Em D Am Em G D C B Em D Am Em G D Em
[Verse 1]
G D Em D Em
On a backblock down Salisbury Plains Ted was born in 1895
C G D G Bm
Thrust from the loins onto rusty soil And the cord was cut with a scythe
Em D Em
He said "People there are city folk today And they couldn't tell shit from clay
C G D G D Em C
A ripening crop of stobie poles - There's no regrets when the memory roams
G D Em
That earth is in me bones
[Verse 2]
G D Em D Em
Did his bit in the First World War Took the shilling to fight the Hun
C G D G Bm
Mud up to his crotch in Flanders fields And the gas eating at his lungs
Em D Em
He said "Me best mate died hanging on the barbed wire And when the attack was through
C G D G D Em C
We took some prisoners to HQ And shared a fag and a yarn or two
G D Em
They were the same as me and you"
[Chorus]
Em C D G
And I asked old Ted what history meant
C Em
As he sharpened his hedging shears
C D G
"What a bloody fool question that is my boy
Cmaj7 Em
I lived it for 83 years"
[Verse 3]
G D Em D Em
See him every year on Anzac Day Swilling beers down at the Rex Hotel
C G D G Bm
He'd laugh with his mates and go deep in thought Where he went even he couldn't tell...
Em D Em
He said "King and country, cock'n'bull We fought just to survive
C G D G D Em C
The anger might have faded, still this feeling grabs me deep inside
G D Em
I guess you could call it pride"
[Verse 4]
G D Em D Em
As a navvy on the line in the Nullabor The Depression left its scars
C G D G Bm
Heaving cold steel rails in the burning sun And freezing beneath the stars
Em D Em
He said "If you escaped the susso queues You had a hell of a price to pay
C G D G D Em C
And when time flowed like an open wound I'd blow me dough on a Saturday
G D Em
And drink the pain away"
[Chorus]
Em C D G
And I asked old Ted what history meant
C Em
As he sharpened his hedging shears
C D G
"What a bloody fool question that is my boy
Cmaj7 Em
I lived it for 83 years"
[Verse 5]
D
On Sunday arvo he'd sit and talk Over a dozen cold West End
Cmaj7 A D/F#
Of what was gained and what was lost And would never come again
Em D
He said "Money you know it comes and goes On booze and rent and fags
Cmaj7 Am D/F#
You can make a fortune on overtime And lose it all on the nags
Em D
But years of toil with a bunch of mates You know it leaves you satisfied
Cmaj7
Though we never moved a mountain
Am Em D/F#
We sure gave it a try"
[Bridge]
Em D
Pick the wheat from the chaff, And the steel from the scurf
C Bm Am7 Cmaj7
And the honest man from a liar If wisdom came by other names
G D Em
Ted was earth and fire
[Refrain]
Em D Em
On the day that old Ted died No-one would have known
C G D G Bm
Buried in a pauper's grave He lived and died alone
Em D Em
And the 727's soared over head With drone of the angry roads
C
There seemed a pause for just a while
N.C.
And the silence was heard around for miles
N.C.
And the silence was heard for miles
