To view lyrics, click on the song titles below.
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
Another Stupid Love Song
A Picture OF You
Clam Up
Every Day
Freight Train
Life Comes To This Town
Monster To Herself
On The Mend
Rockin’ Blues
Someone Who Cares
The Wall
You & Me
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And the band played Waltzing Matilda
Lyrics as performed by Martin King - © 1972 Eric Bogle
When I was a young man I carried my pack
And I lived the free life of the rover
From the Murray’s green basin to the dusty Outback
I waltzed my Matilda all over
Then in 1915 my country said, “Son,
There’s no time for rambling, there’s work to be done”
So they gave me a tin hat, and they gave me a gun
And they marched me away to the war
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As our ship pulled away from the quay
And amidst all the cheers, flag waving and tears
We sailed off to Gallipoli
And how well I remember that terrible day
When our blood stained the sand and the water
And how in that hell that they called Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter
Johnny Turk he was ready, he’d primed himself well
He showered us with bullets, and he rained us with shells
And in five minutes flat he’d blown us all to hell
Nearly blew us right back to Australia
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As we stopped to bury our slain
We buried ours, the Turks buried theirs
Then we started all over again
So they gathered the wounded, the crippled and maimed
And they shipped us back home to Australia
The armless, the legless, the blind and insane
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla
And when our ship pulled into Circular Quay
And I looked at the place where my legs used to be
I thanked Christ there was nobody waiting for me
To grieve, to mourn, or to pity
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As they carried us down the gangway
But nobody cheered; they just stood and stared
And they turned their faces away
So now every April I sit on my porch
And watch the parade pass before me
I see my old comrades how proudly they march
Reliving old dreams of past glory
The old men march slowly, their bones stiff and sore
They’re tired old heroes from a forgotten war
And the young people ask, “What are they marchin’ for?”
And I ask myself the same question
And the band plays Waltzing Matilda,
And the old men still answer the call
But year upon year, more old men disappear
Soon no one will march there at all.
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda,
You’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me
Lyrics (C) LARRIKIN MUSIC PUBLISHING via Music Sales Pty. Ltd.
Listed here by kind permission of the songwriter - Eric Bogle
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Another Stupid Love Song
© 1999 Martin King & Winston Spruance
They’re always talkin’ ’bout ‘my babe’; again I hear it in their songs
Every time I hit the airwaves, there’s another version on
Of how they make you feel so special, or how they make you feel so strange
Everybody’s always searchin’, yeah, for what the song contains
They talk about forever, as if forever was just a week
And maybe if that’s what you seek
Here’s another stupid love song
Another stupid love song
A stupid love song
Another stupid
So you think you’ll find the perfect, person to fulfil your life
Don’t you know you’re only dreamin’, ’cause nothin’ happens ’till you strive
To be as happy as you get , without another, near or far
‘Cause who you are is what they get! Are you sure you’re up to par?
You’ve heard happy ever afters, from the moment you are born
Until those books are all torn
Here’s another stupid love song
Another stupid love song
A stupid love song
Another stupid
All the rocks to be thrown, they are beside you
Do you think that love is everyone’s right
Does your conscience have the right to applaud you
Or do the bones, disturb you at night
Here’s another stupid love song
Another stupid love song
A stupid love song
Another stupid
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A Picture OF You
© 1995 Martin King
Could you please tell me why the world stops spinnin’
Every time that she walks in this place
When I know it’s not my fate, to be her one and only, oh no way
‘Cause all the while, all I want is to believe in
Stories I have heard of happiness
The kind that lasts so long, They say it can live on and on
But just a picture of you, is all that I can hold on to
And believing it’s true, would surely help a lot
Every time that I see, your face across the room
I know that I will always have, just a picture of you
Maybe if the circumstances changed, then
Well, there could be some chance for more than this
But as it stands it’s so serene! Why advance this foolish dream?
When just a picture of you, is all that I can hold on to
And believing it’s true, would surely help a lot
Every time that I see, your face across the room
I know that I will always have, just a picture of you
A picture of you
A picture of you
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Tell a soul, some soul who’s listening
Tell a body, somebody who gives a damn
I’ve had enough of your same old whispering
I’ve had enough of your talk, why don’t you …
Whinge about some trivial piece of shit
You whinge about somebody who’s on the lamb
Why do you, why do you whine and bitch
Why do you pry, why don’t you …
Clam up, Clam up, Clam up, Clam up
Mister C’s foolin’ ’round
And a little sister M, she’s got a silicon incentives now
Miss D’s new gown
And the woman in her life, who’s goin’ down, down, down
She’s gonna be, she’s gonna be known as a bike
He’s gonna be, he’s gonna be an old and lonely man
Why do you talk, you talk such a load of tripe
Why do you talk, why don’t you …
Clam up, clam up, clam up, clam up
Clam up, clam up, clam up, clam up
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Every day I tell myself there’s no one else I can rely on
In every way, I say to myself, all I need is just to be strong
Wanna tell ya, tell you I can be, almost anything that I want
And I will be, all that I want, as soon as I can keep my mind on it
And every day I’m thinkin’ ‘bout you
Yes every day I’m thinkin’ ‘bout you
Thinkin’ ‘bout you
Cast away, the fears and the doubts that were always holding me back
Fire away! Another challenge comin’, turnin’ grape wine into cognac
Wanna tell you, tell you when I’m workin’ there’s no time to sit and relax
There ain’t no shirkin’! It’s now or it’s never, hear the ravings of a maniac
And every day I’m thinkin’ ‘bout you
Yes every day I’m thinkin’ ‘bout you
Thinkin’ ‘bout you
Serenade, because you deserve more than I could ever be paid
I wouldn’t trade, the smile in your eyes for any other that may come my way
And every day I’m thinkin’ ‘bout you
Yes every day I’m thinkin’ ‘bout you
Thinkin’ ‘bout you
etc
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Freight Train
© 1995 Martin King
Haven’t seen your face in years
Where you been hidin’ buddy? How you been?
Look at you with your hair so long
I don’t remember, just how many years have gone
Back then, well do you recall
We hopped the rails and we headed up north
No money, just the clothes on our backs
No thought that we’d ever turn back
One more night on a freight train
One more day in the cold and rain
Our circumstances will look all right, in the daylight, in the daylight
As the fields are gettin’ smaller and the dawn is growin’ taller
There’s another lonely night, another lonely night just gone
Took some work in a fruit pickin’ yard
Got a tent and a union card
Found some friends and we lived real free
We had it hard but we made it, you and me
No matter how your life is now
It must be better than it was back then
Well pickin’ fruit wasn’t all that bad
Stranger days, I think I’ll never have than
One more night on a freight train
One more day in the cold and rain
Our circumstances will look all right, in the daylight, in the daylight
As the fields are gettin’ smaller and the dawn is growin’ taller
There’s another lonely night, another lonely night just gone
So now you work from nine to five, you don’t feel alive and you’re hungry
For the freedom of the travellin’ life, livin’ on the knife, if only, we could spend just
One more night on a freight train
One more day in the cold and rain
Our circumstances will look all right, in the daylight, in the daylight
As the fields are gettin’ smaller and the dawn is growin’ taller
There’s another lonely night, another lonely night just gone
etc
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Life Comes To This Town
© 1991 Martin King
I don’t know what you’ve been told
The streets ’round here ain’t paved with gold
No end to the rainbow here around
But when the lights come on you can hear the sound
Of the beat fallin’ in the city
I can feel it comin’ down
When the dusk falls there’s no pity
That’s when life comes to this town
I don’t know why you come here
With open palm and shiftless leer
The sanity you’re tryin’ to find
Is in the life you left behind
But still the beat falls in the city
I can feel it comin’ down
When the dusk falls there’s no pity
That’s when life comes to this town, yeah
Midnight invite we obey
Starlight respite on the way
No magic makin’ life here good
Just attitude of brotherhood
As the beat falls in the city
I can feel it comin’ down
When the dusk falls there’s no pity
That’s when life comes to this town, yeah
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Monster To Herself
© 1998 Martin King
She was not listening, to the people around her, or her own mind
A life existing, without a goal, of any kind
I know That somewhere inside, was the woman I knew
For all my life But she was wasting away; what could I do?
She was goin’ down, goin’ down
She was a monster to herself
Goin’ down, goin’ down
She was a monster, she was a monster, to herself
Still want some answers! Was it self esteem, that led her to be?
What circumstances, can tear you away, from reality
A life’s worth living, if not for yourself, then somebody else
There’s no forgiving, leaving behind, part of yourself
When your goin’ down, goin’ down
She was a monster to herself
Goin’ down, goin’ down
She was a monster, to herself
I saw the needles. I saw the sweats.
I know she laid down to repay the debts
I saw her shiver in the heat of the day
Tell me why I had to see her that way
I wished my mum was alive
When I was just five years old
But I saw her goin’ down, goin’ down
She was an angel to me
Goin’ down, underground
She was a monster
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On The Mend
© 1999 Martin King
In a ward I don’t wanna be
In a room I don’t wanna see
With a pain I don’t wanna know, ever again
There’s a smile you’ve been givin’ me
All your love unconditionally
Change my mind when I’m feelin’ low, never pretend
Comin’ home now
You know I’m on the mend
‘Cause time and again
You’re there when I awake now
All the drugs they’ve been givin’ me
I’ve been whacked out on pethidine
Now I’m finally of the shit, my mind is clear
Now the tubes are all out of me
They’ve taken away the machinery
And you’ve been there since the start of it, always near
Comin’ home now
You know I’m on the mend
‘Cause time and again
You’re there when I awake now
It seems a rare and crazy thing, to know what you’ve got before it’s gone
So say that you will wear my ring from this day on
All the cards here of support
They tell the worst things that were thought
And only serve to remind me, I’m not alone
Well there are worse off here than me
Look around, that’s plain to see
‘Cause I got more love than I knew, can I atone?
Comin’ home now
You know I’m on the mend
‘Cause time and again
You’re there when I awake now
Yeah, Comin’ home now
You know I’m on the mend
‘Cause time and again
You’re there when I awake now
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Rockin’ Blues
© 1995 Martin King
Gonna take you back
Back to where it was before
When music was your life
But music ain’t alive no more
I say it doesn’t matter, who’s got the rhythm
As long as someone’s got it, rockin’ blues will never die
First there was the blues
And soul comin’, breakin’ your heart
And when the rockin’ grew
And the back beat tore it apart
I say it doesn’t matter, who’s got the rhythm
As long as someone’s got it, rockin’ blues will never die
Take a look around, music has lost its’ way
Where are those fingers pickin’?
Where are the legends that practiced all day?
Now we’ve lost the mystique
The legends of rock have all gone
And now the music elite
They bring computerised music right into your home
I say it doesn’t matter, who’s got the rhythm
As long as someone’s got it, someone’s got it in ‘em
I say it doesn’t matter, who’s got the rhythm
As long as someone’s got it!
Rockin’ blues will never die
Rockin’ blues will never die
etc
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Someone Who Cares
© 1991 Martin King
There’s a world with no passion, seems no-one is there
It’s a place everyone knows, it’s around everywhere
There’s a time in your life son, when you’ll find you are there
Remember what I say - there’s someone who cares!
When there’s a load on your shoulders, too heavy to bare
Take comfort in the little things, only you have to share
That’s the time to believe, no-one else can compare
Remember what I say - there’s someone who cares!
There’s a light on the horizon
And a heart just for you
So many doors to open
So much to be and do
Life’s not a road sign, saying ‘no thoroughfare’
Life’s not a problem, it’s not always unfair
Destiny waiting, just don’t know where
Remember what I say - there’s someone who cares!
Yes there’s someone, well there’s someone
Someone who cares
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Little warning that the mortar and the brick was goin’ up
Nineteen sixty one, yeah there was nothin’ to be done, yeah they were stuck
There’s a risin’, there’s a risin’ of the wall
Got family the other side of town, the best they knew
Try to get a message through the barrier, but there’s no gettin’ through
United stand, and not, you fall
Takes more than a few, to take freedom back from the wall
Twenty eight years of isolation
Family and friend a memory
Now hundreds of souls, they breath no more
They were desperate to make it to the sunset side of the wall
A generation that were born and raised inside, they never knew
The freedom just to travel anywhere and any time they wanted to
It’s not the end, not by far
So many years apart have left you where you are
Pedantic theories, and pride they fall
As people join, to take freedom back from the wall
etc
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Lady, keep an eye out for me
I’m not the one that you’ve already found
And maybe, we were always meant to be
Unlike the guy you’ve been hangin’ around
Walkin’ by, I see you pondering
Is this all, life has got in store
To live a lie, is only squandering
Time there could be, so much more
You and me
Just think what it could be
If you’d just take a chance on love
And ’till that day
You can walk away
I’ll be here when you’ve had enough
Steppin’, on your heart so long
A memory’s all you’ve got that is good
And you’ve been, thinkin’ it’s not so wrong
Things would change, well if he only could
Stay around, just waitin’ for the day
See your life just driftin’ by
Try to talk, there’s nothin’ left to say
You don’t leave, just stay and cry
You and me
Just think what it could be
If you’d just take a chance on love
And ’till that day
You can walk away
I’ll be here when you’ve had enough
You and me
Just think what it could be
If you’d just take a chance …
And ’till that day
You can walk away
I’ll be here when you’ve had …
Enough repeat
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