We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

/

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. Paying supporters also get unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app.
    Purchasable with gift card

      name your price

     

  • Buy the Full Digital Album

about

Complete poem written in 1889 by Henry Lawson (1867 - 1922). The bullock teams were a common sight in country and outback Australia in the nineteenth century, where they used to haul produce where the railways didn’t go.
=============================

lyrics

The Teams ( 1889 )

by Henry Lawson ( 1867 – 1922 )
Tune by Mike Jackson
---------------------------------------
[ V.1 ]
A cloud of dust on the long white road,
And the teams go creeping on
Inch by inch with the weary load;
And by the power of the green-hide goad
The distant goal is won.

-----------------------------------------------
[ V.2 ]
With eyes half-shut to the blinding dust,
And necks to the yokes bent low,
The beasts are pulling as bullocks must;
And the shining tires might almost rust
While the spokes are turning slow.

-----------------------------------------------
[ V.3 ]
With face half-hid 'neath a broad-brimmed hat
That shades from the heat's white waves,
And shouldered whip with its green-hide plait,
The driver plods with a gait like that
Of his weary, patient slaves.

-----------------------------------------------
[ V.4 ]
He wipes his brow, for the day is hot,
And spits to the left with spite;
He shouts at 'Bally', and flicks at 'Scot',
And raises dust from the back of 'Spot',
And spits to the dusty right.

-----------------------------------------------
[ V.5 ]
He'll sometimes pause as a thing of form
In front of a settler's door,
And ask for a drink, and remark 'It's warm',
Or say 'There's signs of a thunder-storm';
But he seldom utters more.

-----------------------------------------------
[ V.6 ]
But the rains are heavy on roads like these;
And, fronting his lonely home,
For weeks together the settler sees
The teams bogged down to the axletrees,
Or ploughing the sodden loam.

-----------------------------------------------
[ V.7 ]
And then when the roads are at their worst,
The bushman's children hear
The cruel blows of the whips reversed
While bullocks pull as their hearts would burst,
And bellow with pain and fear.

-----------------------------------------------
[ V.8 ]
And thus with little of joy or rest
Are the long, long journeys done;
And thus — 'Tis a cruel war at the best —
Is distance fought in the mighty West,
And the lonely battles won.


============================

credits

from Drovers, Stockmen and Bullockies, track released November 7, 2023
Tune by Mike Jackson
Cello by Natasha Jaffe natashajaffe.com
For more Australian Folk : thequeenslandtiger.com
==========================

license

tags

about

The Queensland Tiger image

The Queensland Tiger

The Queensland Tiger covers traditional Australian ballads mainly from 19C.: e.g. Henry Lawson, Banjo Paterson, Breaker Morant, Charles Thatcher, etc…. true to the original works.
website : www.thequeenslandtiger.com or Youtube channel : The Queensland Tiger ... more

contact / help

Contact The Queensland Tiger

Streaming and
Download help

Report this track or account

If you like The Queensland Tiger, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Featuring Riley Pinkerton (aka The Rat Queen) from the theatrical NYC rockers, Castle Rat.
listen now