C G He was a sailor D Em Swarthy lean and proud C G He could take a schooner through a big sea swell Am D Aloof in the mainland crowd C G She loved his quiet laughter D Em Like a boy he'd shrug and grin C G Beach stretched wide at Port Mackay Am D With dreams upon the wind C G Em He wore her name in a rose tattoo C Am Long weekends of gins and lime C G Em She lived in Cairns made plans to move C G Am Checkout girl part-time C G Em And rumour said there's a boom ahead C G Am You can make your future here Em By the Gladstone pier C G A two roomed five row shelter D Em Empty hopes, the damp, the flies C G Prices hiked her face grew tight Am D And conversation died C G Em And the foreman at the smelter said you're much too old C G Am Try the cane fields furthers north C G D Em And the clerk at the market said we don't buy trouble C G Am There's a strike down at the port C G Em Then a six-day shift in a filthy pit C G Am The drag lines gouging coal C G Em The black dust gnaws at your lungs and pores C G Am And anger rots your soul C G Em And the queue round the block waits for you to drop C G Am Can you take it for another year Em By the Gladstone Pier C G Every Sunday he'd walk alone D Em Casting pebbles at the passing waves C G Plunge in brine cleanse his pride Am D A stronger man remains C G The crunch of shale and distant sails D Em Ached within his bones C G And ships upon the tide Am D Bound for ports unknown C G Soon he drank for comfort D Em She grew bitter in the weeks between C G The nights of beer and hollow cheer Am D And love became routine C G They fought, she left him crying D Em Angry words in a last caf C G In desperation on a lonely night Am D She took the bus to Cairns next day C G Em And Gladstone couples break that way C Am Mutual blame and no regrets C G Em And boomtown blues just fade to grey C G Am And all that's left are debts she cried: C G D Em "I've got to leave this dirty old town C GAm The rattle of broken men C G Em And break these chains and wash the pain C G Am And put to sea again C G D Em Drained all my passion my anger and my fears C Am And sank them in a flagon Em Under Gladstone pier" C G She saw him through the Greyhound window D E As the dawn glowed on the chrome C G Standing by the pier under sullen skies Am D Sea winds calling home C G From surfers up to Townsville D Em Past the high-rise colonies C G Fast food, cheap hotels Am D Two more boom-town refugees