The Digger's Lament (1922)
(By Harold Stevens)
Remember, Bill, that day in Martin PlaceWe 'opped' into the crowd to 'ear the news?
Though down an' out I twigged yer bloomin' face--
For we 'ad much to gain, but naught to lose ? Remember when we vaulted o'er the stand
Amid the 'owlln' cheers and deaf 'nin' claps,
When some big bounder shook us by the 'and,
And told us we was brave and darin' chaps'. Remember, Bill, when marchln' to the ship
Those screechin' flappers, wiv their wavin' flags.
The "good-bye, 'ero," and the 'earty grip--
The flowers and lollies, and the brimmin' bags?
Remember, when the guns began to spit ? We thought of 'ome, and others far and dear ;
You buoyed me spirits with yer words o' grit,
And seemed to drive out every sense of fear.
Remember, Bill, when bleedin', faint, and sore ? You fond me an yer shared with me your can--
Yer even arst me if I wanted more ;
You'd go an' fetch it--Gawd ! you was a man !
Remember when you carried me away?
And blood was spur'tin' from your battered 'ead. You laid me down, and dozin' I said "stay ?"
You did, an' while I slept you watched--and bled?-
Remember, Bill, the night you lost your leg?
You smilin' says, "Thank Gawd they've left me one!" Ah, little did you think you'd 'ave to beg
An' 'old your 'at out when the fight was done.
Remember when we 'obbled up the street,
You on your stump and me wiv 'arf a face.
Expectin' friends, and 'eroes' jobs to meet-- Those promises we 'eard in Martin Place ?
Oh. Gawd ! Is this the price we Diggers pay ?
An' 'ungry, starvin' , Umpin', workless mob ;
They called us 'eroes only yesterday--
We ask no pity-all we want's a Job ! Notes From the NSW Newspaper The Sun 20 May 1922 p. 4. From the end of the Great War in 1918 through to the the Great Depression of the 1930s the theme of many songs like this exposing the use of false promises made to solders as they were sent off to war.