Slabhraidh
The Maes · C
Slabhraidh
The Maes
Other
Real Key
C
Rate
Real Key
C
ledutu
C
0.2x
120
BPM1
2
3
4
Rhythm
2/4
3/4
4/4
5/4
6/8
7/8
No Accent
Downbeat
Backbeat
All Equal
1 & 3
## I fell in love with this song the first time I heard it.
## Personally I think it's actually a perfectly written piece of music. Everything in it is exactly right.
##
## Play in 3/4 time
[Bb]
Verse 1
[F] [Bb]
My mothers and fathers, they tended the land
[Eb] [Bb] [F]
Brought forth food from the soil with the knowledge in their hands
[F] [Bb]
The pot hanging low over peat fire ablaze
[Eb] [Bb] [F] [Bb]
As it’s hung here for uncounted lifetimes of days
Chorus
[Eb] [Bb]
And the fire went out in the morning so early
[F] [Eb] [Bb]
We took down the slabhraidh to take on the journey
[Eb] [Bb] [Gm]
No smoke and no singing warmed the air around Greaulainn
[Bb] [F] [Eb] [Bb]
As we stepped on a boat bound for Melbourne
Verse 2
[F] [Bb]
There are papers in London that I cannot read
[Eb] [Bb] [F]
Saying the land I was born on belongs not to me
[F] [Bb]
At the will of Captain Fraser they moved us aside
[Eb] [Bb] [F] [Bb]
Moved us outwards then upwards then away with the tide
Chorus
[Eb] [Bb]
And the fire went out in the morning so early
[F] [Eb] [Bb]
We took down the slabhraidh to take on the journey
[Eb] [Bb] [Gm]
No smoke and no singing warmed the air around Greaulainn
[Bb] [F] [Eb] [Bb]
As we stepped on a boat bound for Melbourne
Verse 3
[F] [Bb]
A new life was born and a young life was taken
[Eb] [Bb] [F]
On the boat to Victoria, storm-tossed and shaken
[F] [Bb]
This land of promise where the sun burns our eyes
[Eb] [Bb] [F] [Bb]
This land of bright futures, endless and dry
Bridge
[Cm] [Eb]
And the government told us if we cleared all the trees
[Bb] [F]
Brought in horses and cattle to keep back the weeds
[Cm] [Eb]
Planted regular fields with familiar seeds
[Bb] [F]
They would give us the land to do with as we pleased
[Cm] [Eb]
But the seasons were strange and the crops turned to dust
[Bb] [F]
And the slabhraidh lay fallow and riddled with rust
[Gm] [Bb] [Eb]
And we dreamed of green pastures and a sky we could trust
[Bb] [F] [Eb] [Bb]
Oh how far can a crow fly from Greaulainn
Verse 4
[F] [Bb]
Now the papers in London that I’ll never see
[Eb] [Bb] [F]
Say these Wadawurrung fields belong now to me
[F] [Bb]
There’s space for my children, they will call it their own
[Eb] [Bb] [F]
But not far beneath the surface this isn’t my home
Chorus
[Eb] [Bb]
And the fire went out in the morning so early
[F] [Eb] [Bb]
We took down the slabhraidh to take on the journey
[Eb] [Bb] [Gm]
No smoke and no singing warmed the air around Greaulainn
[Bb] [F] [Eb] [Bb]
As we stepped on a boat bound for Melbourne
Chords Used (5)
Guitar
Ukulele
Bb
1 / 4
F
1 / 5
Eb
1 / 4
Gm
1 / 4
Cm
1 / 4
Song Info
Real Key
C
Posted by
ledutu
Tags
#The Maes
#other