Five and a Zack
I've been a few miles I've crossed a few stiles
I've been round the world there and back
But one place I struck between here and hard luck
They stung me for five and a zack
The timekeeper there with his sanctified air
Is Salvation Army lance-jack
On his cornet he'll bleat when they play in the street
But he stung me for five and a zack
The job's at an end I'm camped in the bend
I hate the whole duck-shoving pack
It's not that I'm broke or in need of a smoke
But they stung me for five and a zack
May that time-keeper stand in an Aunt Sally band
And blow till his eyeballs turn black
May each note in his cornet turn into a hornet
And sting him for five and a zack
When my time comes I'll go to that hot place below
And never intend to come back
On my tombstone you'll find these words underlined
They stung me for five and a zack
Notes
Printed in Manifold Penguin Australian Song Book with the note: "From the singing of Keith Waller, North Stradbroke Island, Moreton Bay. He learnt it in the 1920's in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area". Zack (or Zac) is slang for sixpence (now five cents)