Hey Rain/The Innisfail Song

Bill Scott

CHORUS:
Hey rain, rain comin' down
On the cane, on the roofs of the town.

There's rain on me hands and rain on me face,
Oh muddy old Innisfail's a muddy wet place,
Hey rain, hey rain.
And there's rain in me beer and rain in me grub,
And they've just fitted anchors to the Garradunga pub,
Hey rain, hey rain.


There's a Johnstone River crocodile livin' in me fridge
And a bloody great tree on the Jubilee Bridge
Hey rain, hey rain.
And the monsoon sky has sprung a leak
From Flyin' Fish Point to the Millstream Creek,
Hey rain, hey rain.


And the storm clouds are so black and big
Theres an old flyin' fox in the Moreton Bay fig,
Hey rain, hey rain
It's the worst wet season we've ever had,
And I'd swim down to Tully, but it's just as bloody bad
Hey rain, hey rain.


Perhaps Bill Scott's best-known song.

Some very useful discussions (and snippets of additional lyrics) on Mudcat.

Recorded on my verandah in Brisbane in the first steady rain of December.

The illustration to this post is a photo taken in Innisfail's main street in 1925 during that year's floods.  Innisfail (as well as being my father's hometown) competes with Tully and Babinda each year for the golden gumboot for the highest rainfall.

Bundaberg Rum

Bill Scott





God made the sugar cane grow where it's hot,
And teetotal abstainers to grow where it's not.
Let the sin bosun warn of perdition to come;
We'll drink it and chance it, so bring on the rum.

CHORUS:
Bundaberg rum, and it's overproof rum,
Will tan your inside and grow hair on your bum.
Let the blue ribbon beat on his empty old drum
Or his waterlogged belly, but we'll stick to our rum.

We're men who drink it, oh yes, men indeed,
Of the bushranging hairnecked olden time breed.
We shave with our axes. We dress in old rags.
We feed on old boots and we sleep on old bags.

Dull care flies away when our voices resound,
And the grass shrivels up when we spit on the ground.
When we finally die and are buried in clay,
Our bodies are pickled and never decay.

On the Morning of Judgment, when the skies are rolled back,
We'll stroll from our graves up the long golden track,
And our voices will echo throughout Kingdom Come
As we toast the archangels in Bundaberg Rum.


Bundaberg Rum is a popular alcoholic beverage in Queensland. Bill Scott was a great Queensland collector and writer of songs and poetry.