Eighteen-hundred and seventy-eight
Was the year I remember so well.
They put my father in an early grave
And slung my mother in gaol.
Now I don't know what's right or wrong
But they hung Christ on nails.
Six kids at home and two on the breast:
They wouldn't even give her bail.
Poor Ned, you're better off dead;
At least you'll get some peace of mind.
You're out on the track, they're right on your back -
Boy, they're gonna hang you high!
You know I wrote a letter 'bout Stringy Bark Creek
So they would understand
That I might be a bushranger
But I'm not a murdering man.
I didn't want to shoot Kennedy
Or that copper Lonigan.
He alone could have saved his life
By throwing down his gun.
Poor Ned, you're better off dead;
At least you'll get some peace of mind.
You're out on the track, they're right on your back -
Boy, they're gonna hang you high!
I'd rather die like Donahoe,
That bushranger so brave,
Than be taken by the Government
And treated like a slave
I'd rather fight with all my might,
As long as I'd eyes to see;
I'd rather die ten thousand deaths,
Than die on the gallows tree.
Poor Ned, you're better off dead;
At least you'll get some peace of mind.
You're out on the track, they're right on your back -
Boy, they're gonna hang you high!
You know they took Ned Kelly
And they hung him in the Melbourne Gaol.
He fought so very bravely
Dressed in iron mail.
But no man single-handed
Can hope to break the bars.
It's a thousand like Ned Kelly
Who'll hoist the flag of stars.
Poor Ned, you're better off dead;
At least you'll get some peace of mind.
You're out on the track, they're right on your back -
Boy, they're gonna hang you high!
Was the year I remember so well.
They put my father in an early grave
And slung my mother in gaol.
Now I don't know what's right or wrong
But they hung Christ on nails.
Six kids at home and two on the breast:
They wouldn't even give her bail.
Poor Ned, you're better off dead;
At least you'll get some peace of mind.
You're out on the track, they're right on your back -
Boy, they're gonna hang you high!
You know I wrote a letter 'bout Stringy Bark Creek
So they would understand
That I might be a bushranger
But I'm not a murdering man.
I didn't want to shoot Kennedy
Or that copper Lonigan.
He alone could have saved his life
By throwing down his gun.
Poor Ned, you're better off dead;
At least you'll get some peace of mind.
You're out on the track, they're right on your back -
Boy, they're gonna hang you high!
I'd rather die like Donahoe,
That bushranger so brave,
Than be taken by the Government
And treated like a slave
I'd rather fight with all my might,
As long as I'd eyes to see;
I'd rather die ten thousand deaths,
Than die on the gallows tree.
Poor Ned, you're better off dead;
At least you'll get some peace of mind.
You're out on the track, they're right on your back -
Boy, they're gonna hang you high!
You know they took Ned Kelly
And they hung him in the Melbourne Gaol.
He fought so very bravely
Dressed in iron mail.
But no man single-handed
Can hope to break the bars.
It's a thousand like Ned Kelly
Who'll hoist the flag of stars.
Poor Ned, you're better off dead;
At least you'll get some peace of mind.
You're out on the track, they're right on your back -
Boy, they're gonna hang you high!
Contributed by Bartleby - 2010/11/2 - 11:30
Una statua di Ned Kelly alta 6 metri, è quella che campeggia davanti ad un albergo a Glenrowan, nello Stato australiano di Victoria, cittadina dove il famoso bushranger fu catturato nel 1880...
Bartleby - 2010/11/2 - 16:44
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Album “Fotheringay”
Scritta da Trevor Lucas, fondatore del gruppo e membro dei Fairport Convention dal 1972 al 1975.
Testo trovato su Mudcat Café
La terza strofa – quella con il riferimento ad un altro famoso bushranger australiano, Jack Donohue – risale ad una ballata tradizionale intitolata “Young Ned Kelly”.
L’ultima strofa è invece un adattamento da “The Death of Ned Kelly", canzone scritta nei primi anni 40 dall’etnomusicologo John Manifold, il “Lomax” australiano.
Sulla figura del famoso bandito australiano Ned Kelly, rimando alla canzone del mai troppo pianto Johnny Cash. Qui mi limito a postare questa curiosa foto che mostra l’armatura che Ned Kelly indossava durante i suoi assalti alle banche: 40 Kg di solido ferro che forse lo protesse da qualche pallottola ma non gli risparmiò la cattura e la forca (anche perché credo che ‘sta corazza lo impacciasse non poco…)