"End Of The Pub" lyrics
Oh, the dingoes are howling with hiccups tonight
Out where the tall timbers wave
The swagmen are having a real old-time jag
'Round the campfire they ramp and they rave
Stockmen and drovers and jackaroos too
Are in town tonight for a spree
The publican reckons they've suffered enough
So he's turning the beer on for free
The swaggie came in with a smile on his face
And asked for a splash in the can
The boss shouted out to the barman at work
"Fill up that jug for the man"
He grabbed up the tankard and swallowed the lot
And then put both hands to his side
But he just couldn't take it, the shock was too great
He fell on the floor there and died, hey
Ol' Billy the blacksmith is with us no more
He's sleeping the sleep of the just
He hid in the cellar the day the beer came
And went on a glorious bust
He drank a nine-gallon 'twixt dark and the dawn
And then staggered home to his wife
As he fell in the kitchen, she picked up the gun
And so ended the old feller's life
We laid him to rest where the stringybarks wave
In the cemetery down by the creek
And then rolled a few barrels down to his grave
And went on the binge for a week
When the last keg was emptied, we wrote on a cross
For strangers to read as they pass
"Here lies the old blacksmith, he died as he lived
"Full as a boot to the last," hey
Now in those dull days when the pubs had no beer
I started to save up my pelf
Now the beer's flowing freely, I'm like all the rest
Back in the doghouse myself
Oh, the dogs 'round the pubs now are all sleek and fat
They lollop around at their ease
Where all they once got was a kick in the ribs
Some pubs now have planted them trees
Oh, it's lonesome out there in the spare room at night
And although I know it sounds queer
But I'd rather be there with my headaches and all
Than the bar of a pub with no beer
Out where the tall timbers wave
The swagmen are having a real old-time jag
'Round the campfire they ramp and they rave
Stockmen and drovers and jackaroos too
Are in town tonight for a spree
The publican reckons they've suffered enough
So he's turning the beer on for free
The swaggie came in with a smile on his face
And asked for a splash in the can
The boss shouted out to the barman at work
"Fill up that jug for the man"
He grabbed up the tankard and swallowed the lot
And then put both hands to his side
But he just couldn't take it, the shock was too great
He fell on the floor there and died, hey
Ol' Billy the blacksmith is with us no more
He's sleeping the sleep of the just
He hid in the cellar the day the beer came
And went on a glorious bust
He drank a nine-gallon 'twixt dark and the dawn
And then staggered home to his wife
As he fell in the kitchen, she picked up the gun
And so ended the old feller's life
We laid him to rest where the stringybarks wave
In the cemetery down by the creek
And then rolled a few barrels down to his grave
And went on the binge for a week
When the last keg was emptied, we wrote on a cross
For strangers to read as they pass
"Here lies the old blacksmith, he died as he lived
"Full as a boot to the last," hey
Now in those dull days when the pubs had no beer
I started to save up my pelf
Now the beer's flowing freely, I'm like all the rest
Back in the doghouse myself
Oh, the dogs 'round the pubs now are all sleek and fat
They lollop around at their ease
Where all they once got was a kick in the ribs
Some pubs now have planted them trees
Oh, it's lonesome out there in the spare room at night
And although I know it sounds queer
But I'd rather be there with my headaches and all
Than the bar of a pub with no beer
