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Traditional |
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When I was a young man, my age seventeen, |
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I ought to have been serving Victoria, my Queen, |
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But them hard-hearted judges, oh how cruel they be |
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For to send us poor lads to Australia. |
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I fell in with a damsel, she was handsome and gay, |
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I neglected my work more and more everyday, |
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And to keep her like a lady, I went on the highway, |
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And for that I was sent to Australia. |
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Chorus: |
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Australia, Australia, I would ne'er see no more |
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Worn out with the fever, cast down to Death's door, |
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And if I ever live, say, seven years more, |
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I would soon bid adieu to Australia. |
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Now the judges, they stand with their whips in their hands |
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And they drive us like horses to plough up the land. |
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You should see us poor young fellows, a-working in the gaol-yard, |
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How cruel is our fate in Australia. |
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Chorus |
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Australia, Australia, I would ne'er see no more |
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Worn out with the fever, cast down to Death's door, |
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And if I ever live, say, seven years more, |
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I would soon bid adieu to Australia. |
