Slim Dusty – The Man From Iron Bark (Guitar)

    D                                               A
It was the man from Ironbark who struck the Sydney town,

    A                                                 D
He wandered over street and park, he wandered up and down.

    G                                    D
He loitered here he loitered there, till he was like to drop,

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Until at last in sheer despair he sought a barber's shop.

         G                                    D
"'Ere! shave my beard and whiskers off, I'll be a man of mark,

                                   A           D
I'll go and do the Sydney toff up home in Ironbark."

     D                                                A
The barber man was small and flash, as barbers mostly are,

    A                                                D
He wore a strike-your-fancy sash he smoked a huge cigar;

    G                                       D
He was a humorist of note and keen at repartee,

    G                                   E              A
He laid the odds and kept a "tote", whatever that may be,

      G                                                     D
And when he saw our friend arrive, he whispered, "Here's a lark!

                                         A            D
Just watch me catch him all alive, this man from Ironbark."

       D                                                   A
There were some gilded youths that sat along the barber's wall.

      A                                                            D
Their eyes were dull, their heads were flat, they had no brains at all;

     G                                                 D
To them the barber passed the wink his dexter eyelid shut,

       G                                   E                 A
"I'll make this bloomin' yokel think his bloomin' throat is cut."

    G                                               D
And as he soaped and rubbed it in he made a rude remark:

      D                                  A           D
"I s'pose the flats is pretty green up there in Ironbark."

    D                                                   A
A grunt was all reply he got; he shaved the bushman's chin,

      A                                              D
Then made the water boiling hot and dipped the razor in.

    G                                                          D
He raised his hand, his brow grew black, he paused awhile to gloat,

       G                               E                   A
Then slashed the red-hot razor-back across his victim's throat;

  G                                         D
Upon the newly-shaven skin it made a livid mark

    D                                  A            D
No doubt, it fairly took him in — the man from Ironbark.

    D                                                     A
He fetched a wild up-country yell might wake the dead to hear,

      A                                                       D
And though his throat, he knew full well, was cut from ear to ear,

      G                                                   D
He struggled gamely to his feet, and faced the murd'rous foe:

         G                                   E           A
"You've done for me! you dog, I'm beat! One hit before I go!

  G                                                D
I only wish I had a knife, you blessed murdering shark!

    D                                  A            D
But you'll remember all your life the man from Ironbark."

    D                                             A
He lifted up his hairy paw, with one tremendous clout

    A                                                 D
He landed on the barber's jaw, and knocked the barber out.

    G                                                     D
He set to work with nail and tooth, he made the place a wreck;

     G                                     E                 A
He grabbed the nearest gilded youth, and tried to break his neck.

    G                                                    D
And all the while his throat he held to save his vital spark,

      D                                  A            D
And "Murder! Bloody murder!" yelled the man from Ironbark.

   D                                                A
A peeler man who heard the din came in to see the show;

     A                                             D
He tried to run the bushman in, but he refused to go.

      G                                                    D
And when at last the barber spoke, and said "'Twas all in fun'

       G                               E         A
T’was just a little harmless joke, a trifle overdone."

    G                                                          D
"A joke!" he cried, "By George, that's fine; a lively sort of lark;

     D                                       A            D
I'd like to catch that murdering swine some night in Ironbark."

     D                                                         A
And now while round the shearing floor the list'ning shearers gape,

    A                                                 D
He tells the story o'er and o'er, and brags of his escape.

       G                                                  D
"Them barber chaps what keeps a tote, By Hell, I've had enough,

      G                                    E                  A
One tried to cut my bloomin' throat, but thank the Lord it's tough."

      G                                                  D
And whether he's believed or no, there's one thing to remark,

       D                               A          D
That flowing beards are all the go way up in Ironbark.

       D                               A          D
That flowing beards are all the go way up in Ironbark.