded
That Dr Robert Oppenheimer's optimism fell
At the first hurdle
In the Cheese Pavilion and the only noise I hear
Is the sound of someone stacking chairs
And mopping up spilt beer
And someone asking questions and basking in the light
Of the fifteen fame filled minutes of the fanzine writer
Mixing Pop and Politics he asks me what the use is
I offer him embarrassment and my usual excuses
While looking down the corridor
Out to where the van is waiting
I'm looking for the Great Leap Forwards
Jumble sales are organised and pamphlets have been posted
Even after closing time there's still parties to be hosted
You can be active with the activists
Or sleep in with the sleepers
While you're waiting for the Great Leap Forwards
One leap forward, two leaps back
Will politics get me the sack?
Here comes the future and you can't run from it
If you've got a blacklist I want to be on it
It's a mighty long way down rock 'n roll
From Top of the Pops to drawing the dole
If no one seems to understand
Start your own revolution and cut out the middleman
In a perfect world we'd all sing in tune
But this is reality so give me some room
So join the struggle while you may
The Revolution is just a T-shirt away
Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards
Journey Of A Thousand Miles
(Keenan)
Two baby boys, born on an island far to the north
a life determined by skin, that was as brown as the earth
Stolen away, from a mothers who’s cries
can be heard by a nation to this day
All the lies, places and faces were all lost in time
All those lies, and the river of tears those mothers had cried
Remembering the past, dreaming of the future
But living for today, living for
The Journey of a thousand miles begins with
just one step, the Journey of a thousand miles
begins with just one step
The first was raised on a farm, the work was hard and the times were tough
but grew there a man, six foot tall and a strong pair of hands
and tailor made shoes, with a four hour trip to the city each june
for a size fourteen is the sound, of a man who’s feet are firmly set on the ground
So a letter came one day, that the mother they never knew
had fallen ill and passed away
But with that letter came the news,
that many miles to the west he had a twin brother
So much had been found, and so much had been lost
So he set out on a Thursday, just one huge foot in front of the other
it was a journey of a thousand miles – to find a brother
And after a month of walking, of just one foot in front of the other
He stood there, and they looked at eachother
and they knew. It was like looking into a mirror
and they embraced, like brothers do
they talked, and they ate
So the next day, they went and bought two pairs
of those brown boots for the winter
And every year in June they meet on that day
and these days they bring their families
and they get those brown boots together,
for they are a family of their own
they know where they come from,
and they sort of know where they’re going
That journey of a thousand miles that began
with just one huge step......
Remembering the past, dreaming of the future
But living for today, living for
The Journey of a thousand miles begins with
just one step, the Journey of a thousand miles
begins with just one step
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