Bill - Slim Dusty

He shall live to the end of this mad old world

As he lived since the world began

He never has done any good for himself

But been good to every man

He never has done any good for himself

And I’m sure that he never will

He drinks an' he swears an' he fights at times

And his name is mostly Bill

He carried a freezing mate to his cave

And nursed him for all I know

When Europe was mainly a sheet of ice

Thousands of years ago

He has stuck for many a mate since then

He is with us everywhere still

He loves and gambles when he is young

And the girls all stick up for Bill

He has thirsted on deserts that others might drink

He has given, lest others should lack

He has staggered, half blinded through fire or drought

With a sick man on his back

He is first to the rescue in tunnel or shaft

From Bulli to Broken Hill

When the water breaks in or the fire breaks out

A Leader of men is Bill

He is good for the noblest sacrifice

He can do what few men can

He will break his heart that the girl he loves

May marry a better man

And there’s many a mother an' wife tonight

Whose heart an' eyes will fill

When she thinks of the days of long ago

When she well might have stuck to Bill

Maybe he’s in trouble or hard up now

Travelling far for work

Or fighting a dead past down tonight

In a lone camp west of Burke

When he’s happy an' flush take your sorrows to him

And borrow as much as you will

But when he’s in trouble or stoney broke

Why, you never will hear from Bill

And when because of it’s million sins

This earth is cracked like a shell

He would stand by a mate at the judgement gate

And comfort him down in hell

I haven’t much sentiment left to waste

But let cynics sneer if they will

Perhaps God will fix up the world again

For the sake of the likes of Bill