Burke & Wills Web
www.burkeandwills.net.au
The online digital research archive of expedition records
© 2020

by Neil Higgins

Words & lyrics written by Neil Higgins, Beechworth, Victoria.
All rights reserved. © 2010.

Journey to the centre, Discovery of the red earth
Entering the place of the Spirit land, Is there any hope for return.
Wagon wheels in motion, Camel trains move forward
Burke & Wills set upon an unknown course,
Are there any lessons to be learned.
Journey to the centre, Calling of the 'Red Earth'
Expedition trekking on an unknown course, Is there any hope for return.


And as the cavalcade rolled out of Melbourne toward the plains
From the 'Great Southern Ocean'
through the Sandy Desert to the 'Northern Seas'.
This great exploring conquest then had set out to fulfil the dream
To break through the ancient heartland
held in the interior desert scene.


Journey to the centre, Destined for their glory
Burke & Wills trekking on an unknown course, Is there any hope for return.
Timeless geographics offer the serenity unexplained
From the banks of the sleepy River 'Darling' -
to the oasis of the 'Cooper Creek'
Overland exploratory within a land that holds no scale
Through the home of the 'Yandruwandha' People,
to the Northern 'Gulf' they now had trailed.


Journey to the centre, Discovery of the red earth
Now re-entering the Spirit land, Is there any hope for return
Is there any hope for return
Journey to the centre, Discovery of the red earth
Now re-entering the Spirit land, Is there any hope for return.


Instrumental:


Confusion at the 'Dig Tree' spells their glory and their fail
The death of Burke and Wills tells a grim and torrid tale.
While ancient Tribal Laws respect the Nature and the land
John King found his salvation, in 'Yandruwandha's Tribal hands.
The Spirit of the land beholds the hardship and the pains
A Spirit that is free fills the heart with Endless Dreams.

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www.burkeandwills.net.au Burke & Wills Web The digital research archive of expedition records
© 2020, Dave Phoenix