Page Text: On summer nights we listened to his wheezing
The asthma never gave him any rest
Each hay-carting season, he struggled with his breathing
As if the farm was sitting on his chest
I didn’t sleep those nights when I was young
I was raised a dairy farmer’s son
The hayrides look romantic in the movies
They don’t show how the thistles scratch your arms and hands
There’s no pretty cowgirls on the tractor
Just dad and sunburnt brothers picking grass seeds from their sweaty underpants
My dad’s a farmer, he worked too bloody hard
Stinking from the dairy and the shitty cattle yard
He taught me how to work for what you love
I was raised a dairy farmer’s son
Yes, I was raised a dairy farmer’s son
He rode that quad bike like it was a Harley
His sidekick was that boarder-collie, Jack
Each morning Jackie sat there by his gumboots
The flies already swarming on dad’s back
The cows already walking to the shed
He’d been up late irrigating but the animals were waiting
So he just could not afford to stay in bed
My dad’s a farmer, he worked too bloody hard
Stinking from the dairy and the shitty cattle yard
He taught me how to work for what you love
I was raised a dairy farmer’s son
Yes, I was raised a dairy farmer’s son
The year the interest rates went through the ceiling
The price of butterfat walked out the door
He had to pour the milk out on the floor
The day they found the cancers on Dad’s head
And it left him with a scar from all those summer’s harvests
And that fucking farm took one more pound of flesh
My dad’s a farmer, he worked too bloody hard
Stinking from the dairy and the shitty cattle yard
He taught me how to work for what you love
I was raised a dairy farmer’s son
Yes, I was raised a dairy farmer’s son
He taught me how to work for those you love
I was raised a dairy farmer’s son
Yes, I was raised a dairy farmer’s son
7. Heart Of The Valley
Written by Michael Waugh
This used to be the franchise for the KFC
Before they had to close it down
Back when the Princes Hwy used to go through Morwell’s centre
Brown coal employed the town
When Gippsland’s miners didn’t have to dig around for work
The brighter lights of Melbourne
Were powered by the sweat from our Latrobe
There's a hole in the heart of the valley
Where they dug out all the coal from the seam
And a freeway cuts around
What used to be the town
In a time before they sold the SEC
They left a hole where Morwell's heart used to be
The Morwell River used to feed the people of the Kurnai
Before we bulldozed them away
Now some teenaged boys are drinking goon and tagging closed up stores
Like stray dogs pissing on a wall
3TR plays footy scores and songs from 1985
TABs and pokie joints seem to be the only things alive
There's a hole in the heart of the valley
Where they dug out all the coal from the seam
And a freeway cuts around
What used to be the town
In a time before they sold the SEC
They left a hole where Morwell's heart used to be
This used to be the town
This used to be the town
This used to the heart of Latrobe Valley
This used to be the town
8. This Too Will Pass
Written by Michael Waugh
On the day that you were born
I held you in my arms
A fragile little bird without a song
At first you wouldn’t breathe
So we called out your name
As if our words could call you back with love
I thought I knew what fear was when I was just a kid
But I had never been quite this afraid
Now you’re not so small
Now you’re not so frail
Now the little bird has flown away
This too will pass
This too will be in the past
This won’t be here forever
From what I’ve seen, this too will pass: Let it be
When you were only three
We went to Jackson’s place
And you played superheroes for the day
When it was time to go
You were full of jokes
And crossed the road without me for a game
The moment turned so quickly it took me by surprise
I had never been quite this afraid
But now you’re crossing roads
You’re crossing over states
And I don’t get to hold you on the way
This too will pass
This too will be in the past
This won’t be here forever
From what I’ve seen, this too will pass: Let it be
When you were born I had to be at peace with this uncertainty
It’s like my heart is breaking every time you call me ‘Dad’
You only get one life
You only get one death
You only get one childhood on the way
And I hold it such an honour
That I got to cradle yours
And get to see the man you are today
This too will pass
This too will be in the past
This won’t be here forever
From what I’ve seen, this too will pass: Let it be
This too will pass