The Ballad Of Queenie And Rover

Queenie was born on the banks

Of the great Ord River, 1930, maybe

Her mother was black, her daddy white

Papa was a fine horse-breaker

Mama sang the songs of the old lawmakers

She used to hide young Queenie in the bush

And rub black charcoal all over her hair and her face

Every time the police came around

Looking for any blond haired, brown skinned children

To round 'em up and take 'em on down town

Shine on, shine on, immortal one, aha

Shine on, shine on, immortal one, aha

Rover was born in the desert, he lived out there 'til his mother died

Then he moved around a lot from place to place

Bedford Downs, Bow River, Lissadell, Wyndham

Building fences, working as a stock man

Then he had a series of dreams

He started painting what he'd heard and he'd seen

Rainbow serpent, Krill Krill, Cyclone Tracy, the killing fields

Everything that lives and breathes

Ride on, ride on, immortal one, aha

Ride on, ride on, immortal one, aha

Your story will always run

When Rover and Queenie were young

They met out on New Texas Down station

She worked as a cook there for a long, long time

She said, "Hey, Cowboy" later on she said

"Nice boy, good worker, top rider, lucky one, that one"

One day a mean horse ripped the scalp from his head

She stitched him up with a boiled needle and thread

Good as any doctor, they were friends ever after

She said, "I want to paint," he said, "I'll teach ya"

They died within months of each other

Ride on, ride on, immortal ones, aha

Shine on, shine on, immortal ones

Ride on, ride on, immortal ones, aha

Shine on, shine on, immortal ones, aha

Your story will always run, always run, will always run

Forever run, forever run, forever run

Forever young, forever young