Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Purchasable with gift card
$1AUD or more
about
The song is based on a true story... It goes like this (as told by Steve Jones)
The origin of this story took place back in 1991, on the 24th of April, Anzac Day eve. I was at the front bar of the Lord Melbourne Hotel in North Adelaide attending SCALA (Songwriter, Composers and Lyricist Association) when this complete stranger just started talking to me telling me how his father, a war veteran, had died that day.
As the song says, it wasn’t so much that he was upset but moreso proud of his dad for serving our country and grateful for him being not just a good dad but also a good friend. Of course there’s a little bit of artistic licence in my translation of what was said but that was more for lyrical purposes rather than to try to over dramatise what was actually said or happened.
Things like him leaving me a few dollars for a drink, for example. That’s 100% exactly as it happened, and given that I don’t drink alcohol I did in fact buy myself a beer and was left with the conundrum about what to do with the change. However, that decision was soon made for me with one of those charity boxes sitting on the bar and for my few silver coins I got one of those little plastic ‘Rising Sun’ lapel stick pins that I still have.
I remember getting home that night and literally scribbling down the words more or less exactly as they are today with the most notable change being the last couple of lines, “to the end, they remain.” These were taken from a well known WWI poem written by Robert Laurence Binyon called, For The Fallen as they too are used to end that piece. I think other than ending the song on a solemn note the way they’re phrased leads well into the use of The Last Post which is how the song leads out.
Despite these words being written 27 years ago, in so many ways the words are very much still relevant. I can’t remember what war this guy’s father had fought in but since then of course there’s been so many more conflicts that have involved Australian troops. And then there’s those who had fought in Korea or Vietnam, they’re now of an age where they too are dying of natural causes and other than leaving sons and daughters of their own behind, they too have left their legacy that generations to come will be proud of. So, yeah. I do believe that this song can be seen as timeless.
Proceeds from the sale of this song will go to the former Ward 17, Repatriation General Hospital
“How y’ goin’?”
As he holds out his hand
I turn to see an arm length growing
From a mountain of a man
He orders a drink
Turns back to me with a smile
Taking time to himself to think
Then he says, "in time we all must die"
Yet he didn’t seem upset
For he was there to drink a toast
Though we’d only just met
There was understanding in the way that he spoke
“Y’ know tomorrow’s ANZAC Day
M’ ol’ man he fought, was proud
Funny but today he passed away
But he’ll still be marching past that crowd
“Y’ know, he was more than just my dad
To me he was my mate
I think of all we’ve done, we had
He survived a war to meet a mortal fate”
I didn’t know what to say
As he downed his second beer
He slightly turned his head away
And the light reflected off a tear
A tear that rolled from proud eyes
Saying he’ll never see him again
A solitary tear dedicated to
The death of a life long friend
Then he thanked me for the talk we had
As he looked toward the door
Left me some coins, saying this one’s on me and dad
Knowing that we wont meet anymore
I watched him walk out into the rain
As his only tear washes away
Me, well I bought myself that beer
Then left with mixed feelings about the change
Each year this story’s told
As another digger passes on
And like that tear in the gutter
Flows on forever, not forgotten,
To the end, they remain.
credits
released April 17, 2018
Words & Concept - Steve Jones
Music - Corey Stewart
Recorded at SongMachine Studios
A fantastic synthpop EP from Haleluya Hailu that pairs delightfully fizzy instrumentation with gorgeous vocal melodies. Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 5, 2021
Elizabeth Morris of Allo Darlin’ returns with a new group! “Winter Sun” is a tender blend of pastoral folk and diary-like lyrics. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 8, 2019
Composer Henrik Öhberg, aka Tvärvägen, balances 20th century minimalism with a uniquely melodic sensibility on his fifth LP. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 7, 2023
