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Billy Gray

from Thylacine by Austral

/

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $2 AUD  or more

     

  • Buy the Full Digital Album

  • A digital book of sheet music for all of the original tunes in the album 'Thylacine' written by Austral and friends. We'll send a PDF of the tunebook to the email address you provide in the purchase.

      $5 AUD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    A tangible, storable and nostalgically-retro compact disc in a card gatefold case with beautiful album artwork by Austral. Pay your grandparents a visit and ask if they have a player.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Thylacine via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 7 days

      $20 AUD or more 

     

about

Recorded in late 2021 by John Murphy in Adelaide, this track features Beth Knight singing the classic American song by Norman Blake. Beth is a true stalwart of Australia's trad music scene and the tradition of an unaccompanied song is a tip of the hat to a longstanding tradition of everyone quieting down to listen to those who have the courage to sing. When asked what she would like to sing on the album, she did not hesitate to say "the ballad of Billy Gray". Beth also holds a special place in our hearts, not only as Connor's granny, but as a glue that helped us form Austral as an ensemble in Adelaide.

lyrics

Billy Gray rode into Gantry back in '83.
There he did meet young Sarah McRae,
The wild rose of morning, that pale flower of dawning,
Herald of springtime in his young life that day.

Sarah she could not see the daylight of reality.
In her young eyes Billy bore not a flaw.
Knowing not her chosen one was a hired gun,
Wanted in Kansas City by the law.

Then one day a tall man came riding 'cross the Badlands
Lying to the north of New Mexico.
He was overheard to say he was looking for Bill Gray,
Perilous man and a dangerous outlaw.

Well the deadly news came creeping to Billy, fast sleeping,
There in the Clarendon Bar and Hotel.
He fled toward the old church there on the outskirts
Thinking he'd climb to that old steeple bell.

But a rifle ball came flying, face down he lay dying
There in the dust of the road where he fell.
Sarah she ran to him, just cursing the lawman,
Accepting no reason, knowing he was killed.

Sarah lives in that same old white frame house
Where she first met Billy some forty years ago.
And the wild rose of morning, she's faded with the dawning
With each day of sorrow the long years have sown.

And written on a stone where the dusty winds have long blown
Eighteen words to a passing world say:
"True love knows no season, no rhyme, nor no reason.
Justice is cold as the Granger County clay."

Yes "True love knows no season, no rhyme, nor no reason.
Justice is cold as the Granger County clay".

credits

from Thylacine, released April 1, 2022
Beth Knight - vocals

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

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Austral Melbourne, Australia

Austral is a lively four-piece Australian Celtic band combining cracking uilleann pipe tunes, fiery fiddles, earthy didgeridoo sounds and energetic foot percussion.

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