Get all 7 Daniel J Townsend releases available on Bandcamp and save 50%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Soon I Will Sing You a Song, Broken Voices and The Eyes Of Men, Midland Highway: The Musical, The Podcast: A Tale of Two Cities, A Tale of Two Cities, World Until Yesterday, and Iscariot.
1. |
The Bridgewater Jerry
03:26
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By the moon's stolen light
In the still of the night
The spirits descend to the valley
Come gather, they say,
We'll sail away
On the river, way out to sea
In the dawn's frozen air
The Bridgewater Jerry
We come to see you go by
Like an unspoken prayer,
The Bridgewater Jerry
We come to see you go by
The hills fade away,
Black swan turns to grey,
The people awake from their dreaming
The worries of night
Are now clouds sailing by
Silently, way out to sea
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2. |
When We Get To Brighton
03:07
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Hobart, Saturday, we only wanna get away
The traffic moves so slow
With the parking meters we can't read
And the mountain white with snow
Nana's house is 200 ks, if you're flying like the crow
But it always takes us half a day
We're gonna stop at one red traffic light,
The go and stop and go again
Up the hill and down until we
Reach that riverbend,
The bridge, the golden arches,
The roundabout and then
My mother always used to say,
When we get to Brighton we'll be on our way
When we get to Brighton we'll be on our way
Barely half an hour, but we'll stop there anyway
Dad can clean the windscreen while the kids all run and play
When we get to Brighton we'll be on our way
That BP seems enormous
And here's the reason why:
The highway used to run straight through
But now the place has been passed by
The farms are subdivided now
And the town it comes to life
The families come to stay
When we get to Brighton we'll be on our way
When we get to Brighton we'll be on our way
Barely half an hour, but we'll stop there anyway
Dad can clean the windscreen while the kids all run and play
When we get to Brighton we'll be on our way
They say someone's buried treasure
Just outside the town
40,000 summers come and gone into the ground
The highway speeds you up
But the stories slow you down
It's such a pretty place
Fifteen million mornings have brought you to today
Stop and clean your windscreen so you can see the way
Every child ever born just wants to run and play
When we get to Brighton we'll be on our way
When we get to Brighton we'll be on our way
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3. |
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Lord, Lord, Mangalore, you take your time
Lord, Lord, Mangalore, you take your time
Hey! Ho! Here we go!
Midland Highway, moving slow
Lord, Lord, Mangalore, you take your time
You can feel the paddocks grow
(In your own sweet time)
You can hear the cattle low
(In your own sweet time)
You can feel the paddocks grow
You can hear the cattle low
You can race the tractors! Oh!
Lord, Lord, Mangalore, you take your time
Lord, Lord, Mangalore, you take your time
Hey! Ho! Here we go!
Midland Highway, moving slow
Lord, Lord, Mangalore, you take your time
Bagdad down the road
(In your own sweet time)
Wheels are turning slow
(In your own sweet time)
Bagdad down the road
Only seven ks to go
That means seven minutes! Oh!
Take a breath and let it go
Cottages and mansion homes
Cruise past Ballyhooly Road
Up past Sunnyside and over
Constitution Hill. Oh!
Lord, Lord, Mangalore, you take your time
Lord, Lord, Mangalore, you take your time
Hey! Ho! Here we go!
Midland Highway, moving slow
Lord, Lord, Mangalore, you take your time
Lord, Lord, Mangalore, you take your time
And that's alright
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4. |
The Roving Party
03:32
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When the roving party gets here
My husband will come home
Me and the children will not be alone
When the roving party rides into town
They're hiding in the mountains
They're out on the frontier
The townsfolk gather, all wide in fear
When the roving party rides into town
The nights are filled with footsteps
Soldier, magistrate,
Undertaker, jailer drags the chain
When the roving party rides into town
The prison is made of sandstone
My house is made of pine
My husband is roving. The baby starts to cry
When the roving party rides into town
When the roving party gets here
My husband will come home
Me and my children will not be alone
Me and my children will not be alone
We will not be alone
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5. |
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The Blackman River Bridge was built in the year of The Famine Rebellion,
Ireland, 1848, they took a stand
For nothing seen could come between the dreamers and the dream
The dreamers and the dream
All over Europe it was "the springtime of the people"
In Germany and Italy and France the people were free
An Irishman named Thomas Meagher had seen how it could be:
Crossing bridges over waters deep,
Walking where the grass is green
Thomas Meagher to Paris sailed to see the new republic
And he returned with hopeful heart, a new flag in his hands
He said, 'Friends, we are divided now by one unholy stream,
Unite and fight the ones who drown the dream!'
Ireland in 1848, The Famine Rebellion
Men who once were enemies, as one beneath the flag
Ireland for the Irish! Yes! The English crown be damned!
But Thomas Meagher was caught and brought to prison to be hanged
Jail walls make some men small, but dreamers can dream alone in a cell
80,000 signatures spoke loudly one demand:
'Spare the life of Thomas Meagher, for good men must walk free'
And the judge agreed
He said, 'Where I am sending you are men of your rebellion
And you must keep your distance from any Irish man.
Van Diemens Land can be your chance to put away that dream;
Autumn leaves upon the stream,
Floating out to sea.'
The Blackman River Bridge was built the year of that Famine Rebellion
And Monday nights Thomas Meagher would hold a meeting there
For Irish rebels cast away, planning their escape someday,
Crossing bridges over waters deep,
Walking where the grass is green,
The dreamers and the dream
The dreamers and the dream
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6. |
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I'm in the Man O Ross Hotel and I just can't decide
If I should order beer from Tassie's north or Tassie's south tonight
Halfway up the highway
Clock at half past five
You can go half crazy
You can lose your mind
Drinking at the halfway line
Drinking at the halfway line
Halfway, highway, half past five
Glass half full in the Man O Ross tonight
I'm half inclined to order wine
It's hard to decide on the halfway line
There's a brewery on the North Esk River I'm half-thinking of
The town that I was born in makes the red cans that I love
I sure could do with one or two of Launceston's most fine
Halfway, highway, half past five
Glass half full in the Man O Ross tonight
A can of "red" could go alright
It's hard to decide on the halfway line
Halfway, highway, half past five
Glass half full in the Man O Ross tonight
I'm half inclined just to order wine
Because it's hard to decide on the halfway line
There's a brewery in the southern half and I'm thinking of them too
Got a Tassie Tiger on the logo and the lager cans are blue
I sure could do with one or two of Hobart Town's most fine
Halfway, highway, half past five
Glass half full in the Man O Ross tonight
Red can? Blue can? My, oh, my!
It's hard to decide on the halfway line
Halfway, highway, half past five
My heart's divided and my throat is dry
I'm half inclined to order wine
It's hard to decide on the halfway line
I think I really ought to order water
At the pub on the border at the halfway line
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7. |
In Campbell Town
04:27
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G'day, my name is Mick and I've been all round this land
When you're born and raised in Campbell Town, you get out while you can
I used to say that people stop here because they need to go (Get it?)
But now I'm back here in my childhood home
My mothers' side arrived in chains, my fathers' side was free
Back when this little village was a scary place to be
See the settler with his rifle? See Eumarrah with his spear?
You can feel it in the air round here
Slow down your wheels
See how it feels
You can heal in Campbell Town
Slow down your wheels
See how it feels
You can heal in Campbell Town
It's a busy little spot in the middle of the day
But by sunset all the cars with kids and dogs are far away
And in my father's house is where I'm gonna stay
And I'll leave it to my son someday
Slow down your wheels
See how it feels
You can heal in Campbell Town
Slow down your wheels
See how it feels
You can heal
You can heal
I can heal in Campbell Town
G'day, my name is Mick and I live in Campbell Town
And I sit on my verandah and I watch the wheels go round and round
I used to say that folks only stop here when they need to go
It's still true, you know
Still true
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8. |
Lucy of St Andrews Inn
03:04
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Last night at the bar
The men were spinning yarns
Downstairs, St Andrew's Inn, Cleveland
They spoke about a local ghost
Some girl who steals your clothes
Well, I drink my spirits, thanks. I'm no believer
That's when she caught my eye
In her dress so long and white
By the fire in the early evening
I went to ask her name
But I watched her fade away
A wisp of smoke, curling to the ceiling
The moment it was brief
And I'm not sure what I've seen
I think I need some sleep
I woke without my clothes
Pale as a ghost
Upstairs, St Andrews Inn, Cleveland
Then I found them there
Folded on the stairs
Lucy, pinch me now. I must be dreaming
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9. |
High Beams and Highways
04:19
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This forest is born in the day's dying glow
The Devil awakes when the sun's sinking low
She's tough as the tarmac, black as this road
Little white line around her throat
I want to fold up this road like a flag
Tie it with fences and walk down the track
To a night before these high beams and highways
This is Thylacine country, conquered by cars
The Devil went down by the fence of a farm
Broken and bruised beside the road
See the little white line around her throat
I want to hold you like my only child
I want to run with you into the wild
To a night before these high beams and highways
I want to fold up this road like a flag
Tie it with fences and drag it all back
To a night before these high beams and highways and devils who die
I want to run with you into the wild
My precious child
This forest is born in the day's dying glow
The Devil awakes when the sun's sinking low
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10. |
Love is a Tiny Town
02:47
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Love is the open road
Love is the open road
It's a hopeful song playing on the radio
Love is the open road
Love is a tiny town
It's a place you go even though the road goes around
With a bakery or a convict bridge or a windmill house
Love is a tiny town
The highway is a symphony
A million little melodies
The highway is a simple thing
A million little memories
Love is my Nana's home
Nana's house is 200 ks, if you're flying like the crow
It always takes us half a day on the Midland Highway
Love is my Nana's home, a tiny town and the open road
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Daniel J Townsend TAS, Australia
"A head full of stories, a soul old enough to have lived them, and a heart young enough to believe in their power to move us."
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