Red Mallee Sand

Chorus

I was born by the Murray, in red mallee sand

Sixty years on, this heart still stands

Roots running deep through dust and sun

Wherever I wander, this land’s never done

Post-Chorus

Oh-oh, my mallee home

Oh-oh, I never roam alone

Verse 2

City folk shake their heads and wonder why

Say it’s too hot, too flat, and dry

But we find beauty where wildflowers grow

When the river runs, and the cool winds blow

Pre-Chorus

From the bark of a dog to the owl’s lone cry

Gazing at the stars on a midnight sky

Memories linger like the sweet spring rain

Calling me back to this red terrain

Chorus

I was born by the Murray, in red mallee sand

Sixty years on, this heart still stands

Roots running deep through dust and sun

Wherever I wander, this land’s never done

Post-Chorus

Oh-oh, my mallee home

Oh-oh, I never roam alone

Chorus

I was born by the Murray, in red mallee sand

Sixty years on, this heart still stands

Roots running deep through dust and sun

Wherever I wander, this land’s never done

Post-Chorus

Oh-oh, my mallee home

Oh-oh, I never roam alone

Bridge

We get by on little, stubborn and true

Life in the mallee, it teaches you

To weather dry seasons, to laugh with the rain

To hold onto kin, through trouble and strain

The nights bring the quiet, a taste of the past

With a dog by the fire, these memories last

Old stories and faces still circle the flame

Through every hardship, we stay much the same

Chorus

I was born by the Murray, in red mallee sand

Sixty years on, this heart still stands

Roots running deep through dust and sun

Wherever I wander, this land’s never done

Post-Chorus

Oh-oh, my mallee home

Oh-oh, I never roam alone

Post-Chorus

Oh-oh, my mallee home

Oh-oh, I never roam alone

Verse 3

We rise in the morning to a sky stretched wide

Old utes and gumboots, dust at our side

Grandkids come running when the school year ends

To ride past the paddocks and visit old friends

Stories get traded around battered tables

Tales of the river and working when able

Laughter and worry both live in these towns

But the pride of the mallee, it never runs down

Pre-Chorus

From the shape of the windrows to the heat in the sand

We carry our memories close at hand

No matter the distance, no matter the years

This piece of the country still draws us near

Chorus

I was born by the Murray, in red mallee sand

Sixty years on, this heart still stands

Roots running deep through dust and sun

Wherever I wander, this land’s never done

Post-Chorus

Oh-oh, my mallee home

Oh-oh, I never roam alone