Old Man Drought
Slim Dusty Lyrics

Hard hit by drought in Queensland and all the neighbouring states
Drought has badly affected the states of Queensland and its surrounding areas.

I learned how bad things really where from a couple of ringer mates.
I learned about the true severity of the drought from some of my fellow cowboys.

And every word they told me I′d like you all to hear
I want to share with everyone the stories and experiences that my cowboy friends shared with me.

The following stories told to me will give you some idea.
The stories I'm about to share will give you an understanding of the drought situation in these areas.

In the western town of Boulia conditions are so grim
The situation in the western town of Boulia is extremely dire due to the drought.

The frogs are rising ten-year-old and haven't learned to swim
The frogs in Boulia are affected by the drought to the extent that they are rising ten years too early and cannot swim.

While waiting for the drought to break they′re not contempt to lie
The people of Boulia are restless while they wait for the drought to break, they cannot just sit and wait.

But climb and jump from the nearest tree in the hopes they'll learn to fly
To pass the time, the people of Boulia climb trees and jump in hopes of learning how to fly.

There's a place called Heartbreak Corner so dry there are no tears
Heartbreak Corner is completely dry, to the extent that there are no tears.

Lived a boundary rider and his son a lad of sixteen years
A boundary rider and his sixteen-year-old son were living at Heartbreak Corner.

A raindrop smacked him on the brow he cleared out just because
When a raindrop hit the boy's brow, he left his home out of excitement because rain was so rare.

And we caught him up at the ten mile bore, he didn′t know what it was
We found the boy at the ten-mile bore and he had never seen it before because he had never left his home.

And the further out the worse it gets it′s well beyond a joke
As we move further out into the affected areas, the situation keeps getting worse and it is no longer funny.

So dry in fact they're smoking pipes they can′t lick down a smoke
It is so dry that people are unable to smoke their pipes because they cannot keep them alight.

And sticky tape holds down the stamps on letters outward bound
It is so dry that people have to use sticky tape to keep stamps down on their letters or else the stamps will dry up and fall off.

The drought is on and men can't sweat in a dehydrated town
The drought has made towns so dehydrated that men cannot even sweat due to a lack of moisture in the air.

A city chap come to the bush to analyse the drought
A city man came out to the countryside to study and analyze the drought situation.

At Bourke he asked a squatter how his stock where hanging out
At Bourke, he asked a rancher how his cattle were fairing during the drought.

Six years of drought how were his stock he′d drive this pest away
The city man could not tolerate six years of drought and asked the rancher if he had any plans to drive the pests away.

They were both alright when I seen 'em last and that was yesterday
The rancher reassured the city man that his cattle were fine when he last saw them the previous day.

Old man drought and searing heat take jokes from bad to worst
The drought and the heat have made things go from bad to worse, and it is no longer a laughing matter.

What a fool I′ll look with this here song if the seasons in reverse
If the seasons were to reverse, my song about the drought would make me look like a fool.

But the time will come when hungry stock can only chew their cud
Eventually, there will come a time when the cattle will have nothing to eat except their own cud.

It's a well know fact out in the west they seen all drought and flood
In the western areas, people are familiar with both drought and flood situations due to living with such extreme weather.