BETWEEN THE WARS LYRICS

"The Ballad Of The First Fleet"

there was, on the docks, a prison ship in portsmouth town; a hulk of wood called the alexander. the smell of rotting fish and the rotting flesh inside was enough to burn the hairs inside your nose. a young girl stands outside the ship, yelling for her dad: "come on now, father, please come home!" but he's inside with the rats and the murderers of men. all he did was steal a mouldy loaf of bread! WE'RE OFF TO BOTANY BAY, ME BOYS! WE'RE OFF TO A NEW LIFE! IN CHAINS AND STOCKS WE ARE, ME BOYS, BUT THE GOOD LIFE'S ON ITS WAY BECAUSE WE'RE OFF TO BOTANY BAY! the cons set sail in the middle of may, 1787, amongst a fleet of 10 more. phillip and his minions on the luxury of the sirius - shore leave, entertained in tenerife. one chap tried to get away while the captain was ashore, there was no such luck as he was bottled in. sailing for brazil, the bloody smell became much worse. it wasn't long before 15 men had died. in january, 1788, they landed on the shore: "we claim this land for england, for white men everywhere! who are those savages? we'll deal with them, i swear!" a dark inkblot in this nation's history books. who were you to claim this land and bring your people here? an entire race was nearly wiped in 220 years!

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