Lyrics Paul Kelly – The Ballad Of Queenie And Rover

Queenie was born on the banks of the great Ord River, 1930, maybe
Her mother was black, her daddy white
Daddy was a fine horse breaker, mama sang the songs of the old lawmakers
She used to hide young Queenie in the bush

Shine on, shine on, immortal one
Shine on, shine on, immortal one

Rover was born in the desert, lived out there ‘til his mother died
Then he moved around a lot from place to place
Bedford Downs, Bow River, Lissadell, Wyndham,
Building fences, working as a stockman
Then he had a series of dreams
Started painting what he’d heard and seen
Rainbow serpent, Krill Krill, Cyclone Tracy, the killing fields,
Everything that lives and breathes

Ride on, ride on, immortal ones
Ride on, ride on, immortal ones

When Rover and Queenie were young they met out on Texas Downs station
She worked as a cook there for a long long time
She said “Hey, Cowboy!” later on she said
“Nice boy, good worker, top rider, lucky one, that one”
One day a mean horse ripped the scalp from his head
She stitched him up with a boiled needle and thread
Good as any doctor, they were friends everafter
She said “I wanna paint”, he said “I’ll teach ya”
They died within months of each other

Ride on, ride on, immortal ones
Shine on, shine on, immortal ones