As The Bush Becomes The Town - Slim Dusty

Old bloodwood tree at last you’re free

From the change that’s comin' down

You were felled to the ground

By a mean chainsaw

Where you kept watch for a hundred years or more

In your silent stance while the river danced

Where the big floods used to rise

In your broken limbs the wounds are scarred

Cyclones tore this coast apart

But old tree there you’re lying defeated by the change

And years pass more quickly as we reach a greater age

As your sap is slowly bleeding your life is winding down

And with strangers gone where we were born

As the bush becomes the town

Where farms that grew this country’s food

And a drover walked his mob

Where lanterns glowed in old bush homes

And a welcome handshake always showed

Your rings of age will slowly fade

As the fire burns your grave

Your coals will blow in the hot north breeze

And the embers dance, their last reprieve

Yes old tree there you’re lying defeated by the change

Years pass more quick, as we reach a greater age

As your sap is slowly bleeding your life is winding down

And with strangers gone where we were born

As the bush becomes the town