John Thompson - In Tribute. A celebration of John at The National Folk Festival, 2023. 11.30am at Budawang.
You might think this post is a repeat of the one from December from our show at Woodford Folk Festival. And it is... except... the new show this coming Sunday is going to be a mighty celebration of John with a different lineup to Woodford, so don't miss it.
Our beloved John Thompson was diagnosed with cancer in 2017, and died on 4 February, 2021. Creative to the last, he continued to write songs and sang almost to his last day.
At the National Folk Festival this year, we are celebrating John with a tribute concert which includes some of the remaining members and regular collaborators of John's bands Cloudstreet and The Ceilidh Clan (Nicole Murray, Emma Nixon, Rebecca Wright), his bandmates from One Step Forward (Maree Robertson and Ann Bermingham) and dear friends including Jason and Chloe Roweth, Fred Smith, Don Jarmey, Ian Dearden, Lachlan Baldwin, Andy Rigby, Chris Maltby and a special shanty crew, Belswagger Morris dancers and a few surprise international guests!
Everyone is invited to the singing workshop on Saturday at 4.20 (at Workshop) run by Nicole, where she will teach choral harmonies to John's signature song, The Green Man, so you, the audience, can be a wondrous choir at the concert.
Workshop: Singing the Green Man with Nicole: Workshop Tent, 4.20pm 8 April at the National Folk Festival. ON HIS ACTUAL BIRTHDAY! Get ready to sing out at the concert next day.
Concert: John Thompson - In Tribute: Budawang, 11.30am 9 April at the National Folk Festival, 2023.
Here you will find lyrics to The Green Man, Bill and the Bear, The Brisbane River, and Kevin (if I can find them).
The Green Man
by John Thompson
Chorus:The Green Man's a traveller, a reveller, unraveller
Of dreams and of fancies, from first to the last.
Older than all men, living in all things
Son, father and sage,
Long live the Green Man!
• First light of first morning saw the Green Man there waiting
He saw the creation and joined in the dance
All creatures grew 'round him, he grew with them singing
The first song of all, sing of the Green Man
•Quietly watching and waiting and learning
The storms are his fury, the lightning his laugh
The first leaf of spring, his beauty and glory
His stillness his power, in the trees is his path.
•There are fewer trees now, but the man is not sleeping
'Though our ruin brings sorrow to time's oldest heart
In our souls we may find him and remember his wisdom
And rekindle the flame; once again make a start.
Choir words and harmonies
The choir sings (with long syllables):
Green tree dream
Old forest father
Green Man
The Green Man Audio Practice Parts
Bill and The Bear
John Thompson
Come listen now, good people here, to a story of renown,
Of the day a hundred years ago when the circus came to town
Mr Wirth and all his gallant crew, they raised the bigtop high
And all the folk for miles around gathered under a canvas sky.
And were you there in the clear night air,
when William Sinclair he fought the bear?
Were you there to see William Sinclair,
when he wrestled the bear to the ground?
There were dancing ponies and tumbling clowns, the best you ever did see,
A lion tamer and a high wire act, a girl on the flying trapeze,
There was a fat ringmaster in a big top hat, he slashed his whip through the air
With a roar and a growl, the cage went clang! It was Sampson the mighty bear.
Chorus
He was ten feet high, he was nine feet wide, a mountain of muscle and fur,
A mighty beast, as black as the coal, the ground shook with his roar.
Then the man with the whip, he called for quiet,
not sound from those who were there,
“I’ve a crisp ten pounds for any man here who’s brave enough to wrestle the bear”.
Chorus
Bill and his family had come to see the show, his youngest newly born
The strongest man to ever walk the range, he could carry his weight in corn
He sized up the beast, with a glance at his wife, he slowly raised his hand
“I’ll have a go,” he heard himself say. Then up struck the band!
Stripped to the waist, Bill entered the ring, circling and bouncing round
First left then right, till he lunged right in, the crowd didn’t make a sound.
They twisted and they turned as they wrestled and they grappled
At the skin and the muscle and the hair
With a mighty roar Bill threw Sampson down, he raised his fist in the air.
And were you there in the clear night air
When William Sinclair he beat the bear?
Were you there to see William Sinclair when he wrestled the bear to the ground?
You’ve never heard a roar quite like it, the shouts split the midnight air
Bill was raised above all the heads of the crowd to the cheers of everyone there
And to this day when you see the name of the famous Bill Sinclair
Raise your glass and drink to the health of the only man to ever beat the bear.
The Brisbane River
John Thompson
The Turrbal people saw her born (the banks of the Brisbane River)
Their memories, they still live on (the banks of the Brisbane River)
The dreaming days they may be gone
But long may the dreaming continue on
We live the dreams and sing the songs
On the banks of the Brisbane River
A storm blew Finnegan and Parsons north (to the banks of the Brisbane River)
Mr Thompson never made it ashore (the banks of the Brisbane River)
To the Illawarra they were bound
But on Moreton Island they ran aground
They laboured north until they found
The banks of the Brisbane River
Lord Brisbane sent John Oxley north (the banks of the Brisbane River)
He anchored The Mermaid just off shore (the banks of the Brisbane River)
Though they thought him long since dead
Finnegan met them at the heads
The natives had kept that convict fed
On the banks of the Brisbane River
Named for the governor of New South Wales (The banks of the Brisbane River)
1823 saw white man’s sails (by the banks of the Brisbane River)
Thousands of settlers to her were bound
She soon became young Queensland’s town
Federation heard the cheers resound
By the banks of the Brisbane River
The bridges they stretch from side to side (The banks of the Brisbane River)
The mighty Story Bridge was Brisbane’s pride (on The banks of the Brisbane River)
The shipyards they are long since gone
And the ironwood wharves have been torn down
The banks have burst through the streets of the town
The banks of the Brisbane River
She saw our rise, she’ll see our fall (The banks of the Brisbane River)
Her gentle waters will outlive us all (The banks of the Brisbane River)
Long may her gentle waters run
Past the mangrove mud and past the town
That gave us our lives and gave her a name
The banks of the Brisbane River
The mighty serpent flows to this day (The banks of the Brisbane River)
Through a great glass town she winds her way (The banks of the Brisbane River)
From Stanley’s heights in the Great Divide
Dammed at Wivenhoe then on to the tide
When the city cats purr, she’s our joy and pride
The banks of the Brisbane River
And the Easter egg at the end of the post? The words to Kevin. The names have been changed to protect Shaun. Here's a link to the brilliant Never the Twain; John with Martin Pearson, singing Kevin.
Kevin
John Thompson
Well, my mate Kevin, he smokes dope, it's true just as I stand here
He'll sit at home with his bucket bong while you go off for a beer
He grows his own, so he's self-sufficient, he's done all the numbers you see
Just a normal fella with a normal life, as nice as he could be
Well one day Kevin was sitting in his lounge room, with his music, his stash and his gear
There was a knock on the front door, a bang on the back
It's the police, open up in there!
Well they burst right into the lounge room, started pushing the lad around
From behind the couch they pulled a plastic bag and said, What's this we have found?
And Kevin said
They're not my drugs, I don't use drugs, I don't like drugs, I've never seen drugs
I wouldn't know drugs from Moreton bay bugs, I'm sorry sir but that's not mine.
Well they didn't find his honesty appealing, so they kicked Kevin in the balls
They threw the books down from the bookcase, they tore the posters off the walls
It was a dark, Orwellian rampage, to bring fear to the hearts of men
Then they sat him in a chair and they stared him down and said, we'll ask you once again
And Kevin said
They're not my drugs, I don't use drugs, I don't like drugs, I've never seen drugs
I wouldn't know drugs from Moreton Bay bugs, I'm sorry sir but that's not mine.
When Kevin just wouldn't be helpful, the coppers did as they were taught
First they took him to the station, then they marched him into court
And behind the bench sat a magistrate, with manner grim and words so grand
And he listened to the coppers as they told their tale, and then Kevin took the stand
And Kevin said
They're not my drugs, I don't use drugs, I don't like drugs, I've never seen drugs
I wouldn't know drugs from Moreton Bay bugs, I'm sorry sir but that's not mine.
Well a hush fell over the courtroom, when the evidence had all been heard
And all eyes were fixed on that magistrate as they waited for the word
But the magistrate sat there pondering, now how would justice be done?
And after careful thought and at the proper time he looked at Kevin and said
Stand up, son.
And then he said
They're not his drugs, he doesn't use drugs, he doesn't like drugs, he's never seen drugs
He wouldn't know drugs from Moreton Bay bugs. Not guilty. No conviction. No fine.
Well when Kevin left the courtroom, he was grinning from ear to ear
As he thought of the friends that were waiting at home
With more music, more stash and more gear
And as he left, he met that magistrate, who said my son, you're not alone
If you get caught then you've got a drug problem
Come back to my place, and have a cone
And remember they're
Not your drugs, you don't use drugs, you don't like drugs, you've never seen drugs
You wouldn't know drugs from Moreton Bay bugs, I'm sorry sir but that's not mine
Remember they're not my drugs, I don't use drugs, I don't like drugs, I've never seen drugs
I wouldn't know drugs from Moreton Bay bugs, I'm sorry sir but that's not mine
