COLLECTING ALBY
 
Albys an old fellow from  around the Stepney area in Adelide.  He’s always trying to raise  money for  someone - a sick relative  or pregnant granddaughter.He used to come over after the Hillbilly Hoot finished  on Monday nights to retrieve the rich pickings.That’s where I first saw him.
 
Alby wears a pork pie hat, walks like a man with things to do
He carries an old shopping bag – it’s red white and blue
Alby collects up bottles and aluminium cans
And sells them down at the depot for whatever he can
Collecting Alby. Collecting Alby
 
I’ve seen him at the oval, I’ve seen him in the park
I’ve seen him up on main street, collecting after dark
And every Monday evening he comes, over late at night
To collect up all the bottles that we leave out by the light.
Collecting Alby. Collecting Alby
 
Should I go home to bed or drink another beer?
Alby needs the bottle so I guess the answer’s clear.
Collecting Alby. Collecting Alby
 
May your bag be full of empties and your eagle eye stay true
May the handles on your shopping bag never fail on you
May you collect up all the empties in the Southern Hemisphere
And the pile that they make go through the  stratosphere. Collecting Alby. Collecting Alby.
 
 
JOHN KELLYS CALENDAR
 
I used  to occupy the cell (workstation) opposite John when we worked on the phones at the Tax Office. He did eventually retire but it was some time after the scheduled date...
 
John Kelly has a calendar, he’s marked down all the days
797 until his retirement day.
The office has a window, I watch the girls go by
See the buses grinding on and catch a glimpse of blue sky
 
Once between the buildings I saw a daylight moon
But I was bought back to earth all too soon
By another pointless meeting, another stupid call
Some big shot down from Sydney trying to motivate us all.
 
And they sometimes ask me why do I stay
I ask myself that question every single day
 
Sometimes we talk about it, John Kelly and I
Dream up ways to walk out, not even say good-bye
Maybe I could turn feral – grow veggies in the hills
Or start up some sort of business with my redundant skills.
 
And they sometimes ask me why do I stay
I ask myself that question every single day
But I’ve got my reasons, like a year has its seasons
A man has to do what a man’s supposed to do
But I wonder what would happen if I believed I could fly
Would I take to the wing or come crashing down and die
 
 
PLEASE
 
When you were a stranger, you filled my life with danger
You were my one secret thrill
Then when you were my lover, I dreamed of no other
You were the centre of my will
Please Please
 
When you came around to my place, I know the smile on my face
Was bright enough to light up half the world
And when we were together I knew it was forever
I was the lucky man with the special girl
Please Please
 
I heard you tell the other guy you’d call him back in just a minute
I heard you tell the other guy between you and me - there’s nothing in it
Please Please
 
 
 
WAITING
I wrote this one morning waiting for my kids to wake up so we could go out somewhere.
 
Sometimes it seems like forever that you’re waiting
Waiting for a bus that never comes
While life goes by  
Bye and bye
While life goes by
Bye and bye
 
You can spend all your time at the station looking up the track
 and then you spend all your time on the train looking back
While life goes by
Bye and bye
While life goes by
Bye and bye
 
You can spend all the days of your life saving
You can save all the life in your days waiting
While life goes by
Bye and bye
While life goes by
Bye and bye
 
PAT MALONE
Pat Malone = all alone, rhyming slang
 
I was travelling in a foreign town
when a stranger flagged me down
I was lost and far from home
when I first met Pat Malone
 
After a while
We went our separate ways
And for many years he disappeared
Never leaving a trace
Then in a crowded bar
I was drinking alone
He said remember me?
I’m Pat Malone
 
chorus
He brings no comfort
He brings no cheer
That’s the way it is
When he’s here
But when the nights are long
There’s nothing left to do but drink
With Pat Malone
 
I’ve known him now for many years
And we have shared a thousand beers
But I could not call him a friend
He’s just someone I see now and then
 
Chorus
IT DIDN’T LOOK GOOD
 
I woke up late – it was the weekend
I’d been out all night driving and drinking
I went down to the shop for some milk and bread
And a newspaper to keep ahead
Of current affairs and world events
And maybe find a place even cheaper to rent.
I opened the paper up to page three
And there was a picture a picture of me
Oh no it didn’t look good
 
Well it did not mention me by name
But the caption read “our streets of shame “
My phone started ringing off the hook
My mother wanting to know if I was a crook
My sister, my brother, an old girlfriend
Asking me about jail and if so, when.
I tried to explain that the rags depiction
was a vicious piece of trumped up fiction.
Oh no it didn’t look good
 
Here’s what happened
These are the facts
This is what made a whole city react
I was hurrying through the bad part of town
When I saw some papers hit the ground
I bent over and picked up the envelope
And handed it straight back to a shady looking bloke
Who looked like he’d be pretty good in a tussle
And the guy that was with him had plenty of muscle
That was that – I walked away
And I’ve only got one more thing to say
You know I was never questioned by any official
After being fingered by the local epistle
They filled up their paper with a pile of crap
Then left me swinging to take the rap.
 
Oh no it didn’t look good
 
 
WHAT TO DO WHAT TO DO
 
Her old boyfriend got a new boyfriend
So now she’s living alone
And one thing I’ve noticed but have no place to protest
She won’t turn off her mobile phone
What to do what to do
 
What are your intentions she said
Like holding a gun to my head
I had to think on my feet
‘cause I knew that her friends had been giving her heat
 
She said if we were younger we’d go with our hunger
and sort out the mess at the end
But now we are smarter it gets so much harder
To go through all that stuff again
What to do what to do
 
This is not Shakespeare, this is not Camelot
This is not Mills and Boon
This is living and loving in the 21st century and
                             I’d better get used to it soon
Yes I’d better get used to it soon
 
LET ME TELL YOU A SECRET
 
Let me tell you a secret
Let me whisper in your ear
Move closer so you can hear me now
And no one else can hear
 
Hold me if you need to
If it makes my words sound clear
Wrap your arms around me
So no one else can hear
 
Oh don’t kiss me now
 I still need to speak
Oh don’t kiss me now
‘Till my secret is yours to keep
 
I know I can trust you
It’s something I can feel
‘Cause now we share a secret
That no one else can steal
 
Oh Kiss me now
I don’t need to speak
Oh kiss me now
My secret is ours to keep
My secret is ours to keep
My secret is ours to keep
 
 
 
SO BLUE
 
Sometimes we talk about it and it makes perfect sense
We just can’t be together – there’s too much difference
But if were so organised and don’t need to compromise
Then why – do I
Feel so blue without you
 
Your from the eastern suburbs and I’m from way out west
sometimes when you start talking to me it makes no sense
but if I’m no good for you and you’re no good for me
Then why  - do I
Feel so blue without you
 
 
SYDNEY TRAIN
 
My girl has gone to Sydney on the evening train
Once she sees those lights she won’t be back again
 
I’m standing at the station and I heard that whistle blow
My girl has gone to Sydney and I hate to see her go
 
I heard that whistle blowing all the way down the track
My girl has gone away and she aint coming back
 
 
 
THE BIGGEST CALL
 
It’s the hardest call
It’s the hardest call
It’s the biggest call
 
When you gonna say it’s all right
When you gonna say come home
When you gonna say we should be together
When you gonna pick up the phone
It’s the hardest call
It’s the biggest call
 
When you gonna say it’s over
When you gonna say we’re through
When you gonna say there’s no future
And there’s no more me and you
That’s the hardest call
That’s the biggest call
 
 
Back to :      MUSIC
 
 
 
                           DON MORRISON HOME
  
                      
Don Morrison – Guitars,  Ukulele,  Harmonica
Phil Bray – Hammond organ, Wurlitzer piano,
 piano accordion.
Michael Saies – Bass
Andy Pryzgonsky – Drums
Commie Trash - Whistling solo on What to Do
Back up vocals by The Fat Bastard Choir
Commie Trash. Johhny Dady, Eddie Morrison.
John Van Bowman
 
The Big Arsed Brass is:
Jake Morrison  - Trombone
Michael Saies – Trombone
Phil Bray – Trumpet
Arranged by Phil Bray.
 
Sydney Train performed by “Prawnhead”                                    
              who are:
Eddie Morrison – Bass
Jake Morrison –Guitar
Don Morrison – resonator gutar and vocals.
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Brett Sody at Sody pop studios, Croydon Adelaide 2006
www.sodypop.com.au
 
Artwork and photography by Mark Thompson  -  http://www.ibys.org
 
Special thanks to Phil Bray for his contribution above and beyond the call  and to Brett Sody for his skill, enthusiasm and generosity and to B for her insistence on maintaining standards.