Words: Matt O'Connor/ music © 1997 Martyn Wyndham-Read, Fellsongs Publishing
I learned A Shearer's Lament from Ed Trickett and we used to sing it and Waiting for the Rain together. Martyn Windham-Read says about the lyrics, "The words for a A Shearer's Lament were written by Matt O'Connor who was an itinerant shearer (in Australia.) Back in the '60s he used to send in poems and contributions to a Folk Magazine and A Shearer's Lament was one of his. The magazine wrote back to him to a P.O. Box address which he had given, but they never received a reply or any other contribution from him, and presumed that he had passed on."
Gordon – 12-string guitar
We finished shearing sheep out west of the Paroo
And it's rained three inches – we don't know what to do
A week ago the sand was loose; the dust blew every day
And no w the mud is two feet deep and we can't get away
I've just been talking to the boss- you all know Hector Cope
He says the Bull is two miles wide – to cross it there's no hope
You hear a lot of people swear about the dough we make
But they forget the price of beer and all the combs we break
Well, why I took this job on, I just can't understand
If the bloody sheep ain't waterlogged, the cows are full of sand
A man is doubled up all day, half-blinded by his sweat
And when the darkness comes around, cooped up in a mozzie net*
It might have been a good job once; those old hands had their breaks
They pushed a cart from shed to shed and lived on johnnycakes
They had more time to do the job – they worked nine hours a day
And after paying for their grub, one pound-a-hundred made
I think I'll give this job away; I'm tired of being greasy
I've heard about a fencing job – they tell me it's dead easy
* mosquito netting
A Shearer's Lament is recorded on the album Apples in the Basket