Droving Woman (Cannot Buy My Soul (A Kev Carmody Tribute), 2007)
Intro: |C Am G|C Am G|C Am G|C G F|
Verse 1: C Am G Well, she buried him down on the edge of the town, C Am G Where the brigalow suckers, on the cemetery creep. C Am G She stood with them children in a heavy brown gown, C G F What you want you just can't always keep.
Verse 2: C Am G "Well I'm sorry", I said, "I knew him so well", C G Though your body is young, well you never can tell. Em C Am G When the hand of fate brings it's fateful death knell", C G F She just turned with the slightest of smiles.
Verse 3: C Am G She said "From the start well we knewed it so hard, C Am G We were always handed the severest of cards. C Am G A honeymoon spent droving Jamieson's stock, C G F Through the wildest winter you've seen.
Verse 4: C Am G And my Romantic notions of horses and land, C Am G They were soon dis-pelled as a fantasised dream. C Am G Watching cattle at night in the mid-winter cold, C G F Turns a person, both wiry and old.
Verse 5: C Am G Well the flame of the breakfast fire'd be dead, C Am G As the sun rose up, well you move up ahead. C Am G I'd be breaking the camp up and rolling the beds, C G F As you fanned the stock wider for feed.
Verse 6: C Am G When the weather turned sour with the onset of rain, C Am G An' the truck'd bogged down to the axle main. C Am G We'd move up ahead then with pack saddles and chains, C G F And I'd wait in the mud by the road.
Verse 7: C Am G With the blankets and the canvas all hung out to dry, C Am G There's nothing for heating 'cause you couldn't light a fire. C Am G And no stock permit for the forthcoming shire. C G F (No lyric line)
Verse 8: C Am G For the cattle don't camp where they're sloshing in rain, C Am G They keep walking forward all night like a dog on a chain. C Am G And he'd be red eyed and weary with a pack horse turned lame, C G F And I'd wait miles behind in the mud.
Instrumental Solo 1: (Violin over) |C Am G |C Am G|C Am G|C G F|
Verse 9: C Am G It was down through Charleville up to Julia Creek, C Am G Living on syrup and damper and salted corn meat. C Am G We had nothing but the 'roos and the mailman to meet, C G F We'd move up and down with the rains.
Verse 10: C Am G But them inland skies have the starriest of nights, C Am G With the dance of the fire throwing flickering lights. C Am G The beauty of it's sunsets were a constant delight, C G F I felt that nature had let me intrude.
Verse 11: C Am G The enormous vastness of them inland plains, C Am G Brings you a lonely contentment to which you can't put a name. C Am G It's a satisfied glow city folks seldom attain, C G F They spend their life on a right rigid rail.
Verse 12: C Am G The kids got their schooling from the government mail, C Am G We posted their work off at each cattle sale. C Am G They considered their learning, a self imposed jail, C G F They'd rather help their father and fail.
Instrumental Solo 2: (Violin over) |C Am G|C Am G|C Am G|C G F|
Verse 13: C Am G Early last month at the end of the dry, C Am G He was given a horse no-body could ride. C Am G Alert were his ears with a fire in his stride, C G F He was young and his spirit was wild.
Verse 14: C Am G To catch him each morning was an hour long battle, C Am G We had to collar rope his near side to throw on the saddle. C Am G Or he'd bite and he'd strike, he made my nerves rattle, C G F Pande-monium reigned with each ride.
Verse 15: C Am G It was a hot summers' mornin' at the government bore, C Am G There was a stillness around like I've never felt before. C Am G How could he know it was fate at his door, C G F That was stealthily watchin' his moves.
Verse 16: C Am G He mounted up quick taking slack from the reins, C Am G Grabbed a full hand of hair from the horse's long mane. C Am G He'd just hit the saddle when the horse went insane, C G F Churning dust in a frenzy of fear.
Verse 17: C Am G The girth on the saddle let go at the ring, C Am G The surcingle slipped it was impossible to cling. C Am G The horse felt it go made a desperate fling, C G F He was thrown to the length of the reins.
Verse 18: C Am G And I heard his spine snap like a 'roo shooters' shot, C Am G He'd busted his back on the concreted trough. C Am G Sickness and fear were the feelings I got, C G F For the doctor was a six hour drive.
Verse 19: C Am G And I looked at his face and his colour turned white, C Am G He turned slowly and said "I can't make it till night. C Am G My body is broken, I'm bleedin' inside", C G F And the life slowly drained from his eyes.
Instrumental Solo 3: (Violin over) |C Am G |C Am G|C Am G|C G F| |C Am G |C Am G|C Am G|C G F|
Verse 20: C Am G 'Guess I'll sell up the plant now and move back to town, C Am G Before the winter returns with a chill on the ground. C Am G 'Cause what I have lost can seldom be found, C G F I was blessed with the gentlest of men.
Verse 21: C Am G Eventually the children will move to the east, C Am G But I couldn't stand the bustle of even a quiet city street. C Am G I'll stay in the scrub here where my heart really beats, C G F For some dogs are too old to change.