Slim Dusty – Beat Of The Government Stroke (Guitar)

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I never was much at singin' and I ain't a musical bloke

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But I play the 'mad mick' and the 'banjo' to the beat of the government stroke

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To the beat of the government stroke I play while the foreman calls the tune

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And the rattle of gravel on the banjo blade is all I hear till noon

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With my head down low and my tailbone high and the sweat running down my brow

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and a big yellow sign saying 'Men at Work' I show all the people how

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A council man he could swing a pick or a shovel the whole day long

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Digging up drains and ditches for a pittance and a song

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But what does the local yokel say, "hey but look at the council man

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He never would work in an iron lung or dirty his little hands"

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"Oh, have a go yourself you bloody mug", I say but he gives me the old thumbs up

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And then tears off like a greasy mug to find him another pub

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I'm fed to the teeth as there I stand in a typical council pose

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Leanin' upon my old banjo with the sweat runnin' down my nose

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Oh I work all day for an honest quid and this is the thanks I get

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"What'll I do and what are my rights" I ask of the union rep

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So there we are with a hole in the road and the traffic a-piling up

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But the billy boy he was doin' his bit and callin' us for a cup

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So the ten of us and the foreman too and the man on the 'stop and go'

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Downed our tools and we were joined by the bloke on the big back-hoe

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And while the little old lady was a-tooting and the truckie was a-jumping round

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We nibbled our bikkies and we sipped our tea and we never even heard a sound

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Oh sittin' at ease 'neath the berkmyer fly just watching the world go by

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my mind went back to an earlier day when I never would've thought that I

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Would play the 'mad mick' and 'banjo' to the beat of the government stroke

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But like I said, I never could sing and I ain't a musical bloke.

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Oh, I never was much at singin' and I ain't a musical bloke

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But I play the 'mad mick' and the 'banjo' to the beat of the government,

                                              N.C.          A
beat of the government, beat of the government, uh, stroke