Hey, it's a lonesome away from your kindred and all By the campfire at night where the wild angels call
But there's nothing so lonesome, morbid or drear Than to stand in the bar of a pub with no beer
Now the publican's anxious for the quota to come And there's a faraway look on the face of the bum
The maid's gone all cranky and the cook's acting queer Oh, what a terrible place is a pub with no beer
Well, strange things happen here in the outback My old friend who wrote that song is here with all our trucking mates today
Let's give a big hand as he comes out with his guitar to the yodelling bushman Gordon Parsons, my old mate
How are you, Jack? There's nothing I wouldn't do for Ned, there's nothing he wouldn't do for me
And that's how we go through life, doing absolutely nothing for each other
Would you like to sing along in this? You can do the next verse you like about the stockman
While the stockman rides in with his dry, dusty throat He breasts up to the bar, pulls a wad from his coat
The smile on his face quickly turns to a sneer As the barman said sadly, the pub's got no beer
Then the swaggy comes in, smothered in dust and flies He throws down his robe and rubs the sweat from his eyes
But when he is told, he says, what's this I hear? I've trudged fifty flaming miles to a pub with no beer
There's a dog on the pram there, for his master he waits Cause the boss is inside, drinking wine with his mates
He hurries for cover and he caringes in fear What a place for a dog in a pub with no beer
And old Billy the blacksmith, the first time in his life Has gone home cold sober to his darling wife
He walks in the kitchen, she says, you really feel dear But then he breaks down and tells her, the pub's got no beer
Shall we waltz all together? Hey!
It's an old simple way from your kindred and all By a campfire at night, where the wild eagles call
But there's nothing so lonesome, morbid or drear Than to stand in the bar of that pub with no beer
Here's a song written by an old friend of mine, the late and great Mac Cormack
Who travelled with our show many times right round Australia
He wrote this particular song one time on one of our round Australia trips
It's a ballad about a little town out on the black soil plains of Queensland
He called it the Ballad of Camel Wheel