[Editor: This song is an sea shanty, believed to be of British origin. With its Australian theme and wide popularity, it has become part of Australia’s folk music tradition. Click here to see some videos of this song being played. As is common with folk songs which have been passed around by word of mouth, there are several variations of the same song in existence.]
South Australia
In South Australia I was born,
Heave away, haul away
In South Australia, round Cape Horn,
We’re bound for South Australia
[Chorus]
Heave away, you rolling king,
Heave away, haul away
Heave away, oh hear me sing,
We’re bound for South Australia
As I walked out one morning fair,
Heave away, haul away
’Twas there I met Miss Nancy Blair,
We’re bound for South Australia
I shook her up, I shook her down,
Heave away, haul away
I shook her round and round the town,
We’re bound for South Australia
Oh when I sailed across the sea,
Heave away, haul away
My girl said she’d be true to me,
We’re bound for South Australia
There’s only one thing grieves my mind,
Heave away, haul away
Is to leave Miss Nancy Blair behind,
We’re bound for South Australia
And now I’m on some foreign strand,
Heave away, haul away
With a bottle of whiskey in my hand,
We’re bound for South Australia
And as we wallop around Cape Horn,
Heave away, haul away
You’ll wish to God you’d never been born,
We’re bound for South Australia.
Editor’s notes:
As this is a folk song, there are various versions, often with only minor differences, but sometimes with entirely different verses.
References:
“[Bound for] South Australia: the song”, Bound for South Australia
“South Australia”, Mainly Norfolk: English Folk and Other Good Music
“Bound for South Australia”, Australian Folk Songs
“South Australia”, The Mudcat Café
“South Australia”, Shanties & Sea Songs
“South Australia”, Musica International
“The Pogues – South Australia”, Song Meanings
“South Australia”, London Sea Shanty Collective
“Bound for South Australia”, Anitra
“South Australia”, Bounding Main
“Bound for South Australia”, Whistle Tabs
Laura Alexandrine Smith, The Music of the Waters: A Collection of the Sailors’ Chanties, or Working Songs of the Sea, of all Maritime Nations: Boatmen’s, Fishermen’s, and Rowing Songs, and Water Legends, London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Co., 1888, p. 49
“New Recordings: Outback songs”, The Bulletin (Sydney, NSW), 26 August 1959, p. 63 (column 3)
“South Australia (song)”, Wikipedia
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