The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #169212   Message #4065181
Posted By: GUEST,Gerry
20-Jul-20 - 08:30 PM
Thread Name: Songs from the Mudcat Worldwide Singaround
Subject: RE: Mudcat Worldwide Singaround on Zoom-Today!!!
Here are the lyrics I sang for Tumba-bloody-rumba.

TUMBA-BLOODY-RUMBA

He looked for work at muster-time, we tried him as a rider,
We tried him as the rouseabout and as the cook’s off-sider.
He said he'd sailed the seven seas, he’d been up in Alaska,
He’d been in every western state from Texas to Nebraska.

Chorus (repeat after each stanza):
He said he’d shorn a sheep or two and cut a bit of lumber,
And waged war on the kangaroos at Tumba-bloody-rumba.

We tried him as a shearer, we tried him as a stacker,
We tried him digging rabbits out. He wasn’t worth a cracker.
He had a shop in Singapore, he owned a pearling lugger,
He was a champ at baccarat, Australian Rules and rugger.

He never showed his aptitude at jobs he was allotted,
But showed his skill upon the booze, and cigarettes he blotted.
He said he’d climbed the Matterhorn, he’d been a union leader,
And years ago in Adelaide he was a pigeon breeder.

We tried him digging fencing posts, we tried to find his caper,
Until that happy pay-day when he got his piece of paper.
I wonder what he's up to now, perhaps back on the lumber,
Or shooting kanga-bloody-roos at Tumba-bloody-rumba.

Authorship in dispute, set to music by Warren Fahey. If you want the tune, there's a recording by Warren on Youtube.