Australian Bush Ballad
ballads
balladeer
bush ballads
bush poetry
merv webster
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Story behind the song
Seeing so many white crosses on our Nation's roadsides are saddening but when you se the actual names that belong to folk who were someone's loved one than that kind of hits home hard.
Lyrics
SO MANY ROADSIDE EPTITAHS
Have you ever felt the freedom that just goes down hand in hand,
when you venture long the hi-ways and the bi-ways of this land?
There’s the beauty of our coastlines and the vastness of the plains;
all the magic of the outback and those rugged mountain chains.
But I sense for some this freedom mate; it comes at such a cost,
as the easements of our roadways show that many souls are lost.
All the endless names of loved ones etched in black bear witness to
all the heartache and the trauma that some families go through.
How so many roadside epitaphs cry out to you and me,
that the freedom we all yearn for can exact a gruesome fee.
Don’t ignore the chant, just listen, so that no soul died in vain
and their constant plea may save you and your loved ones all the pain.
All the names that flash before me on the backgrounds painted white,
stay like snapshots in an album and are such a haunting sight.
Then I’m constantly reminded that they all had played a role
and were precious sons or daughters and each one a living soul.
Too perhaps some grieving fam’ly they have lost their mum and dad
or their grandma or granddad and I find that kind of sad.
So when passing by these sentinels I’m forced now to reflect
on the gift of life God gave us and to treat it with respect.
How so many roadside epitaphs cry out to you and me,
that the freedom we all yearn for can exact a gruesome fee.
Don’t ignore the chant, just listen, so that no soul died in vain
and their constant plea may save you and your loved ones all the pain.
© Bush Poet and Ballad Writer -Merv Webster