It's On

Don Henderson



A sad story you'll hear if you listen to me,
About two men who could never agree;
What one called white the other called black,
They'd argue a while then step out the back....

Chorus:
And it's on!
All reason and logic are gone!
Winning the fight won't prove that you're right,
It's sad, it's true, but it's on!

When it was over they'd come back and then
The argument would become heated again;
Who'd won the last round they couldn't decide'
Till one asked the other… would he step outside?

They'd been fighting so long that could neither recall
What in the first place had started it all?
But they kept at it day in and day out
Now they're fighting to see what they're fighting about.

Just you imagine if intellectuals
Came to agreement by Queensberry's rules!
It could easily be that the square root of four
Was fifteen less three plus a smack in the jaw.

And if governments think that it makes better sense
To save on education and spend on defence;
Could easily be argued, on the same grounds
That elections should be… the best of ten rounds!


A great Australian singer, songwriter, collector and commentator, Don Henderson was a regular at the 291 Folk Club in Brisbane's Fortitude Valley in the early 1980s. This is probably his best known song.