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Cattle And Cane Lyrics
I recall a schoolboy coming home
through fields of cane
to a house of tin and timber
and in the sky
a rain of falling cinders
from time to time
the waste memory-wastes
I recall a boy in bigger pants
like everyone
just waiting for a chance
his father's watch
he left it in the showers
from time to time
the waste memory-wastes
I recall a bigger brighter world
a world of books
and silent times in thought
and then the railroad
the railroad takes him home
through fields of cattle
through fields of cane
from time to time
the waste memory-wastes
the waste memory-wastes
I recall a saying
A reply
A plan you once had
From time down to mind
That time was bad
So I knew where I was
Alone
And so at home
further, longer, higher, older
through fields of cane
to a house of tin and timber
and in the sky
a rain of falling cinders
from time to time
the waste memory-wastes
I recall a boy in bigger pants
like everyone
just waiting for a chance
his father's watch
he left it in the showers
from time to time
the waste memory-wastes
I recall a bigger brighter world
a world of books
and silent times in thought
and then the railroad
the railroad takes him home
through fields of cattle
through fields of cane
from time to time
the waste memory-wastes
the waste memory-wastes
A reply
A plan you once had
From time down to mind
That time was bad
So I knew where I was
Alone
And so at home
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memory wastes. AHH the loss of childhood, the loss of innocence, growing up in this big stupid dumb world
I swear that this song was written about me, haha. This song makes me a bit nostalgic about growing up in Queensland, Australia in a sugar cane-growing town (Bundaberg) and then moving to Brisbane to go to university.
Excellent song and I can't believe no one's commented on it yet.
i think this song is about growing up and losing innocence, growing in a sad way... g mclennan's voice is sometime's so sad and nostalgic
I think the stripped-back tune is part of what makes it great. It gives me shivers. So simple, yet so evocative.
Jimmy Little covered this song and I love his version, but the original is great.
Wedding Present covered this song on 'Hit Parade 1'
I think this song is about the Holocaust in the 40's. 'A rain of falling cinders' makes me think of when they burned the bodies at the death camps and the ashes would fall from the sky. 'His father's watch, he left it in the showers' could refer to the 'showers' they said they were giving Jews before they burned them, they would confiscate Jews' belongings before the 'showers'; hence his watch got confiscated before he went into the gas chamber. Also where he sings 'the railroad takes him home' could be referring to the trains they used to take Jews to concentration camps and such, maybe the war had just ended and they were taking him home by train.
ummm you are so far off the mark i had to made a account just to tell you the truth. no Offense, just its not about that. Its a Queensland Australia song about growing up in the sugar cane fields. We they used to do can burn off the skies would be black and a rain of falling cinders would fall for miles. it happened 100s of times to me as a youth. its about leaving a small town and traveling to the city but he still has deep memories of his Queensland youth like i do
ummm you are so far off the mark i had to made a account just to tell you the truth. no Offense, just its not about that. Its a Queensland Australia song about growing up in the sugar cane fields. We they used to do can burn off the skies would be black and a rain of falling cinders would fall for miles. it happened 100s of times to me as a youth. its about leaving a small town and traveling to the city but he still has deep memories of his Queensland youth like i do
ummm you are so far off the mark i had to made a account just to tell you the truth. no Offense, just its not about that. Its a Queensland Australia song about growing up in the sugar cane fields. We they used to do cane burn off the skies would be black and a rain of falling cinders would fall for miles. it happened 100s of times to me as a youth. its about leaving a small town and traveling to the city but he still has deep memories of his Queensland youth like i do
ummm you are so far off the mark i had to made a account just to tell you the truth. no Offense, just its not about that. Its a Queensland Australia song about growing up in the sugar cane fields. We they used to do cane burn off the skies would be black and a rain of falling cinders would fall for miles. it happened 100s of times to me as a youth. its about leaving a small town and traveling to the city but he still has deep memories of his Queensland youth like i do
@quinnmeister -An interesting interpretation but I think it's more literal than that. Memories of growing up in Queensland cattle country and the burning of sugar cane. I guess we're both right because there is no wrong when interpreting songs.
@quinnmeister -An interesting interpretation but I think it's more literal than that. Memories of growing up in Queensland cattle country and the burning of sugar cane. I guess we're both right because there is no wrong when interpreting songs.
I think this song is about how memories feel so real and powerful to us, even though some should have no relevance, as said in the lyrics, "memory-wastes". "His father's watch, he left it in the shower" seems like a very strange thing to remember, but to the person with the memory it is very important.
@Shroomyjoe He's father died when he was 6. He left it in the showers. The plural suggests somewhere public. The school showers perhaps? They are very sad memories. I think of the waste of an unhappy childhood.
@Shroomyjoe He's father died when he was 6. He left it in the showers. The plural suggests somewhere public. The school showers perhaps? They are very sad memories. I think of the waste of an unhappy childhood.
I think the "waste" refers to the narrator's sadness over what he feels he's wasted during his life.. wasted time, wasted youth, even the waste of his father's watch..
Fantastic lyrics, crappy monotone tune. Put it to a decent tune & it would be an all-time great.