Thinkin' about Buddy and Slim And Stan Coster too And all those pioneers, before the tar came through Before rock and roll Before the hip hooray Thinkin' about the trail they blazed and the songs they made Stan was short of a quid And the pub had no beer The rain tumbled down in July, and we had a good year We had a drink with Shorty At Three Rivers Hotel There was Smoky and Tex and Chad, and Rick and Thel There was Banjo and Henry And all their peers They wondered what an Aussie would be in a hundred years Will they keep our romance? With the bush, out there And I must admit, I wonder, will we still care? It's all about how The world can change But maybe not so much, the other side of the range There will always be battlers That feel right at home Out there where the white-faced cattle roam A fire of Gidgee Coals Will keep us warm It'll rain on the Diamantina and the birds will swarm We'll boil a billy And admire the stars Sing about droughts and floods and apricots in jars The songs will live And I'll tell you why The spirit of the bush will never die