Hermannsburg Oh Hermannsburg It was the Lutheran's good deed Made the children orphans And dressed them up in white clothes
A watercolour painting Through melancholy eyes The ghost gums, dirt dry river beds, the warm rain upon the ground The assimilation dream
Albert Namatjira Paintings for the white man He painted purple mountains in the spirit of his land
There was drinking on the reservation He was jailed in Alice Springs he lost the will to paint and live And he died a solemn death... back to the ground
His seven children died From respiratory disease They placed them all in unmarked graves Somewhere near Alice Springs
And the dogs all chase the desert flies Near the one drip water tap The boys, they kick the brown dirt Their strength is coming back...