Slim Dusty — As the Bush Becomes the Town

[Verse 1] Old bloodwood tree at last you're free From the change that's comin' down You were felled to the ground By a mean chainsaw Where you kept watch for a hundred years or more In your silent stance while the river danced Where the big floods used to rise In your broken limbs the wounds are scarred Cyclones tore this coast apart [Chorus] But old tree there you're lying defeated by the change And years pass more quickly as we reach a greater age As your sap is slowly bleeding your life is winding down And with strangers gone where we were born As the bush becomes the town [Instrumental bridge] [Verse 2] Where farms that grew this country's food And a drover walked his mob Where lanterns glowed in old bush homes And a welcome handshake always showed Your rings of age will slowly fade As the fire burns your grave Your coals will blow in the hot north breeze And the embers dance, their last reprieve [Chorus] Yes old tree there you're lying defeated by the change Years pass more quick, as we reach a greater age As your sap is slowly bleeding your life is winding down And with strangers gone where we were born As the bush becomes the town