Australian Through and Through

Tony Miles




Now I've never been a shearer, never seen a shearing shed
And I don't suppose I'd recognise a sheep
I've never been a drover bringing dusty cattle over
or died of thirst beside a dried up creek
I've never been a digger on a worked out worthless claim
A rowdy rouse about or jackaroo
Never cut a field of cane, never drove a bullock train
But I'm bloody well Australian through and through,
my oath I am! I'm bloody well Australian through and through

I've never boiled me billy by a bloody billabbong
There's better ways than that your days to spend
No one humps their swags no more, what a flamin' bloody bore!
When you can duck off in the Kingswood each weekend
Now there's a mighty waggon! It's a ripper of a car
Designed for our conditions, though it's true
It's made by General Motors, but you'd hardly even notice
'Cause it's bloody well Australian through and through
My oath it is! Yes it's bloody well Australian through and through

I've never crossed the nullabor or trekked the Birdsville Track
I can't tell a wallaby from kangaroo
I know the Kookaburra 'cause its laugh is like no other
But I've only seen Koalas in a zoo!
'Cause I've been o.s. you know (that's short for overseas!)
And I've taught these poms and wogs a thing or two
And it made me feel damn proud to stand out in the crowd
Being bloody well Australian through and through
My oath I did! Being bloody well Australian through and through

'Cause there's nothing overseas that we haven't got at home
We're as cosmi - bloody - politan as them!
With "Dallas" on T.V., the best of BBC
And good old Reg Grundy on Channel Ten!
We've go disco - bloody - fever from Toorak to Tennant Creek
The Bee Gees and Olivia Newton too!
Our stars we have our share of them, and although they sound American
They're bloody well Australian through and through
My oath they are! They're bloody well Australian through and through

So let's sing no more of swaggies or Ned Kelly and his gang
Let's sing a more sophisticated theme
No longer are we hicks from the international sticks
We're jet - setters on the inter - global scene
So let us hold our heads up 'cause we've bloody well arrived
And sing no more of tied - down kangaroos - sport!
At last we've come of age, it's the universal rage
Being bloody well Autalian through and through
My oath it is! Being bloody well Australian through and through.


Written by the Brisbane folkie and songwriter Tony Miles.