Western Overland Drover.

[Duncan Williams.]

Western OverLand Drover.


Old Dad was a western Drover,
Who rode the plains far over,
In the fifties and the sixties, after the second world war.

Mum and Dad battled on together,
Through dust and heat and weather,
As the old time drovers did back years before.

Yes, a drovers life has pleasures,
But today its mostly leasures,
With mobile phones and fridges and a generator set.

Technology nows the go,
They move now with the flow,
Dads early life consisted with the horse and wagonett.

But those days and times now over,
Just like the old road Drover,
Trucks replace the lifestyle now our fathers use to do.

Thick scrub and droughts a curse,
But the horses they come first,
Dad nursed And walked the mobs for months, until the trip was through.


From the stories that dad told,
In my memory they unfold,
From the years he spent in that old droving game.

As the stock now feed along,
There're remembed now in song,
Yes, i reckon those old drovers, they were very much the same.

[kozmikdave]

Good to see new blood on this forum.

Do you have a working tune to go with this, Duncan? I imagine something like Slim Dusty but that is just because of the subject matter and the Tamworth connection.

I thought it might be good to join the verses in pairs as they seemed to be working with each other rhyme-wise.

It's late now but I'd like to have a better go at it when I have more time. If you can sing/play it and put it on MP3, it would be good to hear it.

Cheers
Dave

[twoleftfeet]

Welcome, Duncan.

This looks interesting - like Dave, I would love to hear it.

btw I think that it might benefit from a chorus.

Geoff

[kozmikdave]

Gidday

Just had a go at making it do it with music, Duncan. Can I suggest that you try singing with the tune you think it should have and then really working on the way the words scan. I found it quite difficult, especially with the differing line lengths and odd meters in the lines. I'm sure you have something in mind though.

Cheers
Dave

[Duncan Williams.]

Thanks , Dave and Geoff, pleased you enjoyed the lyrics, I once sang it once at a poets concert night in Tamworth last year, during the country music festival.
I found a fast tempo suited it better... I recorded 'Western Overland Drover' as a spoken poem on my latest CD. it sounds quite ok.

Kind Regards. Duncan.