Em D Am Em G D C B Em D Am Em G D Em [Verse 1] G D Em D Em On a backblock down Salisbury Plains Ted was born in 1895 C G D G Bm Thrust from the loins onto rusty soil And the cord was cut with a scythe Em D Em He said "People there are city folk today And they couldn't tell shit from clay C G D G D Em C A ripening crop of stobie poles - There's no regrets when the memory roams G D Em That earth is in me bones [Verse 2] G D Em D Em Did his bit in the First World War Took the shilling to fight the Hun C G D G Bm Mud up to his crotch in Flanders fields And the gas eating at his lungs Em D Em He said "Me best mate died hanging on the barbed wire And when the attack was through C G D G D Em C We took some prisoners to HQ And shared a fag and a yarn or two G D Em They were the same as me and you" [Chorus] Em C D G And I asked old Ted what history meant C Em As he sharpened his hedging shears C D G "What a bloody fool question that is my boy Cmaj7 Em I lived it for 83 years" [Verse 3] G D Em D Em See him every year on Anzac Day Swilling beers down at the Rex Hotel C G D G Bm He'd laugh with his mates and go deep in thought Where he went even he couldn't tell... Em D Em He said "King and country, cock'n'bull We fought just to survive C G D G D Em C The anger might have faded, still this feeling grabs me deep inside G D Em I guess you could call it pride" [Verse 4] G D Em D Em As a navvy on the line in the Nullabor The Depression left its scars C G D G Bm Heaving cold steel rails in the burning sun And freezing beneath the stars Em D Em He said "If you escaped the susso queues You had a hell of a price to pay C G D G D Em C And when time flowed like an open wound I'd blow me dough on a Saturday G D Em And drink the pain away" [Chorus] Em C D G And I asked old Ted what history meant C Em As he sharpened his hedging shears C D G "What a bloody fool question that is my boy Cmaj7 Em I lived it for 83 years" [Verse 5] D On Sunday arvo he'd sit and talk Over a dozen cold West End Cmaj7 A D/F# Of what was gained and what was lost And would never come again Em D He said "Money you know it comes and goes On booze and rent and fags Cmaj7 Am D/F# You can make a fortune on overtime And lose it all on the nags Em D But years of toil with a bunch of mates You know it leaves you satisfied Cmaj7 Though we never moved a mountain Am Em D/F# We sure gave it a try" [Bridge] Em D Pick the wheat from the chaff, And the steel from the scurf C Bm Am7 Cmaj7 And the honest man from a liar If wisdom came by other names G D Em Ted was earth and fire [Refrain] Em D Em On the day that old Ted died No-one would have known C G D G Bm Buried in a pauper's grave He lived and died alone Em D Em And the 727's soared over head With drone of the angry roads C There seemed a pause for just a while N.C. And the silence was heard around for miles N.C. And the silence was heard for miles