Killara
[Verse 1]
Arrested on the streets of Glasgow
His majesty a debt I owe
They threw me onto the fortune
And I lagged into Sydney Cove
I felt the cat of nine tails
Before my feet hit the yellow sand
With boots full of blood
I trod onto a strange land
[Whistling]
[Verse 2]
They called her Mary
"She don't speak," the keeper said
Cleans the cabins and the stables
Brings the water and the bread
The grunters got her in the mountains
Dragged hеr down to the lodgin’ slum
Now she remains silеnt
Amongst the grunts and the spilled rum
[Verse 3]
Black fella come to stop them once
So they tied him to the scraggin' pole
Three hundred lashes
But they couldn't kill his soul
Mary was wailin’
Smackin' herself with stones
While the grunters burned his body
And for the night left her alone
[Whistling]
[Verse 4]
They put me on the iron gang
The stock of the colony
Need a road over the mountains
And in a few years, you might be free
Breakin' stones and buildin'
Dyin' every day
Shackled 'round my ankles
[Verse 5]
Caught Mary with the water
The grunters were all drunk
When they saw her comin'
They chained our gang to a red gum stump
And then a grunter named Jackson
Started tuggin' at her clothes
Now she remained silent
Kept walkin’ like water flows
[Verse 6]
And then Jackson got his musket
Cracked it across her back
And the grunters all took turns on her
Until they passed out on the track
No rain had yet fallen
Thunder roared all around
Mary lay in the dirt bloody
Face up to the dark cloud
[Verse 7]
And then lightnin’ struck an ironbark
Lit the scrub down underneath
Me and the gang were still chained up
And the grunter's still asleep
I watched the fire roll over them
I could feel the blisters on my head
Then from through the flames
She rode on Jackson’s thoroughbred
[Chorus]
Her name is Killara
She's the river and the wind
And she moves through the bloodwoods
And the fire is her friend
Her name is Killara (Killara)
She's the river and the wind
And she moves through the bloodwoods
And the fire is a friend
[Outro]
And if you're ever in the Watagans
You can hear her voice
Singin’ out the truth for you
Leavin' you with a choice