Lyrics
Tipper
I guess I would have been about six at the time, when my Dad brought home this little mutt,
Said hed need a hand til I was growed, so hed got himself a Blue Heeler pup.
We ran cattle on our place and that dog soon became like his right arm,
And there are just so many stories I could tell, about Tipper and my Pa,
When I left school went working for dad, more dogs came as the need grew,
And for training them and keeping em in line, old Tipper was head of the crew,
For looking after and moving cattle, Tipper was always there,
But he was getting older and slowing down some, and needing a little more care.
Now my Dads not mean but he was brought up hard, so hes not the emotional kind.
And he kept saying we should put Tipper down, cause his worth had run its time,
Tipper was looking rough and he limped a lot, and he was definitely losing his sight,
And he trailed behind while we were doing the rounds, So I was thinking that dad might be right.
Till that summer when it was hellishly hot, we were tagging and prepn cattle for sales,
Dad with the dogs worked all the yards, while I worked the crush tagging tails
It was late in the arvo even the dogs were tired, we were all looking forward to going home
When Dad got cornered by the Hereford bull, up against the six bar with no place to go,
Now there are times when bulls turn mean, for no reason they just seem to go mad,
And that day that bull had death in his eyes, and he was looking straight at my dad.
Suddenly there was a flash and a snarl and a snap, and Tipper was there bitting at its heels
An I tell you that bull swung around after the dog, giving Dad a chance to clear the rails,
But like I said that dog was old, hed gotten slow at dodging hoof and horn.
That old Hereford was on him like a threshing machine, and when he was done Tipper was gone.
Slowly we walked to where Tipper lay, Broken, bloody and torn,
While the Bull just stood as quiet as you please, like nothing had happened at all.
There werent nothing either of us could do and for the rest of the day I worked on my own,
Dad just nursed Tippers lifeless remains, til we finally arrived back home.
He buried Tipper under his favourite tree, it was the first time I had seen the old man cry,
Every now and then Ill see dad standing there at the grave, and theres always a tear in his eye
