I love this sunburnt country and this land of sweeping plain
But there's little chance the swagman will be tramping it again
For the vehicle, the aeroplane and helicopter too
Have opened up this vast brown land that once the loners knew

The swagman and the drover have epitomised the past
Their shadows in the outback will linger and will last
The romance of those bygone days will long remain alive
With videos and records of man's struggle to survive

The loneliness the solitude that once ruled beast and man
Is now a dream of times gone by much buried in the sand
For now when travellers hit the road and maybe come to grief
The flying doctor with his plane is there to bring relief

There's still some need for drovers and horse and dog or two
But cattle are now rounded up and trucked from Timbucktoo
For the road trains are a plenty in this vast and sunburnt land
And the roads have been upgraded to tame the red dust sand

There's scarce a place where one can go where no one else has been
You know 'cause there are tell-tale signs where rubbish can be seen
For somehow in man's attitude there seems such little care
There's a laziness, a care-freeness that wasn't always there

And Australia's heart is bleeding broken by the lives we lead
Our children are the sufferers from all our selfish greed
Families now are torn apart and end up in divorce
And all that's left is emptiness confusion, hate, remorse

Perhaps it is the speed of life and money hungry lives
That generates the throwaway of goods, and cars, e'en wives
'Tis time to stop and think again what makes our land so great
We need to bow the knee to God before it is too late

We need to walk a pathway with a swag that's light of load
Shepherding the sheep and lambs who've strayed from off the road
Caring for the needy, offering bread and wine
Restoring joy and laughter to those lost from the vine


© Graham Byrne 1993
This ancient land has had a fist of droughts and flooding rain
With two world wars and wild storms man's forced to start again
The past is gone the future begs for folk to love each other
Then race or creed both black or white will surely help a brother

© Graham Byrne Dec 2002