Lyrics
September morning, half-light on the sea Day and night in balance, or as close as they can be The eastern sky is burning where the blue gives way to gold And another season's turning, like a story being told
I sent a little bird up through the early morning air Over Mallacoota's water with the sunrise waiting there Ocean on the eastern side, the lakes behind me shine Forest running to the beaches, and the whole damn morning's mine
There's a pink edge on the cloudbank There's a gold road on the sea There's a shadow through the timber Stretching westward under me And somewhere out past Gabo Morning's climbing from the blue The world has done this all before But somehow it feels new
No bell was rung No vote was cast No-one told the night to pass
The seasons don't ask us when to turn The tides don't wait for our permission The earth keeps rolling round the sun Without consulting our opinion So raise your eyes and take it in The ocean, forest, sky and air What a bloody wonderful thing it is To get another spring down here
Down here on the Wilderness Coast The ocean smooths the edges down While summer burns the country north We catch the sea breeze into town And winter often treats us kindly By Australian standards, anyway Till a southerly comes roaring up And blows the bloody chairs away
Then sometimes in the summertime The north-west finds its feet Drags the breath of inland country Down upon us with the heat Forty degrees by lunchtime Then tomorrow, twenty-three That's life beside an ocean And it's good enough for me
We've seen hot We've seen cold And neither one does what it's told
The seasons don't ask us when to turn The tides don't wait for our permission The earth keeps rolling round the sun Without consulting our opinion Let the north wind blow, the south wind bite Let autumn paint the forest bare What a bloody wonderful thing it is To get another season here
We've got experts drawing graphs for us And prophets on the screen Politicians promising To manage what tomorrow means Everybody's certain Everybody knows the score Till the wind swings round at half-past three And blows the forecast out the door
We name the storms and measure rain We chart the warming seas We build our models, make our plans And argue endlessly There's wisdom in observing There's plenty we can learn But nature never signed a deal To change when it's our turn
Make your plans Do what you can But don't mistake yourself for Pan
The seasons don't ask us when to turn The tides don't wait for our permission The earth keeps rolling round the sun Without consulting our opinion We can measure, learn and lend a hand But we're passengers as well On this blue and green old travelling world That knows its journey well
And maybe that's the lesson In this September light Nothing has to last forever To be beautiful and right
I don't need the summer to stay To know the summer was good I don't need to hold back winter Even if I could
We've all got our own seasons We've all watched some disappear Faces round the table change With every passing year
So if I've got another sunrise Another springtime on this coast I'll spend less time demanding more And be thankful for the most
For being here
The seasons don't ask us when to turn The tides don't wait for our permission The earth keeps rolling round the sun And thank God that's beyond our jurisdiction
Let the north wind blow, the south wind bite Let the clouds roll anywhere What a bloody wonderful thing it is To wake and find I'm still down here
Where the forest meets the water Where the river meets the sea Where another Mallacoota spring Is waking up with me
The seasons don't ask us when to turn And I wouldn't have it any other way Give me winter, spring and summer Give me autumn's shorter days Give me clouds across the sunrise Give me salt wind in my hair What a bloody wonderful thing it is Just to be alive down here
Half the world in darkness Half the world in light And here we are between them Watching morning come to life
Another turning of the year
And I'm still here