Martin Simpson - Jackie And Murphy lyrics

There's a statue of a donkey On South Sheilds sea front He's a decorated donkey And with him stands a man And the man's name is Jackie He has no decorations Though he was a hero Down on the sands On South Sheilds sea front Jackie sold donkey rides His favourite was Murphy And they waited on the tide To give rides to little children To flirt with the pretty girls Then he's joined the Merchany Navy And he's off to see the world Oh you sailed the wide world all over, Jackie 'Till you come to Newcastle in New South Wales You'd had more than enough of stoking coal Of rolling seas and heavy gales So you changed your name to plain John Simpson You jumped ship and you rambled all down on the shore Shearing, droving, larrikin And a new recruit for war. Give a dog a bad name, Jackie Some things never change A hundred years are almost gone Not a medal to your name Some things never change, Jackie And perhaps they never will They give a dog a bad name But your a hero still. When I signed up for this army, Murphy Thought I might catch a troop ship home Maybe change my name just one more time And never more to roam But we didn't sail to England, Murphy No, we sailed right into hell Now I am a stretcher bearer In the bloody Dardanelles. You know I don't like taking orders, Murphy That's not the way I am But now we've got this job to do And I'll do the best I can. Oh, you and me are mockers, Murphy Down here on the sand I'll whistle and I'll sing my songs And we'll march to the beat of the band. Jesus you know I am tired, Murphy Breakfast wasn't ready today They said they'd keep my dinner hot Come on lad, we're on our way Down to shrapnel gully again To the land of blood and flesh and bone We've done it now so many times You coould damn near fetch them on your own. Did you hear the machine gun rattle, Jackie? Did you feel those bullets tearing through? I pray that peace and quiet and dark Were the last things you know You saved 300 wounded men You and Murphy on your own And you died to save the very last And Murphy fetched him back alone. Give a dog a bad name, Jackie Some things never change A hundred years are almost gone Not a medal to your name Somethings never change, Jackie But perhaps they never will. While the bloodless fools in Whitehall They sit in judgement still