Banjo Paterson included this in his Old Bush Songs. It is based on an earlier convict song called "Ten Thousand Miles Away", and uses the same tune, but with new lyrics about pastoral Australia. It has been attributed to C. A. Flower, who was the accountant for the company building the railway line between Mitchell and Roma in Queensland. Notes: The technique for exporting frozen meat was developed in Australia in the late nineteenth century. Nardoo (mersilia) is a clover-like fern that is highly drought-resistant.

This is a shearers' song that pokes fun at newcomers who think they know how to shear a sheep, but actually don't have a clue. The first known print version appeared in "The Bulletin" in 1898 using the title, "The Whaler's Rhyme". Collector and singer, A. L. Lloyd, heard it while working on the Lachlan River in the early 1930s. He wrote that "this song was much sung in the woolsheds while the men were actually shearing." A "lime juice tub" is a British ship.

A tall story from the Australian bush. Shearers had to be tough. The song is often sung to the tune of "Villikins and His Dinah", a melody which is probably used for more songs than any other, though, in the version I know, the tune is barely recognisable as "Villikins". It has been recorded by Trevor Lucas and A. A. Lloyd (accompanied by Peggy Seeger). This song is on my first CD: "AXIS OF EVIL and other True Stories."

A popular Australian shearing song, which Banjo Patterson included in his 1905 collection of old bush ballads. There seems to be a tradition in Australian songs of listing all the exotic places known to the protagonist. Another example may be seen in the convict ballad, Moreton Bay.

Ned Kelly was Australia's best-known bushranger, and has long been considered a bit of a hero by many, a kind of Australian Robin Hood. This is one of several songs about Ned Kelly and his gang, with particular focus on a famous robbery at Euroa in 1878. It is sung to the tune of "The Wearing of the Green". Folklorist Warren Fahey collected the song in 1973 from 92-year-old Joe Watson in Caringbah, New South Wales.

The origins of this outlaw ballad are obscure, though valiant attempts have been made to find the identity of Australia's second best-known bushranger (after Ned Kelly). The first written version of this song dates from 1881, and the main character is known variously as Jack Doolan, Jack Dowling and Jack Duggan. This song is on my second CD: "Laws of Chance."

Ironically, my first exposure to this popular "Australian" ballad is hearing it sung by American folksinger, Burl Ives, on one of my parents' 78 records. It was probably one of the first songs I ever learnt. It is not really an authentic Australian song as it originally came from the English Music Hall tradition. "Jim Jones at Botany Bay" (which I've already put on LiveVideo) seems to give a more realistic picture of the convict days. But it's a good song anyway.

Nearly 25,000 women were transported to Australia as convicts, half of them from Ireland. This is one of the few songs about female convicts. The tune is based on "The Croppy Boy", an Irish song from the 1788 rebellion,

Another Australian song about transportation, originally known as "The Convict's Lament on the Death of Captain Logan." For those who don't know Australia's history, it began as a penal settlement for English (and Irish) criminals whose crimes were so petty that they managed to avoid being hanged. For example they may have stolen a loaf of bread to feed their family. Moreton Bay, in Queensland, was one of the worst penal colonies. Between 1825 and 1830 it was run by Captain Patrick Logan, notorious for his cruel and sadistic treatment of the prisoners. Records kept by one of the prison clerks show that, from February to October in 1828, Logan ordered 200 floggings with over 11,000 lashes. He was killed by Aborigines in 1830 while he was surveying the Upper Brisbane river. When his body was brought back to Moreton Bay, it is reported that the convicts "manifested insane joy at the news of his murder, and sang and hoorayed all night, in defiance of the warders." The origins of the song are unclear but it may well date back to the time of Logan's death. Bushranger Ned Kelly quoted some of the lines in his "Jerilderie Letter" of 1879. A bushranger, Jack Bradshaw, who wrote a "True History of the Australian Bushrangers" (1911) and "Twenty Years of Prison Life in the Gaols of NSW" attributed the song to Francis MacNamara (Frank the Poet), who spent years in various Australian penal settlements. Like many Australian songs, this one uses a traditional Irish tune. It is a variation on "Boolavogue", a ballad written by Patrick Joseph McCall (1898) for the centenary of the Irish Rebellion of 1798. This song is on my first CD: "AXIS OF EVIL and other True Stories."

One of my favourite Australian songs from the convict days. The defiant character portrayed here is far from resigned to his fate, and, as a Victorian, I can relate to his comments about New South Wales! This song is on my first CD: "AXIS OF EVIL and other True Stories."

We all have to face up to the fact of old age and death. I wrote this rather morbid little song a long time ago when I was young enough not to have to think much about this. I suppose the happy ending was more appropriate then. And, yes, I know it's not really blues! There's no need to explain that to me. :-) Lyrics: I saw you sitting in a rocking chair. You were rocking to and fro. Wrinkled face and snow-white hair, Moving around so slow. ...I was dreaming, baby, dreaming, ...The kind of dreams I wouldn't choose. ...Oh, babe, you had me nearly screaming ...I had the twilight blues. I saw you lying in a coffin, babe. They put you under the ground, Stuck a tombstone on your grave And spread some flowers all around. I saw you lying, lying in a bed. Your shining eyes were open wide. Such lovely hair upon your head, And I was lying by your side. ...I wasn't dreaming, baby, dreaming ...But that's the kind of dream I'd choose. ...The kind of dream I've just been dreaming ...Gave me the twilight blues.

A typical ballad of love and murder from Child's collection, this goes back to at least the early 17th Century and has survived in many forms. The main character is known variously as Musgrave, Mossgrey, Matty Groves, Matthew Groves, Little Sir Grove and Marshall Groves among others. The husband can be Lord Barnard, Barnet, Barnabas, Arnold, Arlan, Allen, Daniel and so on. In the US, a popular shortened version of the song developed, known as "Shady Grove". I first heard this song sung by Joan Baez (1962). Other notable recordings are by John Jacob Nile (1956), Doc Watson (1966), Fairport Convention (1969), Martin Carthy (1969), Christy Moore (1976), and Planxty (1992). I have previously uploaded the variation known as "Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard."

I wrote this song during the South Africa's Apartheid era, when interracial relationships were against the law of the country. It comes as a bit of a shock to realise that there were also laws against interracial marriage in some American states until the late nineteen-sixties. My song is closely based on John Jacob Niles well-known arrangement of the traditional song, "Black is the Colour of My True Love's Hair." Lyrics: Black, black, black is the colour of my true love's hair. Her lips are soft beyond compare. The sweetest face and the daintiest hands. I love the grass whereon she stands. Black, black, black is the colour of my true love's skin. That's why they say our love's a sin. They say we'll have troubles without cease, That black and white can't live in peace. Black, black, black is the future they foretell for me, But we will show them. They will see Our love is true and strong and wide And love can join what men divide.

This is one of the best-known of all the ballads collected by Francis James Child. There are hundreds of variations and many different tunes. The story is straightforward: The heroine rejects her lover's advances. He dies of a broken heart. She realises she made a mistake and dies as well. They are buried side by side, a rose grows from his heart and a briar from hers, and they tie themselves into a lover's knot - so love has triumphed after death. The first known reference to the song occurs in the diary of Samuel Pepys, on January 2, 1666, when he reports hearing it sung by an actress he liked by the name of Mrs. Knipp, though no printed versions have been found until the following century. I first heard this sung by Burl Ives on his 1953 10 inch Decca Album, "Folksongs about the Fair Sex". He learned this song as a young child, and sang it at his first performance - at a reunion of old soldiers in Hunt City. I loved Burl Ives' rendition of this song from an early age, so much so that, as a teenager, I made a home movie with my younger brothers and sisters in which we acted out the story, with Burl Ives' song as the sound track. The 8mm film was unfortunately destroyed in a fire some years later. The song has been recorded by many performers including Joan Baez, The Everly Brothers, Crystal Gayle, Simon and Garfunkel and Emmy Rossum (in the movie, "Songcatcher"), I have uploaded an a capella version of the song previously, but this rendition is much closer to the Burl Ives version I learned as a child. My a capella version of this song is on my fourth CD, "Pigs Might Fly and Other Politically Incorrect Ballads".

There are many versions of "The Maid Freed From the Gallows", a song about a girl who has committed a crime, the nature of which is never revealed, and is waiting for somebody to come and pay a bribe in time to free her from the hangman. The song is widely known throughout Europe, with fifty versions in Finland alone. This version, also known as "Prickle Holly Bush", is unusual in that it has a chorus - as if the song is not repetitive enough already! This variation is more popular in England than in America, where the song is usually known as "Hangman, Hangman." It was recorded by Lead Belly under the name "Gallis Pole" and it has since been recorded by many singers in many different ways. Some notable examples are Odetta, John Jacob Niles, Almeda Riddle, Jean Ritchie, Peggy Seeger, The Limeliters, The Kingston Trio and, of course, Led Zeppelin.

One of my early songs, from when when I was writing - er - this kind of song. Lyrics: When the night unfolds the leaves of time And the sea of stars sing a nursery rhyme When the book that you're reading reveals your own special crime But you don't know what it is. When the light of the night meets the dark of the mine And the sea-divers come to the end of the line And you realize you just can't wait; you're running out of time, ...Then ... baby, come stand by me. ...Baby, come stand by, baby, come stand by ...Baby, come stand by me. Now the three little sisters have broken their bones And the man from the pulpit is out getting stoned And the king in the closet had found a new home But he don't know where it is. Now the judge and the duchess are starting to moan And the disc-jockey finds he's completely alone And there's nothing to do but try to find his way home, ...So ... baby, come stand by me. ...Baby, come stand by, baby, come stand by ...Baby, come stand by me. Well, the fishwife has married the man from the bank And the weather forecast for tomorrow is blank And if the sun doesn't rise then I'll know who to thank But I don't know who it is. Now the street-sweeper's claiming superior rank And the doctor is calling his patient a crank And you think of your memories and the swamp in which they sank. ...Now ... baby, come stand by me. ...Baby, come stand by, baby, come stand by ...Baby, come stand by me.

Warning - This song is scary! Way back in my teen years, I used to love reading (and writing) horror stories. This early song was presumably influenced by this experience. Lyrics: Coming round the corner with his eyes hanging down, With a big red rag dragging round the town. Not a hair on his great black head can be found. Look out! Get away! Here comes the turtle man. He can do you more harm than you'd ever think he can. He's been around since time began And I can tell you in truth that I ain't no fan Of that big black ugly grey turtle man. He's got nothing for you to see, Nothing to get, to set free. When he yawns there's more there than you'd ever think there'd be. Look out! Get away! Hide while you can! Here he comes. Here comes the turtle man. I remember there were times when I wished I could die Because that turtle man had me in his big ugly eye. If you see him, you'd better try To get away. Hide while you can! Keep right away from the turtle man. In these four white walls that hold me in tight I think about the turtle man in the dead of night. I scream at all the little people dressed in white, "Look out! Get away! You know what I am! You can't keep me here 'cause I'm the turtle man. Look out! Get away! Hide while you can! Here I come. Here comes the turtle man.

A song about domestic violence. The inspiration - and the title - comes from the book, "Just Another Little Murder", by the Australian writer, left-wing politician and footballer, Phil Cleary, which is an account of his sister's murder by a violent partner. Lyrics: Bloodstains on the kitchen wall, Angry voices in the hall. This emptiness is all you'll ever feel. Too many fences left to mend. You should have told him it's the end. These are wounds you know will never heal. ...It's not the way you want to live, ...But you forgive, but you forgive. ...Begging you to take him back, he'll offer you the moon. ...Just another little murder for the tabloids coming soon. It was the drink, it wasn't me. I'm under pressure, don't you see. I need you now; you know how much I care. Remember how we used to dance? All I ask is one more chance. I'll never raise my hand again, I swear. Your love lies tangled in the lies, But it's a flame that never dies. Remember how it hurt and how you cried. You think that you can start again, With all the joy, without the pain, With all the broken vows swept to the side.

Most of the comments I get on YouTube are encouraging, informative and friendly, as are the few I get on LiveVideo. This song is about the other ones. Some people seem to get pleasure out of insulting, criticising and even threatening those who contribute videos. More often than not they have nothing to offer themselves. Personally, if I don't enjoy somebody's video, I go and watch something else, rather than writing derogatory comments or giving a one-star rating, and I'm sure most of the YouTube community feel the same. Constructive criticism is another matter. If my guitar is out of tune, it's probably fair enough to point it out, but wanting to strangle me with the strings could be carrying it a bit too far. There may be some exaggeration in this song, but it's not exaggeratedly exaggerated. Almost everything in the song is adapted from actual comments I've had. I hope you enjoy it. Lyrics: I wake up in the morning And on my computer screen Lots of YouTube comments Are waiting to be seen, From those who love or hate my songs And others in between, And there's usually a few that sound So negative and mean. ...YouTube comments - ...I see them every day ...And I get a lot of pleasure ...Reading what they say. ...You can scrutinise and criticise ...Cut me down to size, but hey! ...I don't care. I like to share. ...My songs won't go away. "You've got an English accent So don't sing an Irish song." "You're an ignorant American." "Your songs are far too long." "You're a traitor to the USA, For in freedom's name we fight." "You insult the holy Q'uran, 'Cause you didn't spell it right." The comments on my gospel songs Get cluttered up with spam. "Come and see me in the nude In front of my Webcam." "YouTube's no good for nakedness. Come to my Website." "Have fun at FLINGS4FREEdotCOM." Well yes, perhaps I might! "You're a sadist!" "You're a racist And you don't deserve your life." "You're a nigger-loving gay guy" And "I bet you beat your wife." "You can't sing, you can't play." "You've got the chords all wrong" "The Pogues do that one better So you shouldn't sing that song." "You're the worst singer on YouTube. Please don't ever sing again." "You're a dirty little hippie And the drugs have wrecked your brain." "Please don't sing 'Blowing in the Wind' Or 'Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall'. You don't sound like Bob Dylan So you shouldn't sing at all." "You sound just like a hound dog That's baying at the moon." "You can't play, you can't sing And your guitar's out of tune." "You shouldn't sing Waxie's Dargle, Finnegan's Wake or Lanigan's Ball. You don't sing like Luke Kelly So you shouldn't sing at all." ...YouTube comments - ...I see them every day ...And most of them encourage me. ..."I like your songs," they say. ...If one or two appreciate ...What I'm doing here, then hey! ...I don't care. I like to share. ...So my songs are here to stay. ...My songs won't go away. ...My songs are here to stay.

An English ballad about a young man who mourns his dead love too hard and prevents her from obtaining peace. It probably dates from 1400 and was collected by Child in 1868. The ballad deals with two commonly held superstitions - that mourning for longer than a year disturbs the dead, and that kissing a corpse is fatal. There are several tunes traditionally used for this song, but the one I am most familiar with is "Gilderoy", perhaps best known as "Star of the County Down." It is also often used for "Dives and Lazarus" (Child 56). So it is the third time I have sung a song to this tune on YouTube. I first heard the song performed by Joan Baez, though I already knew it as a poem from my school days. It has also been recorded by Frankie Armstrong, Ian Campbell, Kate Rusby, Nancy Kerr and The Dubliners. Despite the morbid subject matter, the song actually has a happy ending, as the young man chooses life rather than joining his love in the grave.