The Waifs

Now she's thinking of the red soil and the mango trees
In her mind she's still splashing round down on Cable Beach
And her eyes, they are as rich and faraway as the sunset there
She's not taking in a word I say
Well I might as well be talking to myself

Take it in, take it all in
Now is a time that will not come again
Take it in, take it all in
This is a day that is here for the living

So we step outside into this Melbourne weather
With a shock it brings her back to where she is
Now we've made this place our home
Surrounded by unknown
We're gonna stick it out until it comes together

Take it in, take it all in
Now is a time that will not come again
Take it in, take it all in
This is a day and it's here for the living

We're only living for a day to come or some days gone by
Never taking in each moment
Never knowing what you had until it passed you by
And it'll pass you by

Take it in, take it all in
Now is a time that will not come again
Take it in, take it all in
This is the day and it's here for the living

Take it all in
Now is a time that will not come again
Take it in, take it all in
This is the day and it's here for the living

I stood and watched my daddy die
no one could help his plate
he was trying to save our home
on the day that the river rose

well it came alive I heard them say
there was nothing we could do as he washed away

running from the heart of it
right into the cause of it X 2

I'm mad now, but I'm only seven
well it's been hard since papa went to heaven
but staying now, my mama said
he worked this land, and his life it's here

running from the heart of it
right into the cause of it X 3

Yeah everyone you follow me late at night
we'll go down to the river where the moon is bright
and we can wash our sorrow down
underneath that shining ground

and we'll be sitting in the sunlight laughing
can't you feel daddy there
there's life and death and all this power
underneath these shining stars

running from the heart of it
right into the cause of it X 3

(Hey mama hey mama hey ma they lie) x 3

You read the paper, watch the news
And you think you're well informed
Well, I've got some news for you, my friend--

That headline that you read, the story that broke
It was a scandal - yeah a scam
A political masterstroke
Tell you what they you want you to hear--
Close your eyes and open your ears!

It's easier that way
'Cause you don't have to think for yourself

(Chorus)
You said, "Hey, I tell no lies, I tell no lies!
Because I read it all in black and white!
It was on my TV; yeah, they were telling me just what to believe...
Yeah, I tell no lies, I tell no lies"
And all the while they're tellin' you lies

Everyday, you and me; we see what we are shown
It can be hard to scratch below
There are people at the top, they are hidden far from view
They're not going to show their faces to the likes of me and you
You never see them on the street,
But you'll always see the things that they do.

Yes, they can get away
No price is too high for them to pay

Chorus

Oh Lies lies lies (lies lies lies) x3
(Hey mama hey mama hey ma they lie) x 8
And all the while they're tellin' you lies.

I'm going out to damage my brain
You won't come; you say you're staying at home
It's no shame; night and day we see each other anyway
We've got to move, we've got to get away
It's a long cold night but there's a better day
Wouldn't you say, correct me if I'm wrong
But we've got all the good reasons for time on our own

You see me all the time
You see me all the time
You see me all the time
Hey babe throw me some line

It's him and her; it's this and that
I feel my tyres going flat
There's no get up and go for getting it on
We got all the good reasons for time on our own

You see me all the time
You see me all the time
You see me all the time
Hey babe throw me some line x2

Crazy train, rolling down that crazy track
Crazy train, rolling down that crazy track
Going to New Orleans and I ain't coming back

Crazy train, where do you think I'm bound
Crazy train, where do you think I'm bound
Bound for New Orleans
Gonna play the blues in that blues town

Crazy train, steaming through that crazy night
Crazy train, steaming through that crazy line
Got on this morn' and I'll be there in the morning light

well my papa was a fisher man
and he fished the deep blue sea
he home made some fine black berry nip
and he'd always pass a nip onto me

well he smelled like black-tarred fishing nets
oh tiger belly growl
he was my good pappa
but he be bones now

grand daddy was a sailor
and he sailed from far across the sea
well he did talk some kind of funny
but it never did bother me


when he spoke about his home land
'twas with a sad and furrowed brow
no more tears grandaddy
you just be bones now

well i look now at my father
and his black hair's all gone grey
and those strong arms that did carry me
they're now withering away
lay down your burdens papa
won't you come sit with me at home
we have got to spend some time together
before we just be bones

I don't like gold and I don't like pearls
I'm just your regular West Australian fisherman's daughter
I'm a middle class folk singing guitar playin' girl

I ain't seen the world no I've not travelled far
I'm saving dollars for a 1962 ruby red interior
R series Valiant, mother of a car

I'm a country girl in a city whirlpool
I'm pulling over man I'm gonna let you through
I'm living in the left hand lane of my city
Slow down so I can walk this highway with you
Slow down let me walk it with you

Slow down, we all gotta slow
I wanna walk the highway with you, you and you and you

No I'm not yet married I got no ring on my hand
I got my heart beating for this sweet loving
Second hand dealing boy
I'm gonna love him the best way I can
I know I can

I'm a country girl in a city whirlpool
I'm pulling over man I'm gonna let you through
I'm living in the left hand lane of my city
Slow down so I can walk this highway with you
Slow down let me walk it with you

I don't like gold and I don't like pearls
I'm just your regular West Australian fisherman's daughter
I'm a middle class folk singing guitar playin' girl

I thought I'd move to Sydney to get a little piece
Of the city life they talk about in the 90's.
Where everyone I meet don't want to know my name
They want to know what I do for a living

My songs don't earn me money or fill my pockets with cash
Every time I go busking I make more in hash
Everything I want is getting further out of reach
Like that funky little apartment down on bondi

I've been getting cozy with a kiwi boy
He'd kill me if I said he was sweet as apple pie
He's going to leave me and hit the road
He's touring with the theater ? if you see him say I said
All the birthday money my parents sent
Was spent on the phonebill and paying my rent
Frijole, guacamole anything you want
I'm working as a waitress in a mexican restaurant

When the night-time comes you can hear
My heart calling
Calling out to you my one true love
Thinking about you all of the while
Thinking about you it's making me smile
Honey I'm sitting on top of the world just
Thinking about you

In the morring light that's when I'm feeling right
Another day come, another day go, another day closer till I make you my own
Honey I'm siting on top of the world
Just thinking about you

I wouldn't say it if it wasn't true
Honey I'm in love with you
I'm going to show you what I can do

Comeover here you've gotta be told,
My love for you is out of control
Honey I am sitting on top of the world,
Just thinking about you girl
I'm going to show you how much I care,
Marry you and take you away some where
Sit back in a rocking chair and rock all day with you my dear

Cause I love you, I love you I love you I love you

In the morrin, in the evening, in the night time or in the middle of the afternoon

I love you I love you I love you I love you
Damn right

Oh Gillian, you're up with the sun
You've done a hundred things before half past nine
By the time most folk are up and gone
You'll be starting on one hundred and one

There's not enough hours in a day
To do all the things she's just got to do
When the daylight fades and the night invades
She's only just begun

Weary as you lay at night waiting for the sun
Planning out tomorrow now before this day is done
‘Gillian you work too hard'
But don't you try to slow her down ? she'll tell you
‘Idleness is good for none work's how I get my fun
Idleness is good for none work's how I get things done'

Gillian you're the one you're the one
Shining in my life, you're my eternal sun
I'm trying to thank you now for what I've become
But I've only just begun

Your influence has been profound and I'm proud to be your son
Your blood is my blood we are forever bound
You're the inspiration to the way I live my life
I'm singing,
Gillian if you weren't my mother I would make you my wife
Gillian if you weren't my mother I'd make you my wife
Gillian if you weren't my mother I'd make you my wife
Gillian if you weren't my mother I would make you my wife

Wonder if you can pick up my
Accent on the phone
When I call across the country
When I call across the world
I -- see you in my kitchen
I can picture you now
As you toast to your small town
When you drink the happy hour
I'm in London still
I'm in London still
I'm in London still

I took the tube over to Camden
To wander around
I bought some funky records
With that old Motown sound
And I miss you like my left arm
That's been lost in a war
Today I dream of home and not of London anymore
I'm in London still
I'm in London still
Yeah I'm in London still

You know it's okay
I'm kinda happy here for now
I -- ( think I've finally grown up
And got myself a lover now
And if I ever come home
And I, I think I will
I hope you're gonna wanna hang at my place on Sunday still
Oh yeah I hope you will
Cause I'm in London still

You know we got it sorted, yeah
We really got it down
To a fine art on Sunday
In a sleepy Sunday town
I wonder what I'm missing
I think of songs I've never heard
I'm dreaming of your voices
And I'm dreaming of your herb
I'm in London still
I'm in London still
I'm in London still

Oh I'm in London still
la-la-la-la-la London still
I'm in London

Lighthouse tall and grand
Standing on that cold headland
Shine your light across the sea
For a wayward sailor girl like me

Lighthouse man
Guide this sailor back to land
Steer my ship on through the storm
Back to water safe and calm

Sometimes I need a lighthouse for my own
It gets so dark I can't see which way I'm going
Oh lighthouse man I'm all at sea
Shine a little lighthouse light on me
Lighthouse man I'm all at sea
Shine a little lighthouse light on me

Lighthouse man can't help us all
Some he'll save and some will fall
He'll show you where the danger lies
But he can't help it if you capsize
He'll light your way but that is all
Steer your own ship back to shore

Won't you light my lonely way back home
This sea is full of misery and woe
Oh woe betide those that say
They don't need no light to light their way
They think they're safe enough on their own
Drown in murky depths below

We all need a lighthouse for our own
It gets so dark I can't see which way I'm going
Oh lighthouse man I'm all at sea
Shine a little lighthouse light on me

UP ALL NIGHT (written by Josh Cunningham)

Watched the sun sinking low
Watched the moon rising slow
Watched it move across the sky
Till I saw the morning light

Up all night
Up all night
Things just don't seem right
Lordy I think I might
Stay up all night

We were young long ago
Now there's ash where the fire glowed
Cold and grey, black as night
I'm waiting for the morning light

Up all night
Up all night
Things just don't seem right
Lordy I think I might
Stay up all night

Watched the sun sinking low
I watched the moon rising slow
Watched it move across the sky
Till I saw the morning light

Up all night
Up all night
Things just don't seem right
Lordy I think I might
Stay up all night

Stay up all night

There's nothing like a big old lie
A good record and a smoke to pass time by
Music gets me in the mood
It all kicks in and I sit back
And think about you

Sweetness to me
That's all you'll ever be
You mean stuff to me

I like the way you're wearing your smile
And you close your eyes
And you leave us for a while
But leaving's all I ever do
I got a good pair of boots
And my guitar plays sweet tunes

Sweetness to me
That's all you'll ever be
You mean stuff to me

Sing me a song before I go
The tour's on the road and I won't be home
For three months or maybe more
Rent my room out when I'm gone
I'll call and let you know when I'll be home
And where I'm flying in from

Sweetness to me
That's all you'll ever be
You mean stuff to me

Sweetness to me
It's all you're ever gonna be
You mean stuff to me

Three months on the road
But I've still got four more to go

There's a full moon and it's rising over Austin
I can see a big old Texas flag flying in the wind
I can't sleep for all the bright lights of this cheap hotel
This is some kind of hellhole I'm living in
Three months on the road
But I've still got four more to go
Then I'm going home

I got my sister crying at me
“C'mon lets go downtown
You spend all day in this hotel room just lazing around??
So she takes me to a bar down on 6th street
And she orders me to drink them down
I got three under my belt
Just four more to go
Then I'm going home

(Take me home!)

Well we were driving out of Nashville and the clock it said 12am
We've got a give hour drive to Jackson
And no map to get us there
We get lost somewhere off the parkway
We have to stop and ask some guy who look like he don't care
I said we've been three hours on the road
He said you've got four more to go
Till' you'll be home

Three under my belt
But I've still got four more to go
Then I'm going home

Well I've been three months on the road
But I've still got four more to go

When your boots are well worn in
And you're tired of travelling
When you got nowhere to call your own
You know my place can be your home

To the rescue here I come
To the rescue here I come

When I was out there playing hard
With my big attitude and my broken heart
Poison my only friend
And my drinking addiction

To the rescue there you were
To my rescue there you were

Now we're both out there floating around
I still got to space but you're on the ground
You're in my heart you're in my head
Right now we don't need no rescuing

To the rescue I'll never let you fall
To my rescue you've been on call

On the fourth floor of the building
In a shallow window box
She's digging in the soil with a silver spoon
Her hands inside rubber gloves
Planting seeds pulling out weeds
The cycle of life is complete
Who would've thought it in a city of stone
Four floors above the street

I cannot tell what kind of flowers they are
I'm too far below on the street
But the colour they add to the building so drab
Brings a warm splash of welcome relief
Something worthwhile for the sun to shine on
A reason to radiate heat
Well that small window box puts a skip in my feet
Four floors below on the street

For every good seed she plants in the soil
There's a dozen bad waiting to grow
To strangle the goodness she's trying to nurture
And kill all the seed that she's sown
Every time you water the garden you also water the weeds
A profound illustration of sin and temptation
Four floors above the street

Some people don't understand why she does it
Some people look for a reason
Maybe she just likes the feel of the soil
Or keeping in tune with the seasons
Maybe she has so much pride in herself
Got to keep it all visually pleasing
A small paradise in a world of concrete
Four floors above the street

A small paradise in a world of concrete
A small paradise in a world of concrete
A small paradise in a world of concrete
Four floors above the street

Walking down the main street of the town where I was born
Looking at these things I've seen so many times before
I take a deep breath, smile and kick a stone along the ground
Been so long, since I've been around

There's comfort in the way that everything still looks the same
People that I bump into; they call me by my name
It almost feels as though I never even left this town
Been so long, since I've been around

My girlfriend lived on Hawdon Street ? man was she a sight
Sometimes I would sneak into her bedroom late at night
Now she's not there ? I'm told her family long since left the town
Been so long, since I've been around

Yeah many of my friends found some other place they'd rather be
But I still know of one good mate, she gonna keep me company
I think I'll gonna call her up, we'll go and paint the town
Been so long, since I've been around

I stopped on by her place, years ago I knew her well
‘Let's go drink to old times at the Adelaide Hotel'
She said it's twenty years now since they shut that old pub down
Been so long, since I've been around

Yeah but the hospital's still standing, down over by the river shore
That's the place where I took my first breath, so many years before
I take a deep breath now and feel my chest begin to pound
Been so long, since I've been around

Now I'm lying by the river feeling lazy in the shade
Children shout and splash about in water where I played
And I'm thinking I could stay a while, maybe settle down
Been so long, since I've been around