Gladstone Pier Redgum
[C]He was a sailor[G]
[D]Swarthy lean and proud[Em]
He could take [C]a schooner through a big sea swell[G]
[Am]Aloof in the mainland crowd[D]
[C]She loved his quiet laughter[G]
Like a boy [D]he'd shrug and grin[Em]
[C]Beach stretched wide at Port Mackay[G]
With dr[Am]eams upon the wind[D]
[C]He wore her name in [G]a rose tattoo[D] [Em]
Long wee[C]kends of gins and lime[G] [Am]
[C]She lived in Cairns[G] made plans to move[D] [Em]
[C]Checkout girl pa[G]rt-time[Am]
[C]And rumour said ther[G]e's a boom ahead[D] [Em]
You can make y[C]our futur[G]e here[Am]
By the Gladstone pier[Em]
[C]A two roomed five row shelter[G]
Empty hopes[D], the damp, the flies [Em]
[C]Prices hiked her face grew [G]tight
And con[Am]versation died[D]
And the foreman[C] at the smelter said [G]you're much too old[D] [Em]
Try the can[C]e fields furthers [G]north[Am]
And the clerk [C]at the mar[G]ket said we don't buy t[D]rouble[Em]
There's a stri[C]ke down at[G] the port[Am]
Then a six-d[C]ay shift in [G]a filthy pit[D] [Em]
The dr[C]ag lines[G] gouging coal[Am]
The bla[C]ck dust gnaws at[G] your lungs and pores[D] [Em]
And anger[C] rots you[G]r soul[Am]
And the queue r[C]ound the block waits for[G] you to drop[D] [Em]
Can you take i[C]t for an[G]other year[Am]
By the Gladstone Pier[Em]
Every Sun[C]day he'd walk alone[G]
Casting pebbl[D]es at the passing waves[Em]
[C]Plunge in brine cleanse h[G]is pride
A s[Am]tronger man rem[D]ains
[C]The crunch of shale and distant sails[G]
[D]Ached within his bones[Em]
And ship[C]s upon the tide[G]
[Am]Bound for ports unknown[D]
[C]Soon he drank for comfort[G]
She grew bitter [D]in the weeks between[Em]
The nig[C]hts of beer and hollow cheer[G]
And lov[Am]e became routine[D]
T[C]hey fought, she left him crying[G]
Angry word[D]s in a last café[Em]
In de[C]speration on a lonely night[G]
She took the bus to [Am]Cairns next day[D]
And Gla[C]dstone couples br[G]eak that way[D] [Em]
Mutual blam[C]e and no regrets[G] [Am]
And boo[C]mtown blues just [G]fade to grey[D] [Em]
And all t[C]hat's left are [G]debts she cried[Am]:
"[C]I've got to leave[G] this dirty old[D] town[Em]
The ratt[C]le of broken me[G]n[Am]
And bre[C]ak these chains and w[G]ash the pain[D] [Em]
And put [C]to sea a[G]gain[Am]
[C]Drained all my passion [G]my anger and my fe[D]ars[Em]
And sank [C]them in a flagon[G] [Am]
Under Gladstone pier"[Em]
[C]She saw him through the Greyhound window[G]
As the dawn[D] glowed on the chrome[E]
[C]Standing by the pier under sullen skies[G]
[Am]Sea winds calling home[D]
[C]From surfers up to Townsville[G]
Past the high-r[D]ise colonies[Em]
[C]Fast food, cheap hotels[G]
Two more boom-to[Am]wn refugees[D]
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