Song of the Artesian Water

Song Of The Artesian Water
an adaptation of a poem by Banjo Paterson

Now the stock have started dying, for the Lord has sent a drought
But we're sick of prayers and Providence - we're going to do without
With the derricks up above us and the solid earth below
We are waiting at the lever for the word to let her go
Sinking down, deeper down
Oh, we'll sink it deeper down
As the drill is plugging downward at a thousand feet of level
If the Lord won't send us water, oh, we'll get it from the devil
Yes, we'll get it from the devil deeper down

Now, our engine's built in Glasgow by a very canny Scot
And he's marked it twenty horse-power, but he don't know what is what
When Canadian Bill is firing with the sun-dried gidgee logs
She can equal thirty horses and a score or so of dogs
Sinking down, deeper down
Oh, we're going deeper down
If we fail to get the water, then it's ruin to the squatter
For the drought is on the station and the weather's growing hotter
But we're bound to get the water deeper down

But the shaft has started caving and the sinking's very slow
And the yellow rods are bending in the water down below
And the tubes are always jamming, and they can't be made to shift
'Till we nearly burst the engine with a forty horse-power lift
Sinking down, deeper down
Oh, we're going deeper down
Though the shaft is always caving, and the tubes are always jamming
Yet we'll fight our way to water while the stubborn drill is ramming
While the stubborn drill is ramming deeper down

But there's no artesian water, though we've passed three thousand feet
And the contract price is rising, and the boss is nearly beat
But it must be down beneath us, and it's down we've got to go
Though she's bumping on the solid rock four thousand feet below
Sinking down, deeper down
Oh, we're going deeper down
And it's time they heard us knocking on the roof of Satan's dwellin'
But we'll get artesian water if we cave the roof of hell in
Oh we'll get artesian water deeper down
Yes, we'll get artesian water deeper down

And a harsh wind is blowing
The temperature is vast
Nobody here is knowing
Of your good deeds from the past
You can scream into the darkness
You can dig your knuckles raw
But the Good Lord he can't hear you
And old archfiend wants you more

And it's down, deeper down
Oh, we're going deeper down
And it's time they heard us knocking on the roof of Satan's dwellin'
Yeah, we'll get artesian water if we cave the roof of hell in

Sinking down, deeper down
Oh, we're going deeper down
As the drill is plugging downward at a thousand feet of level
If the Lord won't send us water, ah, we will get it from the devil
Yes, we'll get it from the devil deeper down
Yes, we'll get it from the devil deeper down