Redgum - Parramatta Gaol 1843 lyrics

In the mornings they unbolt the doors And beat the cold out of our bones But the frozen sun can't warm the stones Of the prison yard Transported here for being poor From the London street to Australia's shore Our only choice is servant Or the factory A hostage of Britannia's rule Marked to be a soldier's wife Twenty years of convict life In Parramatta Gaol Deep with words of pain Streetwise women, homeless girls Convicts live within these walls Exiled for life In prisons unseen but never heard She's always been a songless bird The tugging in her skirt Unfettered spirit, unyielding thought With iron collars and shaven heads We labored hard at the Mill If our backs don't hold our spirits will In solitary confines Year after year the deepening scars Carved by the turnkey's tireless arm If we are the victims what is our crime What is the price? One sleepless night a whispered plan Is carried on the harbor breeze A pact of sweet conspiracy And bold escape Our rations cut the children starve The murmurings and anger grow Together we could see it through The fuse is lit In prisons unseen but never heard She's always been a songless bird The tugging in her skirt Unfettered spirit, unyielding thought A flash of sound the air explodes As slaves and fists beat down the gate Years of bitterness and hate Finally released The crunch of boots and bayonet's The guard and king's artillery Fight to quell the mutiny With musket fire Flying through the township's streets The storm rages fiercely through the night Brutally the army's might Took control One by one recaptured now Thrown in cells, clapped in chains The unity in our voice remains A song of hope In prisons unseen but never heard She's always been a songless bird The tugging in her skirt Unfettered spirit, unyielding thought