We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.
/

about

THE SHED
The shearers strike at Brookong was one of the first. Our paternal Great Grand Father William Jackson was an active participant and became a founding member of the Australian Union Movement.

lyrics

The Shed (Bill Jackson/Ross Jackson)

The sun burns through the iron roof and the floor cuts through your knees
It breaks your back and spirit to be harvesting the fleece
Your swollen wrists are taking strain from working Sheffield shears
Chalking up the numbers and dreaming of the beers

In shearers camps down muddy tracks they lived both poor and rough
The union set conditions shrugged off as a bluff
The raddling in the sheds is rife the tallies are all wrong
The bosses here are bastards now there’s scabs down at Brookong

So on a Riverina morning to a sweet Flame Robin song
They raised their hands in anger and put a black ban on Brookong

The unionising shearers came down on all the scabs
Held siege at Brookong Shearing Shed till it all turned to bad
The fighting and the riots lasted all day long
The coppers led away ten martyrs from Brookong

Two years of time in Goulbourn gaol hard labour to his like
Befell poor William Jackson and his brothers of the strife
You can whip us you can jail us but it won’t be lasting long
A change is surely coming you can hear it in the songs

So on a Riverina morning to a sweet Flame Robin song
They raised their hands in anger and put a black ban on Brookong

credits

from The Wayside Ballads Vol 3 (2021), released April 19, 2021
Bill Jackson: Acoustic Guitar/Vocal
Kerryn Tolhurst: Electric Guitar/Steel guitar

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Bill Jackson image

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

contact / help

Contact Bill Jackson

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this track or account

If you like Bill Jackson, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Featuring Riley Pinkerton (aka The Rat Queen) from the theatrical NYC rockers, Castle Rat.
listen now