Slim Dusty – Straight Ahead (Guitar)

C               G                      C
Dave and I were travellin' through the top end,

  F              G              C
November and the sun was pretty hot.

                         G                C
We were somewhere on the road that led to Cooktown.

     D                         G
At a not too busy quiet petrol stop.

   C           G              C
An old man was workin' at the bowser.

       F                    G                C
He was brown and black from years out in the sun.

  F                               C
A bent-up cigarette hung from his bottom lip,

        G                                  C
And his eyes still held a twinkle left for fun.

   C                G                 C
We filled our water tanks and got our diesel,

        F              G            C
And was getting set to roll or just about.

       F                                C
When a fancy kind of four wheel hit the driveway.

      G                                   C
And a pale faced southern tourist tumbled out.

    C                  G          C
The old man looked him over, said nothing.

     F                    G                  C
Just filled his tanks and quietly moved, not fast.

    F                                C
The flies were getting sticky and so friendly.

        G                             C
That we wondered if the wet was gonna start.

D
Mhmm

    D               A7               D
The stranger asked about the road conditions.

  G                  A7               D
I remember well just what the old man said.

     G                                  D
"How many miles to Cooktown?" asked the stranger.

     E                      A7                  D
"Not miles, mate," said the old man, "straight ahead".

        C           G               C
And you realize the power of mother nature.

            F           G                C
When you're just a tiny speck out on the plain.

                       G               C
Land and sky where the road goes on forever,

          D                                G
And you'd swear this land had never tasted rain.

    C                G              C
You hope to hell you don’t have any trouble.

  F                 G                    C
A breakdown in this place could hold you up.

       F                                    C
Then a mighty road train looms and you pull over,

  G                                C
A busted tyre and rim there on the spot.

C   D
    Mhmm

        D                  A7                   D
Oh, you curse the heat and flies and change the tyre,

        G               A7                D
But you smile a bit and laugh inside your head.

     G                                  D
"How many miles to Cooktown?" asked the stranger,

     E                    A7                  D
"Not miles, ey," said the old man, "straight ahead".

      D                A7                  D
And I guess that just about sums up life's highway,

     G             A7               D
That ever-changing path we all must tread.

     G                                  D
"How many miles to Cooktown?" asked the stranger,

     E                      A7                  D
"Not miles, mate," said the old man, "straight ahead".