1994 Simpson And His Donkey Tony Aylward Cover

A song for ANZAC Day.

Probably the most enduring story to come out of the disastrous Gallipoli campaign in WW1 is that of Simpson and his donkey. This song was written by Tasmanian folksinger, Tony Aylward, and was awarded the Most Engaging Lyric at the Tasmanian Composers Festival 2015.

This song was requested by Lee Moran, B Flight, 51 Sqn, Royal Air Force.

Here is a video of Tony singing his song: youtube.com/watch?v=3UECLltK1HU

Lyrics and chords:
D ....................................... G ................ A7
I'll tell you a tale of what mateship's about.
........... D ........................................ A7
We all joined up together with a patriot shout,
......... G .................................. A7
For a faraway war had just started
................ G .................................. A7
And Australia would answer the call,
....... G ........................................ D ........ Em
And young naive pride took us all for a ride
..... A7 ..................................... D
To fight for our motherland's cause.

Gallipoli came as a terrible shock
As we lined up in ranks to go over the top.
Then we hopelessly charged the Turks' trenches.
Those in front were all killed up ahead.
Then a bomb from the sky ripped a wound through my side
And threw me down with the dead.

I was helpless and bleeding, convinced I would die,
As the pain overwhelmed me from shrapnel inside,
And as daylight ebbed into darkness and I felt my lift slip away
A bray brought me back to my senses and I heard a friendly voice say,
D ................................................ G .................... D
"Give me your hand, mate, and I'll life you up, mate.
.......................................... A7
I see you're in pain, but I won't leave you here.
................. G ................................... A7
There's a ship going home to Australia
.......... D ............... G ................ A7 ............ D
And if we meet again you can buy me a beer.

He lifted me up on a beast by his side.
He said, "Do you have a shilling for a wee donkey ride?
For as long as you're cursing, you're breathing
And as long as you breather you're alive.
You can have a good swear cause you're mother ain't here
And me and my donkey won't mind.

We stumbled and slipped as bombs fell from above.
The donkey was matted with other men's blood
And I felt myself frozen with fear
As bullets thumped into the ground

But the words that he spoke and his piss-taking jokes
Had somehow kept me alive.
Give me your hand ...

I can still see him now going back up the line,
With his donkey beside him and purpose in mind.
I can still hear his words in my ear.
They're forever etched in my mind.
He said, "As long as you're living I'm winning,
So you must keep on living in mind.

I'm the only man who's winning in this bloody place.
This whole bloody war is a bloody disgrace.
Don't forget you owe me a shilling.
Don't forget to buy me a beer.
It's time for me to be going now
For there's other men lying out there.
Give me your hand ...

You can see a playlist of my Australian songs here: youtube.com/view_play_list?p=PL0DE11C284435E7A2

Lyrics and chords of many of my songs are no longer available, as my website has expired. I am currently posting lyrics to the information panels on all my videos and those that are too long to post in full will be found on my new website: raymondsfolkpage.wordpress.com

Author

Ariyani

Como educador, estou profundamente engajado no desenvolvimento dos estudantes em ambiente escolar, adotando métodos pedagógicos que valorizam conexões genuínas e são movidos por inovação e fervor. É minha vocação guiar os alunos na jornada de se tornarem uma geração notável, empregando estratégias de ensino amplamente aclamadas por prestigiadas instituições acadêmicas ao redor do globo - events.zulekhahospitals.com