1. |
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What the world needs plenty more of is
No more goddamn highway songs
Yet here we be on the road again and it’s
Feelin’ like my long lost friend
It’s callin’ my name
Hello old flame, uh-huh
Well, let me tell you ’bout my old van
She’s more reliable than any old man
I love to be in her warm embrace
And I love her hot breath against my face
Window wide open, no need for mopin’, uh-huh
Got no time for bein’ blue when it’s
Just the road and me and you
System reboot, foot to the floor
Oh-oh, Dolores!
When the wallabies shimmy and jive you got to
Know how to stop just as hard as you drive
Emu mommas sail her chicks ’cross your bows
And the air starts to crackle with curses and vows
It’s time to slow down
Find a sleepy old town, uh-huh
Got no time for bein’ blue when it’s
Just the road and me and you
System reboot, foot to the floor
Oh-oh, Dolores!
When my Lady Moon she rises above those hills
And her misty old shadow gives ya goosebump chills
We’re the only things wheeling through a starlight sky
Wheeling and dealing with a starlight sky
Singin’ and crazy glad to be alive...
Well, it’s not every day you get to hit the road
Lay a little rubber on the old frog and toad
Say hi to sleepy lizards as they amble away
No, you just don’t get to do that every single day
Dolores is her name, rock’n’rollin’ is our game, uh-huh
Got no time for bein’ blue when it’s
Just the road and me and you
System reboot, foot to the floor
Oh-oh, Dolores!
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2. |
Nothing Stopping Her Now
04:36
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Freedom comes hard to the venturous traveller
Unused to being alone in the world
Endless horizons with no tugging apron strings
Holding her back from the less trodden road
Nothing stopping her now
Nothing stopping her now
Unheeded words echo inside her orbit:
‘If you be a mother your brightness will wane’
Burning so hot and strong seemed for infinity
Distant stars die yet their light journeys on
Nothing stopping her now
Nothing stopping her now
And the gossamer flies on a storm
Tethered to earth but a moment then gone
Flashes of moonlight all that is left
Never to follow and never regret
Wind blowing cold on the edge of a precipice
She will not weaken with rock in her heart
Whether to climb or fall never a certainty
Taking her chances to find the lost path
Nothing stopping her now
Nothing stopping her now
There is nothing stopping her now.
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3. |
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Trap the water, track the sun
There’s goodness in a garden fit for anyone
Everyday magic never grows old
Better far than diamonds and gold
Did you ever watch the path of a falling leaf
Hear it rustle as it came to rest upon the mound beneath
Ever see a grubby child poking with a stick
To see a creepy-crawly scurry out from under
And she’s squealing with delight even though she got a fright
You’d almost think they both belonged here, wouldn’t you?
Trap the water, track the sun
There’s goodness in a garden fit for anyone
Everyday magic never grows old
Better far than diamonds and gold
Did you ever help your momma tie a teepee out of cane
Follow her example as you planted beans again
Ever watch those scarlet runners twirl all summer long
‘Til you could walk their green cathedrals of light
And how proud you were and thrilled as your colander was filled
You’d almost think you’d grown together there, wouldn’t you?
Trap the water, track the sun
There’s goodness in a garden fit for anyone
Everyday magic never grows old
Better far than diamonds and gold
Did you ever take a melancholy walk just after dawn
Before the birds grow cautious while the world is still their own
Ever breathe in motes on breezes carried by the sun
And let the perfume of cool dew pervade your mind
And you’re feeling newly made as the chorus starts to fade
You’d almost think you’d touched the dance of life, wouldn’t you?
Trap the water, track the sun
There’s goodness in a garden fit for anyone
Everyday magic never grows old
Better far than diamonds and gold
Richer far than diamonds and gold
A truer legacy than diamonds and---
Trap the water, track the sun…
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4. |
Dingo
03:56
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Someone shot a dingo today
Now it’s hanging on a fence by way of general display
Well, you shoulda heard the screams from one and all
Who reckon animals should matter more than human wherewithal
Some say they’re drifting in a dream
That’s not the reality we’re living in.
I say we’re trucking in already too much hay
And more lambs to the slaughter sure don’t help our bottom line at all today.
They say there’s holes in the dog-proof fence
We know they’re getting further south now and our sheep have no defence
Who knows? Maybe at the cattle grids it fails
Perhaps they find the gaps and balance ballet-dancer on the rails
No-one’s ever seen it so dry
And now it’s come down to do or die
So we’re readying our rifles today
Just a little piece of what we need to keep those bloody hungry wolves at bay
See, with respect and no offence
This never was just about a dog or fence
Not just about your greenie ways or misplaced sentiment
And even though any fool can see your position is well-meant
You city new folk need to learn a thing or two
Until then you’re bulldust on the wind for all the good your fancy words can do.
Nobody can say if we’ll pull through
When love and hate turn on a moment or a single point of view
With territory shifting all around
When what is home today may soon become a ruined piece of ground.
Hell, I know we all wanna survive
We all love our land and hope to keep it all alive
But I been in the game too long to change my ways
True, the winning counts for nothing if we’re bringing on the bloody end of days
Still it sickens me, this bickering, and why can’t you just settle for our ways.
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5. |
Destination
05:19
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It wasn’t so much about getting away
as finding a new destination
The railroad tracks of her life
at a dead-end station
Her job had failed, her lover bailed,
and loneliness was calling her name
Bring it on! she cried as she cast the jigsaw wide
to see where the pieces might fall
She’d done it once or twice before
She’d done it once or twice before.
Then borne on the wind came the cry of a friend
who was stuck in a faraway town
So with not much going on, she’s jumped in her van
and headed on down
And what should she see but a cottage decked in green
with roses tumbling all around
Bring it on! she cried as she signed on the line:
Here my home shall be!
She was sick of renting anyway
So sick of renting anyway.
But you and I know there’s no place you can go
without taking your own self with you
And out city girl in her rodeo hell soon got it in the neck
without a skerrick or a speck
Of terra firma under her citified feet…
For she’d no sooner moved in than her fairweather friend
took off to where life was less jaded
Though some locals visited after that,
few reciprocated ... Alone again
she started to spin like a moth on a pin,
though she flapped her wings they just got torn
Bring it on! she cried as her hope collapsed and died
and she curled up into a ball
She was tired, weary, silent and sore
So silent, weary, sorry and sore.
But you and I know there’s no place you can go
without taking your old self with you
And inside her crucible, all but inaudible,
a little voice unfurled from the happy little girl
Dancing deep inside the long grass of her heart: Remember me?
Slowly then surer her thoughts took on form
as she started to scribble down their story
It was often verbose, sometimes a little frank
but seldom boring
And out of the cloud formed a modest crowd
of kinfolk who saw her at last
Bring it on! she cried as her joie de vivre revived
and she sewed love into her craft
Like a patchwork made of many parts
She’d come together out of colourful parts.
Now, you and I know there’s no place you can go
without taking your true self with you
But our bonny lass, despite oodles of sass,
still she never saw it coming like a loco train a-running
Ever rougher til a sunny vista looms…
There’s no easy moral to wind up this tale
of a girl who was stopped and restarted
For solitude can kill, it’s no remedy
for the fainthearted
And life will go wrong, there’s no end to that song,
yet seeds grow on broken ground
Bring it on! she cries, For soon enough we die!
Let that inner voice ring!
For Destiny’s a delicate thing.
Yeah, Destiny’s a delicate thing.
And there’s never really any sure thing.
Just life is better if you can let your spirit sing!
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Kate Battersby Adelaide, Australia
A veteran of festival, concert and broadcast stages and teller of tales both bold and tender, Kate returns to the fray with
a powerful new EP release, featuring five songs inspired by a decade of rural life in Outback Australia.
This bird's eye view is a little bit folk, a little bit bluegrass and a little bit country. Kate's unique way with words gives it that special extra twist.
... more
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