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Land Of The Bloody Unknown Lyrics
There were letters unopened at the foot of my bed
When I woke up with you in the morn
There were lions roaring on ships in the harbour
The night my true love was born
There’s a minstrel singing of the holy dove
On the mountain of old St Jerome
There is glass on the floor of the hallway I walk
When the stars bear down from their throne
And the old southern cross is shown
And it points down the sad road home
To the land of the bloody unknown
I heard that your mother took off in the fall
With her pretty curls and her wooden spoon
I heard you whispering to yourself last night
She’ll be coming home some day soon
Well the wine you drink is stained deep in your shirt
And just like the sin in my soul
It is never ever ever ever coming out
While the stars bear down from their throne
And the old southern cross is shown
And it points down the sad road home
To the land of the hunter dancing under the trigger
And the bride washing up on the shore
I could never really dance that well
I can’t raise the flags or ring them bells
But I can shoot my gun down the line towards my home
To the land of the bloody unknown
There’s a black dog watching over me in my sleep
And I stir just to toss him the bone
There’s a red moon rising on the hills tonight
Where the stars bear down from their throne
And the old southern cross is shown
And it points down the sad road home
When I woke up with you in the morn
There were lions roaring on ships in the harbour
The night my true love was born
On the mountain of old St Jerome
There is glass on the floor of the hallway I walk
When the stars bear down from their throne
And the old southern cross is shown
And it points down the sad road home
To the land of the bloody unknown
With her pretty curls and her wooden spoon
I heard you whispering to yourself last night
She’ll be coming home some day soon
And just like the sin in my soul
It is never ever ever ever coming out
While the stars bear down from their throne
And the old southern cross is shown
And it points down the sad road home
And the bride washing up on the shore
I could never really dance that well
I can’t raise the flags or ring them bells
But I can shoot my gun down the line towards my home
To the land of the bloody unknown
And I stir just to toss him the bone
There’s a red moon rising on the hills tonight
Where the stars bear down from their throne
And the old southern cross is shown
And it points down the sad road home
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It's definitely about Australia and the whole song has the feel of an Australian summer night.
Because of the Southern Cross (Crux constellation) and stars/sky references, I think there's some more in this song. It could be Orion the Hunter as the "hunter dancing under the trigger", Sirius dog constellation (Canis Major) as the "dog watching over me in my sleep", and Andromeda as the "bride washing up on the shore". The lines about doves, ships and lions are also part of the constellation mythology.
I think there's a lot to do with constellations in this song as suggested by Zefram.. I think maybe it has to do with being away from your own country.. to a place where the stars are unfamiliar to you; when he comes back to Australia the Southern Cross always points him home... Also before Australia was discovered and settled the area was known as Terra Australis Incognita–an "unknown land of the South" Also on a side note, "black dog" is always used to describe depression
--thats all I can piece together, I'd really like to have a better picture of this song!
This is fantastic info, everyone. I gathered some of the constellation myths but didn't catch every one.
On one level this song clearly deals with Australia and the night sky. But i feel like there exists another subtext. The melancholia and uncertainty of the writing... it makes me think this song is also about the future, and the uncertainty of it. The bloody unknown.
'Course likely it just refers to Australia. But whenever I hear this song, I feel a great humility, like one does during the moments in life that slap us with harsh reality, and leave us wondering what the future holds now that everything has changed.
No comments about this beautiful song? The song is about Australia I think?
These guys are Queenslanders I think. During colonial times a woman and her husband were shipwrecked off the Queensland coast and washed up on Fraser Island (the name comes from their surname), the husband died but the wife survived. The novel "A Fringe of Leaves" by Patrick White is a fictionalised account of it. Everytime I hear "the bride washing up on the shore" I think of that story.