1. |
Amazon
04:33
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In the time it takes to sing this song
There'll be four acres cleared in the Amazon
The jungle burns all through the night
They say you can see it from a satellite
The smoke's so thick for miles around
They have to close the airports down
The green of the jungle turns to flaming red
As another cattle ranch gets the go ahead
Now hamburgers grow where the forest once stood
Somehow I get the feeling that we've all been fooled
I heard a man on the TV say
That if they take the forest away
The world will be ruined, our future will go
He's a Kayapo, so he should know
But this very same man still cuts down trees
For him it's a question of necessity
A family to feed, and he must pay the rent
But when you add it all up it just doesn't make sense
I heard about a man called Chico Mendes
He fought the cattle ranchers head to head
He taught the rubber-tappers to stand up and fight
To protect the forest which is theirs by right
But the ranchers had their claims to lay
They wouldn't let a conservationist stand in their way
One night at his home they took him unawares –
Forty bullets in the back for Chico Mendes
The green of the jungle turns to flaming red
As another cattle ranch gets the go ahead
Now hamburgers grow where the forest once stood
Somehow I get the feeling that we've all been fooled
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2. |
Save the hippy!
04:22
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Well, we've saved the Giant Panda and we've saved the great Blue Whale
And we've saved that kind of furry thing with the sort of funny tail
And we've even saved the Franklin from those nasty Hydro rogues
And we've saved the savage crocodile, with the help of Dundee Hoges
But there's one poor little fella whose headcount is on the wane –
We can save him if we want to – let's all sing this sweet refrain . . . .
Save the hippy!
Help get their heads together man!
Can you dig it?
Like wow! That's cool if you can!
Save the hippy!
Let them hang it all out!
Let's all make a big joint effort!
Oh, don't let them die out!
It's only 20 years ago their numbers were so high
And they were all high too, man, up in their spiritual sky
But now this world's a heavy trip, and love ain't all you need
Oh, what would Jimi Hendrix say? And where are you Grateful Dead?
Yes, The Doors and Cream are gone now, this ain't 1968
Let's strip off and all dance naked, and transcendentally meditate (to) . .
Now they're only found in Nimbin, and in places like Nepal
And the sales of flares and incense has continued, man, to fall
We should buy that farm at Woodstock, make it a hippy preserve
Let's put all the hippies on it, a have a good old perve
Watch them turn on, tune in, drop out, feed them lentils, grow them dope
Yes, flower power can live on, give them some psychedelic hope (and) .
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3. |
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I've been away for a couple of years
Living in the U.S.A.
Sad to leave – yes there were some tears
It's always hard to go away
Don't know what I really miss the most
I guess the people that I knew
But New York City and the winter snows
I really miss them too (but . . . )
It's good to be back in Melbourne
I think it's where I'll stay
Oh it's good to be back in Melbourne
I think Melbourne's O.K.
I missed the Yarra, though it's full of mud
They say it flows upside down
But it's so pretty up round Warrandyte –
Melbourne's not a bad town
It's good to get back to the ABC
The Yanks got nothing quite so good
And I missed the footy, and the MCG –
A chance to boo at Collingwood!
I love the trams that run down Swanston St.
Though I wish they weren't so slow
And the old Vic Market's great for veggies and meat
And the buskers put on such a show
Warm summer nights at Myer Music Bowl
The coffee shops on Lygon Street
Where Italian juke boxes play rock and roll
And you just sit and talk and eat
I've been away for a couple of years
Living in the U.S.A.
Was sad to leave – yes there were some tears
It's always hard to go away
But I think Melbourne's where I'll stay
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4. |
The Great Gorby
04:09
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Who's the leader of the commies, which nobody can deny?
M-I-K-H-A-I-L G-O-R-B-Y
Gorbachev (Gorbachev) Gorbachev (Gorbachev)
Forever let us hold the red flag high! (High, High, High!)
Come along and sing a song of spy and counter-spy
M-I-K-H-A-I-L G-O-R-B-Y
M-I-K – (That's KGB) H-A-I-L
G – (Gee, let’s hope he survives the byzantine machinations of the Soviet political system)
– O-R-B-Y – Why? Because we like him!
It all began with Marx, that's Karl, not Groucho
He wrote lots of great big books, he really was no slouch, oh
He tried to make life pleasant for the worker and the peasant
He started the whole thing off! (Oy!)
Then came Lenin, that's Vladimir not John
He wouldn't rest until the aristocracy was gone
He led the revolution, then Stalin carried on
Not a patch on Gorbachev! (Oy!)
Khruschev, Brezhnev, Chernenko and Andropov
He waited patiently for all of them to drop of
Now he’s General Secretary, there’s nobody on top of
Michael Gorbachev! (Oy!)
Some say that he has traded the sickle and the hammer
For Western decadence and a fickle kind of glamour
But let's face it, what's more dreary than dialectical theory
And Gorby had had enough! (Oy!)
If anyone suspects that Gorby isn't really red
You only have to look at that birthmark on his head
And at least he isn't ruling six months after he is dead
He doesn't even have a bad cough! (Oy!)
All the leaders of the past had been ill and psychiatric
And whatever their names were they were really Gerry Atric
And now there’s this new piker who they all call Perry Stroiker
A mate of Gorbachev! (Oy!)
So now the USSR has blue jeans and pantyhoses
But he must be careful who he helps and who he indisposes
'Cause we all know that a Gorby to get up people's noses –
So watch out Gorbachev! (Oy!)
The arms negotiations Gory handled very well
He really stuck it up Reagan’s nuclear arse . . . nal
And how he rose in stature when he brown-nosed Mrs Thatcher
He really pulled it off! (Oy!)
Though us bourgeois running dogs and paper tigers in the West
Think that Gorby is fantastic – that Gorby is the best
To the Russians he's inferior, he may wind up in Siberia
His Glasnost may be cut of! (Oy!)
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5. |
Would Jesus be an Ocker?
04:13
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If Jesus were alive today in Australia's happy land
Would he be an ocker, would he be true blue?
Would he say "G'day' to tourists, would he lend his mates a hand?
Would he toss another prawn on the barbeque?
And if he was a carpenter, would he join the B.L.F.?
I wonder what would be his point of view?
Would he vote for Fred Nile's Party? Would he join the socialist left?
I wonder just exactly what he'd do
And if he went to a wedding, and the grog was running out
Would he change the water into Fosters Beer?
Would he hang around with dero's? Would he be some kind of lout?
And do you reckon he would be too welcome here?
And in 1988 would he have said to celebrate?
Or would he say that we should hang our heads in shame?
Or would he say what's gone is gone, the problem now's to right the wrong
And try to live together all the same
Would his mother's name be Raelene? Would his father's name be Jack?
Would he grow up in a house of brick veneer?
And do you reckon he would come to town riding on a donkey's back?
Or would he rather drive a Holden Camira?
And when he chose disciples, do you think they'd all be blokes?
Or do you think he's give some women a go?
Would he go for Ita Buttrose? Or, maybe Lady Flo,
She's a Christian after all – but then so's Joh!
And would he have his last supper at some dive in Brunswick St.?
And is it wholemeal lentil burgers they'd be eating?
And would he claim it on expenses, and avoid the FBT?
Or would he render unto Keating what is Keating's?
And would he try to help the weak, and those who've lost their pride
The helpless and the homeless and the poor?
And would we just ignore him, or have him crucified?
Just like they did two thousand years before
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6. |
The Sperm
04:08
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I'm going to sing a song now, with me as the main topic
So let me introduce myself, I'm a cell that's microscopic
I look just like a tadpole, or a little like a worm
I think you should have guessed it by now, yes I'm a sperm!
I haven't got a name yet, and all I do is squiggle and squirm
It's not thrilling, but it's quite the thing to do when you're a sperm
I don't know if I'll end up as a woman or a he-man
And I don't know much about sailing, but I like to mix with semen!
Oh, I really am a goer, and I know I'm going to show 'em
I'm a spermatozoa! Or is that spermatozoon?
It's an interesting life to be the seed of some man's loin
But it isn't very comfortable living down here in his groin
I don't know much about parliament or about democracy
But I do know that my member is sure to stand up for me!
I hope my man is macho, with a lot of pluck and spunk
I'd really be jacked off if he turned out to be a monk
Or maybe he's a copper working in a police station
Let's hope so, 'cause my future all depends on cop ulation
My aim in life's to meet a mate, I'm sure that is your inference
But from where I am to where I want to be there's a vas deferens
To make an overture to an ovum is what I want
And I'm sure that there'll be plenty there who'll try to egg me on!
I'm waiting for some action, I'm just sitting by the phone
When I get the call I'll do my all to match up chromosomes
I've combed my hair, I've cleaned my teeth, I've thought up ways and means
I'm aching for the action – I'm dressed in my best genes!
My life is very pleasant, and my worries they are few
I don't have to do the dishes, or pay the rent like you
There's only one thing in the world that really troubles me
It's the prospect that my man might have a vasectomy!
Now, IVF don't bother me, I think it's quite OK
It's the only chance a sperm might get to see the light of day!
I can't conceive of anything that I would rather do
It's the only place a sperm can get a womb with a view!
Yes I really am determined that I will put on a show
This spunky little sperm is going to be an embryo!
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7. |
Song for Leonard
03:22
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Leonard Cohen brings you down to the depths of depression
You can listen to him for hours, you can spend the night just crying
And you know he'll send you crazy, that's why you want to stop it
And you start to slash your wrists and hang yourself from the ceiling
And just when you start believing that this world you're finally leaving
Then somebody stops the record, and you feel a little better
'Cause his songs are so depressing
And you want to smash the record
And destroy the record player
But you know that you can't do it
'Cause he's destroyed the very fabric of your mind
Now, the only thing that's worse than all those hours of Leonard Cohen
Is to spend a long time listening to all his imitators going
Through all those incomprehensible songs like Suzanne and So Long Marianne
Who think that all men should be Cohen freaks and sing all songs in A minor
Their guitars should all be broken, they should be banished to New Zealand
They're disgusting, not quite human – they should sink into the ocean
Like a stone
And they want to travel with you
And they want to travel blind
But you know you shouldn't let them
They'll destroy the very fabric of your mind
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8. |
Folk Rap
02:30
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Well folk music's been around for years
Some songs are funny, some reduce you to tears
You got traditional, contemporary – the old and the new
You got the Irish and the English, Australian too
You got ethnic music – that's multi cultural
It's lots of fun, you can really have a ball
But here's something new that'll make you snap
It's the Folk Rap!
Forget your concertina, fiddle and flute
And acoustic guitar – they may be cute
But they just don't got that funky beat
Like the hip hop sound, that gets you tapping your feet.
You need electric guitar and a drum machine
If you wanna make music that's cool and mean
I’m talkin' about the sound, man – you'll have to adapt:
It's the Folk Rap!
Roll over Eric Bogle and Danny Spooner
Gonna have to make way for a new kind of crooner
You just take a song everybody knows
And rap it to the rhythm – here's how it goes:
"Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong
Under the shade of a coolabah tree
He sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled
'Who'll come and do the Folk Rap with me?'"
"All among the wool, boys, all among the wool
Keep your blades full, boys, keep your blades full"
"It's a national institution, Australian through and through
So come on mate, grab a plate, let's have a barbeque!"
"One Sunday morning as I was walking
By Brisbane waters I chanced to stray
I saw a prisoner, his fate bewailing"
He should have been doing the Folk Rap!
So now you all know just how it goes
Forget your hey and your ho nonny nonny no's
And Gaudete Christus Gaudete
Ex Maria Virgine – you gotta make way
For the brand new sound that's sweeping the land
It's the Folk Rap sound – I mean it man!
It's new, it's bad, it's ace, it ain't whack!
It's the Folk Rap!
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9. |
Eight Trees
03:42
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There's eight trees standing by the side of the road in Clifton Hill
Cars zoom by, people stroll around, if they've got time to kill
Eight trees standing there in memory
Of eight souls cut down innocently
Eight trees standing by the side of the road
The morning papers were screaming about a man on a killing spree
He was shooting at cars and people, anything that he could see
He must have been crazy, everybody said
A menace to society, better off dead
The morning papers were screaming the news
Up at Duntroon they trained him to kill efficiently
If you think your target's human, then you haven't been trained sufficiently
Killing for your country's a glorious thing
Shooting up gooks for country and king
Up at Duntroon they trained him to kill
Late one Sunday night he went out with his guns and his combat gear
Shooting moving targets like they'd trained him, trying to show no fear
Got some through the window, got some running away
The others weren't so easy – quite a challenge, you'd say
Eight people dead by the side of the road
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10. |
In the Eye of the Storm
05:10
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David's on the car phone of his Porsche, there's a deal he's trying to force
He plays it cool, he plays it hard
There are times you just can't feel remorse, muster every last resource
And be always on your guard
35 and out to scale the dizzy heights
If life's a candy, why not take a megabyte?
He's a mover, he's a high flying kite
In the eye of the storm
Peter spends his days around the streets, maybe strolls along the beach
If the weather's not too cold
Now and then he has some friends he meets, maybe grab a bite to eat
Happy moments are like gold
25, and never held a job for long
There's always something that just happens to go wrong
He wishes he could learn to cope, to be strong
In the eye of the storm
Mr Evans prunes another rose, watches as his garden grows
Last night's storm will do some good
And tho' he has his highs and lows somewhere deep inside he knows
That he'd go back if he could
65, retired – his friends all say he's free
But somehow his job had been his whole identity
Life is pleasant but if only he could be
In the eye of the storm
Maryanne and John only just met, they're in love, but that's upset
The contented lives they'd made
Who would think that love would be a threat, but their marriages seemed set
Then this love hit like a grenade
Sure, they both married young and went through times of doubt
But time and children seemed to sort those problems out
If only they weren't both swept up and tossed about
In the eye of the storm
Some of us are happy, some are not, some are seeking treasures lost
Some are scared of what they've found
Should we all be thankful for our lot? Should we calculate the cost
If we start to look around?
Some like sunshine, some like walking through the rain
The gentle breeze, the awe inspiring hurricane
Some like peacefulness, some feel they've more to gain
In the eye of the storm
In the eye of the storm
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Bruce Watson Melbourne, Australia
Joyful, hilarious, thought provoking and totally engaging original songs from one of Australia's foremost songwriters and performers in the folk style.
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