Slim Dusty – Roy (Guitar)

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Here's the story of a real character, an old mate called Roy.

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When I travelled with my show right round Australia

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We only got back home at Christmas time

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Our home was in the deep south of the Gippsland

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And life was mostly full on all the time

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There’s a saying true that people do make places

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And our circle of true friends were made to last

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But this song is mostly of just one old timer

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And we never knew too much about his past

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Old Roy just drifted into Metung village

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They say he came from Sydney, New South Wales

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And they say he was big time in the racing game

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But when life went wrong, he wound up on the rails

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And he ended up just working round the village

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He drank too much, and chain smoked all the time

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But one day every year he dressed up special

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And joined us all at Homewood Christmas time

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And he sang with us around the old piana

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Songs like ’harbour lights and ‘Danny boy’

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Said that "Mother was one of Nature's Gentlemen", yeah

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Christmas day was a big day for old Roy.

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He was famous for his winners of the weekend

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He’d whisper "mate, this one’s the real McCoy"

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From two bob millionaires to local farmers

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Everybody got their tips from good old Roy

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It’s a London to a brick, mate, it’s a certainty

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And most of us would listen to him too

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We’d leave our change with Roy when we were leaving

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Oh, its somehow seemed the decent thing to do

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Some said made he made the village look untidy

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But his mates made sure he was left alone

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They bought him clothes and checked his tattered footwear

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And chucked in for a van that was his home

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Disliked or not, he surely was a character

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And the last time that I saw he looked thin

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He said old mate here’s a keepsake for tomorrow

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And passed across his old log cabin tin. I still got the tin.

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He was pretty drunk, so I rolled him some for later

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He said all the best to David, Anne and Joy

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And you know mumbled something more about natures gentleman

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And that was my last drink with poor old Roy

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Oh, the winter came and Roy was thin and weary

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He died alone in his little quiet place

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But I’m sure he’s riding winners on that big track

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But down here he has lost his final race, hey

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Yeah, he sang with us around the old piana

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Songs like ‘Harbour Lights' and ’Danny Boy’

           F                          C
Said that "mother was one of nature's gentlemen", God bless him

      G                                   C    C
Yeah, Christmas day was a big day for old Roy.