Get all 11 Bill Jackson releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of 1965, The Kelly Songs (Bill Jackson - 2023), The Wayside Ballads Vol 3 (2021), The Wayside Ballads Vol 2 (2016), The Wayside Ballads Vol 1 (2015), Try / Somebody's Darlin' - (Single from 'The Wayside Ballads Vol 1' - Bill Jackson), Jerilderie (2011), The Nashville Session (2010), and 3 more.
1. |
Try
04:10
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Try
The gas hub in the Kimberley, dead whales in the Southern Seas
Blood on the Gaza strip, Refugees and one-up-man ship
Razor wire detention Indigi interventions
Baby seals and coral reefs banning bombs and cigarettes
Children in custody shame on my country
Oil spewing out of broken ships lies spewing over leaders lips
The planets getting warmer and we just keep on warring
The Daily News has got us confused
We’re drowning in lies truth and surmise
Because it all comes down to dollars and cents
And of the ninety-nine percent who struggle for rent
They try and they try and they try
Lost touch politicians making’ piss poor decisions
Africa’s still got nothing’ to eat war rages in the desert heat
For the cost of one missile they’d be full bellies and wide smiles
The Evening News is just a dose of the blues
We’re drowning in lies truth and surmise
Because it all comes down to dollars and cents
And of the ninety-nine percent who struggle for rent
They try and they try and they try
Tsunamis and earthquakes gun laws forsaken
Species disappearing genetic engineering
Rorting by banker’s celebrity wankers
If I’m sounding confused its because I’m confused
We’re drowning in lies truth and surmise
Because it all comes down to dollars and cents
And of the ninety-nine percent who struggle for rent
They try and they try and they try
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2. |
Wattle On The Wind
05:03
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Wattle On The Wind
There comes a time in every man’s life
When nothing comes easy and nothing feels right
You call on your strength but it isn’t enough
You start to sink the weather’s too rough
But you hold on tight lean on who you can
Battle it through till you’re strong again
Then the springtime comes like an old friend
Warmth of the sunshine and Wattle on the Wind
There comes a day or maybe a night
You know it’s wrong when it all seems so right
You take a chance and pray you won’t fall
It ends up all broken at the risk of it all
You sit down in wonder try to work it all through
Come up with the deal the problem was you
Gippsland blue sky sun’s shining again
With the sweet smell of Wattle on the Wind
There came a letter from across the sea
He knew by the hand just who it would be
It said she loved him she needed to know
Before she packed up and got ready to go
If he felt the same way send the news by mail
She’d be on the next ship ready to sail
She missed the sun and she missed him
She missed the sweet smell of Wattle on the Wind
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3. |
Somebody's Darlin'
03:57
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Somebody’s Darlin’
I’ve spent a lifetime watchin’ out for most things I couldn’t see
Spent my whole life tryin’ to be somethin’ and not me
It’s a simple revelation that I’m free to be myself
Than to be Somebody’s Darlin’ tryin’ to be somebody else
It’s a sharp left at the back road down my lonely highway
Where I’ve squandered and wandered long nights and days
Lookin’ at that misty rainbow wonderin’ where it hides it’s gold
Where you’re Somebody’s Darlin’
Somebody’s Darlin’
And love ain’t bought and sold
Pull back on this chestnut mare let her rest in a cloud of dust
We’re all cowboys in a playground shootin’ straight for love and trust
If you’ll only take a moment to look inside my soul
I’m still tryin’ to be Somebody’s Darlin
Somebody’s Darlin’
Somebody’s Darlin’ and that’s the way I roll…
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4. |
Lucky When I Left
03:03
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Lucky When I Left
Well people often ask me what makes my heart rock
I don’t have to answer…I just pick up this ‘racket box’
And I think about the hunger
I think about the pain
I think about the melting’ snow
I think about acid rain
And oh I think about Mona and how she stepped that step
I got lucky when I found her she got lucky when I left
Lately I been feelin’ like I’m ridin’ on a train
Speedin’ through the darkness…tied to a ball and chain
So I look for consolation and lessons I have learned
Try and keep it simple
Keep from getting burned
Oh and I think about Bobby and how he talked that talk
I got lucky when I found him he changed the way I walk
It’s a drag to be in prison walkin’ down the street
Heading North, feeling South shufflin’ to some beat
I got snare drums to the left of me I got cymbals to the right
I got Karma crashin’ in my head and Mona’s gone tonight
And oh I think about Mona and how she stepped that step
I got lucky when I found her she got lucky when I left
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5. |
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Kate’s Pretty Green Dress
You wore that black that sad sad black
To remind you of what you cant get back
Days and nights in that mourning dress
For those who died by the Glenrowan track
Fall to those knees those pretty knees
Dan is dead so beg pretty please
You put on that dress that pretty green dress
To plead for the life of your brother Ned
Your brother Ned your brother Ned
To plead for the life of your brother Ned
She’s there and gone she’s all on her own
With her heart in pieces and a cold wind moan
In a Wild West show she’ll ride tomorrow
Far from Greta where the bitterness still grows
So close those eyes those pretty blue eyes
No more tomorrows no more disguise
Dress her in that dress that pretty green dress
And drown her sorrow in that river of lies
River of lies cold lies
Drown her sorrow in that river of lies
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6. |
Silver Bullet
03:52
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Silver Bullet
He did not see it comin’ lord it shot out of the blue
That old silver bullet travelled straight and true
He did not see the signposts lord it skidded out of control
That old silver bullet it just dropped him cold
But I guess that’s what happens in the dimness of the dawn
Tippin’ back the bottle ‘til all the whisky is gone
He did not see the sorrow it was written all over her face
That old silver bullet rarely leaves any trace
But I guess that’s what happens in the eye of the storm
When you’re blinded by love spent till it’s all gone
He did not hear the whistle or the bomb drop yesterday
That old silver bullet don’t give you time to pray
But he did not see it comin’ lord it shot out of the blue
That old silver bullet and the bullseye was you
But I guess that’s what happens in the dimness of the dawn
Tippin’ back the bottle ‘til all the whisky is gone
Yeah I guess that’s what happens in the dimness of the dawn
Tippin’ back the bottle ‘til all the whisky is gone
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7. |
They Were Never Here
05:30
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They Were Never Here
When the pipes droned down Maggie’s Glen
Decent folk never spoke of such things
All was quite and hush about the killing raids
Carried out by the Highland Brigade
They were never here they were never here
By the grace of God they disappeared
The ghost gums stand still in the Haunted Hills
And it’s as if they were never here
Out at Bushy Park in the Laird’s homestead
Angus McMillan never mourned the black dead
Down at Maffra and by Butcher’s Creek
Around Bony Point their spirits still speak
They were never here they were never here
By the grace of God they disappeared
Like saying there’s no sing in a cruel October wind
And it’s as if they were never here
In the Gippsland winter of eighteen forty three
They rode for revenge on a murderous spree
Infants and women the wild and the meek
Made the water run red at Warrigal Creek
They were never here they were never here
By the grace of God they disappeared
We struck their head in bold on the two-dollar gold
And it’s as if they were never here
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8. |
Judgement Day
03:14
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9. |
The Last Buccaneer
04:02
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The Last Buccaneer
The storm wind sings in the riggin’ so shorten sail and run for the coast
We need to find shelter before everything is lost
Hang it high on the mainstay there’s a pirate and rascal around
Try and stay out of his way cause he’ll just try to bring us aground
He’s running rifles and rum - Queensland sugar cane slaves
The Southern Seas aren’t safe from that Yankee Bully Hayes
Talkin’ about a real bastard here - Bully Hayes, the last Buccaneer
In New Zealand and Australia he’s a wanted man amongst men
And in the ports of Oceania he’s wanted all over again
‘Cause Bully loves the women and then he sails away
Gives them treasures and freedom once he’s had his way
He needs swingin' off a yard arm after the cat has cut it’s stripes
For all of the pain and the harm and all the sin that’s stained his nights
Talkin’ about a real bastard here - Bully Hayes, the last Buccaneer
Instrumental
He’s runnin’ rifles and rum - Queensland sugar cane slaves
The Southern Seas aren’t safe from that Yankee Bully Hayes
Talkin’ about a real bastard here - Bully Hayes, the last Buccaneer
Don’t ever imagine him lonesomei n the hearts of men he strikes fear
He’s callous, polite and loathsome - Bully Hayes the last buccaneer
Talkin’ about a real bastard here - Bully Hayes, the last Buccaneer
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10. |
When The Whisky Runs Out
04:59
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When the Whisky Runs Out
The news came on down through word of mouth
She was headin’ up North he was stayin’ down South
Listen outside to the hard wind cry
And the wild dogs howlin’ at the cold slate sky
The cruel winter wind cut through the plains
Swept down from the hills with howlin’ rain
Cried around the house lashed the window frames
Squeezed through the joints like a dull achin’ pain
Cuddle me closer tell me some lies
Fuel up the fire and watch the old flame die
The old hound dog shivered and there seemed no doubt
Of bleak days ahead when the whisky runs out
The news came down through words that hung
Like posters on trees of the gossips tongue
Spread by the magpie who gargled the sun
In the early mornin’ before the day had begun
The cruel winter wind tore through my clothes
Lashed at my face till the river froze
The ghost gums stood in a silent pose
At the frozen sunset as the cold moon rose
Cuddle me closer tell me some lies
Fuel up the fire and watch the old flame die
The old hound dog shivered and there seemed no doubt
Of bleak days ahead when the whisky runs out
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Bill Jackson Melbourne, Australia
'His songs are gritty and real and come at you like a hammer, ringin' in the mornin'. Take it or leave it, he's telling it
straight up' (Shane Howard)
' Take a chance and listen to some Roots Music that cuts across Borders...' (Keith Glass)
‘We heard Bill Jackson for the first time at the Unpaved Sessions earlier in the year and he’s up there with Paul Kelly’ (The Melbourne Folk Club)
... more
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