I Hope They Fight Again - Slim Dusty

I was drinking here one evening said the old man with a grin

And everything was peaceful til some ringer blokes came in

There were four of them in number and they seemed to be half full

And they were arguing on how to throw and tie a scrubber bull

Well they talked of cattle camps from Bourke to Anthony Lagoon

And they talked of runnin' scrubbers ‘neath the glimmer of the moon

And they talked of ridin' buckers when the subject turned to fights

And by this time said the old man they were gettin' pretty tight

Oh yeah

Just then the fighting shearer from the Lachlan came around

He had five mates behind him but the ringers stood their ground

The shearers had been drinking on the far end of the bar and

They’d been shearing lambs and wethers and were calling out for tar

They’d been cursin' cooks and rousies and the experts left and right

When they heard the ringers cooee and the subject turned to fight

Then a deadly calm descended like the lull before a storm

Which erupted like a cyclone as the fighters showed their form

Oh that’s right!

Oh the presser punched a moment with the tallest of the four

Till the lanky bloke connected and he crumpled to the floor

Then lanky aimed a beauty at the nearest shearers chin

But a king hit from the sideline put the long one in a spin

When an innocent bystander sought an exit to the door

He was trampled with the blood and glass and beer upon the floor

Just then the worried barman hollered out with all his might

Are you crazy lot of blighters here to drink or here to fight!

Oh that’s right!

They were battered bruised and winded so they gathered round the bar

‘Cept the innocent bystander who went limping to his car

Oh the good old days have vanished in the darkness and the gloom

In the wake of modern tourists and this might mineral boom

For the dinkum Aussie bushmen are a slowly dyin' race

And it hurts me when I see the type that come to take their place

So I come here every evening and I sit and reminisce

‘Cos another blue like that one is a thing I’d hate to miss

Oh yeah

I was drinking here one evening said the old man with a grin

And everything was peaceful til some ringer blokes came in