Campfire on the Dustline

Out past the town where the red roads bend

I was chasin' the light at the world’s loose end

The ute had a rattle, the sky ran wide

And the old wire fence wore the sunset’s pride

I could taste that dust on my tongue

Hear the magpies call and the day be done

Oh, the campfire’s small but the dark is deep

And the stars come down when the bush folk sleep

If you lose your way where the mileposts fade

Just follow the smoke and the tracks you made

Met an old stockman by a dry creek bed

With a faded felt hat and a slow nod head

He said, “Son, there’s a story in every scar

And the longest road is the one from the heart”

Then the wind rolled low through the spinifex

Like it knew every name that the country kept

Oh, the campfire’s small but the dark is deep

And the stars come down when the bush folk sleep

If you lose your way where the mileposts fade

Just follow the smoke and the tracks you made

I’ve seen good men drift and I’ve seen them stay

I’ve seen rain break hard on a baking day

But the land still sings in a rough old key

And it holds your bones like a memory

Oh, the campfire’s small but the dark is deep

And the stars come down when the bush folk sleep

If you lose your way where the mileposts fade

Just follow the smoke and the tracks you madeSo I’ll raise my tin to the ones who roam

Under southern skies and a sky that’s home

Till the last ember dies and the night slips slow

I’ll be tellin’ that tale where the wattles grow