Lyrics
Mm… everything swims… Mm… everything swims…
Five hundred metres of running water Five hundred metres, that's the lot Between the last of the mainland And that pink and shining rock The tide comes in and it argues The tide goes out and it sighs But five hundred metres of water Don't stop nothing that tries
Everything swims to Gaybo Everything swims or it flies Everything crosses that water Under those wide southern skies Everything swims to Gaybo Everything gets to the shore And nothing that lands on that island Wants the mainland no more
The keepers wanted beef and butter The keepers wanted milk and hide So they walked the cattle down to the shallows On a low and lazy tide Old bullocks blowing in the salt Eyes rolling white and wide Swimming for a country They had never even eyed
Everything swims to Gaybo Everything swims or it flies Everything crosses that water Under those wide southern skies Everything swims to Gaybo Everything gets to the shore And nothing that lands on that island Wants the mainland no more
Now a roo will take it at low water Take it easy, take it slow Big red feet in the shallow green And away that fella go And the deer come over in the moonlight Nose up high and steady on And by the time the morning finds them They're grazing and they're gone
The shearwater's been to the Bering Sea And back around the world Come home to a hole in a sand dune Where the same old wind gets curled The little penguin's been out fishing Since the sun came up to shine Now he's walking up a cattle track At quarter after nine
And some of them don't make it Some of them go down There's a marker for a steamer And a graveyard on the ground No name left on the headstone Just the salt and the sun And the old pink tower still turning Counting everyone Counting… everyone…
The fur seals took the boulders Took them early, took them all They lie there like the landlords Getting fatter through the fall The whales go by in winter The whales come back in spring And the dolphins never bother Asking anyone a thing
Everything swims to Gaybo Everything swims or it flies Everything crosses that water Under those wide southern skies Everything swims to Gaybo Everything gets to the shore And nothing that lands on that island No, nothing that lands on that island Nothing that lands on that island Wants the mainland no more
Mm… everything swims… Five hundred metres… Mm… everything swims… And nothing goes back